The Founding of the Cody Heritage Museum

Oct 11, 2024

The sturdy red brick house on the corner of Sheridan Avenue and 11th has evolved over its 117-year history, but now houses Cody’s first museum dedicated to local, Cody-area history. Longtime locals who enter the front door often say, “I’ve always meant to come in here!” and then on the way out, “I learned so much about my own home.”

Visitors from around the country visit too, with many passing through Cody on the way to or from Yellowstone National Park. “This is a great little museum,” said one recent visitor from West Virginia. “I’m a history buff and this is right up my alley.”

Origins

The Cody Heritage Museum is now a downtown fixture, but it took years of hard work by volunteers and generous donations to make it happen.  Back in 2007, the first meeting of persons interested in forming a local history museum was held in Marge and Dick Wilders’ living room. The following spring, the grassroots group formed a steering committee and created a name, a vision for the museum, and a mission statement.  By 2009, the original steering committee became the Board of Directors for the new “Cody Heritage Museum.” Over the next several years, the Board applied for grants and 501c3 status, held fundraisers, and began to renovate the building that would be home to the new museum.

 

The museum is housed in the DeMaris House in downtown Cody, and the building itself has an interesting history.  Built by the DeMaris family, it was the first single-family home on the western end of the downtown area.  The purveyor of DeMaris Hot Springs (a mineral hot spring on the Shoshone River), Charles DeMaris, married Nellie Fitzgerald in 1898 and the couple had a son, Charles “Bill,” in 1900. In anticipation of Bill going to school, Charles and Nellie bought property in town in 1906 and built a house in 1907. Upon completion, their home was the only building on the 1000 block of Sheridan Avenue until the Park County Courthouse was built in 1912.  The family continued to operate the mineral springs for bathing, and bottled the water and sold it, but chose to live in town.

 

Charles DeMaris died in 1914, and Nellie in 1935, leaving the house to Bill.  In the following decades, it served as a one family home, a duplex, and the site of various businesses. After 2007, the DeMaris house sat forlorn and likely due for demolition until the Park County Commissioners agreed to lease the building to the Cody Heritage Museum Board. In April of 2011, the Board and volunteers gutted the building, removing fixtures, carpet, and paneling.  Later in 2011, HR Coe Construction removed the existing exterior siding and replaced the roof and chimney flashing.  From 2012 to 2014, various stages of restoration ensued, including removing the large window on the south side of the building and replacing it with brick. A new foundation was poured, inside the existing one, foot by foot.  New windows were also installed throughout the building and the interior and exterior layers of brick were stabilized and bolted.  From 2015 to 2017, the interior finish work was completed, including plumbing, electrical, lighting, internet wiring, telephone lines, furnace, and ADA access. Over this seven-year period, the Board of Directors, with the help of the community and generous volunteers, raised and spent upwards of $450,000 to restore the DeMaris House and create a new local history museum.

The Collections

The museum is small but is now teeming with artifacts that reflect Cody’s unique past from prehistory to the 1960s. Most objects on display have been donated or loaned to the museum by local families, and the accession process is always ongoing. The museum’s content focuses on six areas:

• The founders of the City of Cody
• Local ranching, agriculture, and early Cody businesses
• The tourist industry
• The oil, gas, and railroad industries
• Area cowboy history, including the Cody Stampede Rodeo
• Historic Cody families

The board of directors and the museum director, Lynn House, welcome items that illustrate one of the six content areas. Examples of recent objects donated to the museum include advertising memorabilia, souvenirs, personal items, home or business furnishings (smaller than a shoe box), and military uniforms. Donors are encouraged to gift items to the CHM where they will be safe and admired for years to come.

Family Poster Project

The Family Poster Project is another important part of the museum. Descendants of early families contribute flat items for a display — items like photos, clippings, and invitations.  The items are scanned and printed to fit into plastic sleeves which are inserted into a wall-mounted flip board.  Anyone with early Cody ancestors is encouraged to share artifacts and historic photographs so that they may be digitally reproduced.
 
The museum is open to the public from May through September, but donations are welcome year-round. For more information about the Cody Heritage Museum, please visit the CHM website or email the museum director at  [email protected]

Amy Couture
Curatorial Assistant 
Cody Heritage Museum

 The Cody Heritage Museum focuses on local Cody history — and accepts family contributions of artifacts and objects that fit the areas of focus for the museum. Get in touch if you can contribute our growing collection.

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