From time to time, I want share some of the history of our business and the events of the time my grandparents operated the small Rankin Auto Court in our blog.
This picture is an ad from The Idaho Guest Encyclopedia, 1956-57.
And GOOD NEWS from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle on April 15, 2011: Roads into Yellowstone National Park from the north and west reopen for the spring today.
Visitors eager to experience early spring in Yellowstone’s interior will be able to travel by car through the park’s north entrance at Gardiner and west entrance at West Yellowstone to Norris, Madison, Canyon and Old Faithful. In addition, park entrance fees will be waived April 16-24 as part of National Park Week.
We have all waited and watched the last few weeks as budget cuts threatened the opening of our beautiful Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks. I came across this amazing front page story from 1942 in the local newspaper, The Ashton Herald. What an instant connection for me. My grandparents running this same business faced a possible Park closure. Area businesses feared for the worst as the 1942 summer season approached. I know what they were feeling. As it turns out, it was a rumor in 1942 and Yellowstone Park did open that year, as it has again this year.
I did a little more research. I was curious about what the visitor statistics looked like for 1942 and found they did drop during WWII:
1941, 581,761
1942, 191,830
1943, 64,144
1944, 85,347
1945, 178,296
1946, 814,907 ! 1946 and the war was over, no gas rationing and the country was traveling. These statistics are from the Total Yellowstone Page webpage on 4/14/11. Last year in October 2010, the Park announced there had been a record number of 3.4 million visitors. Wow! We are excited for another year and the chance to welcome everyone traveling through our area. Plan on staying with us to relax while you explore the beautiful Ashton, Yellowstone and Teton areas !
