Some of the country’s most impressive art and history museums are hiding in the unlikeliest of places – and Wyoming is no exception! Small towns can be unexpected havens of culture, antiques, and puzzle pieces of the past, often boasting impressive (and diverse) specialty collections. One small-town museum with a plethora to offer is the fantastically overlooked Little Snake River Museum (LSRM). This multi-building museum actually spans multiple small Wyoming towns as well, which means you know there’s a lot to see and learn here! The next time you’re in Southern Wyoming, pass through Baggs, Dixon, and Savery to check out the LSRM.
Approximately 150 years of Wyoming and western history is a big stretch of time to cover, but the Little Snake River Museum does an incredible job of covering this wild and pioneering era. Despite being off the beaten path, this fantastic museum has three towns worth of relics, rare finds, and recreations that explore some of the Snake River Valley's most overlooked pieces of history.
The stories of legendary names like Buffalo Bill and Butch Cassidy have long been documented and memorialized as they relate to Wyoming - and rightfully so! But the everyday folk who built Southern Wyoming from the ground up get their moment in the spotlight at this small-town specialty museum. Folks like Noah Reader and his family - the first permanent residents of the area.
The museum property in Savery once belonged to the Savery School, before the school consolidated and moved to Baggs.
Today, hundreds of exhibits, displays, and collections document local history from approximately 1850 to the present day. Fifteen buildings currently make up the museum campus, each with unique local history and roots from right here in the Valley.
But you won't just find a hodge-podge of items here. Each building has a theme, personality, and style of its own. From the trading post-inspired Jim Baker Cabin…
Whether Western history is your jam or you just have a hankering for ogling old, rusty antiques (one of our favorite pastimes), the LSRM is the perfect place to see Wyoming history up close and personal.
History in the Cowboy State is plentiful and we certainly have our fair share of museums that offer fun and immersive peeks into the past. But tucked away so far south (practically on the Colorado border), the Little Snake River Museum in Wyoming is definitely a hidden gem when it comes to brilliant nuggets of history!
For more information on exhibits, seasonal openings, hours, special events, and more, visit the Little Snake River Museum website.
Next, one gorgeous town is chock full of history of a different type – rail history! Check out Evanston, Wyoming for a fun-filled weekend getaway. Or, if your history buff roots run extra deep, check out our Wyoming history guide for more one-of-a-kind throwbacks.
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