Cooke City · Shop
Cooke City Store
General store built in 1886 near Yellowstone's northeast entrance, open May through September with groceries, hardware, fishing licenses and penny candy.
At a glance
Store in Cooke City, Montana, established 1886. Open seasonally. Check with them for this year's dates.
- Status
- Seasonal
- Address
- 101 Main St., Cooke City, MT, 59020
- Town
- Cooke City
- Region
- Yellowstone Country
- Established
- 1886
- Phone
- 406-838-2234
- Locally owned
- Yes
- Why it's still old school
- Built in 1886, still using an original hand-crank cash register, and still selling penny candy four miles from the park line.
- Page updated
John Savage and John Elder were hauling milled lumber to build the Cooke City Store by the spring of 1886, according to the store’s history. It changed hands through mining booms and busts and served as storage for a stretch in the 1890s. Nels and Elizabeth Soderholm bought it in 1908. Their nephew Sam Brady took over in 1957. Ralph and Sue Glidden bought it in 1977, and Troy and Beth Wilson, who both worked summers there, bought it in October 2003.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 27, 1986, in its 100th year, as an unusually intact small-town mercantile.
The Wilsons say many fixtures from the late 1800s are still in daily use, including the original hand-crank cash register. They sell groceries, dry goods, hardware, sporting goods, beer and wine, fishing licenses, and penny candy. Open May through September. If you’re nearby, stop in and keep them busy.
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