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History · Meeteetse

Meeteetse’s post office opened in 1883, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the First National Bank of Meeteetse. Below: maps from 1907 on and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Meeteetse began

When was Meeteetse founded?

1883

The Meeteetse post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 207 in 19102020 census: 309143 years
Founding year: the first Meeteetse post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Meeteetse’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Meeteetse are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 514 in 1960; 309 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Meeteetse’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Meeteetse’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Meeteetse, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 514

Peaked at 514 in 1960; 309 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Meeteetse’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Meeteetse came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Meeteetse.

Read it all →

The area that would become Meeteetse was occupied by the Shoshone and Crow people. The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty placed the Crow Reservation to the north and Wind River Reservation to the South leaving the area open for white settlers. Around 1878 Otto Franc began Pitchfork Ranch near what is now Meeteetse. William McNally arrived around 1886 and built a blacksmith shop.

In 1883 the Meeteetse Post Office was established by Margaret B. Wilson. It was located on the Meeteetse Creek. In 1896, 36 acres of land by the Greybull River were platted. Wilson moved the post office to the new townsite.

Meeteetse is a Shoshone term for "nearby" or possibly "resting place". The town takes its name from the creek.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Meeteetse, 1883 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Meeteetse post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 514
By decade

Meeteetse, decade by decade

Today7 recent
First National Bank2020First National BankWildlife technician sprays Delta-dust insecticide into a prairie dog burrow2017Wildlife technician sprays Delta-dust insecticide int…Wildlife technician from the U.S. Department of Agriculture sprays insecticide into a prairie dog burrow2017Wildlife technician from the U.S. Department of Agric…Wildlife technician sprays insecticide into a prairie dog burrow2014Wildlife technician sprays insecticide into a prairie…Wildlife professionals from the U.S. Department of Agriculture spray insecticide into prairie dog colonies2014Wildlife professionals from the U.S. Department of Ag…Prairie dog pokes its head out of its burrow at the Meeteetse Ferret Recovery site2014Prairie dog pokes its head out of its burrow at the M…Meteetse12007Meteetse1
On the map

Meeteetse on the map, 1911 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Meeteetse. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Meeteetse on the 1911 USGS mapMeeteetse on the 1985 USGS map1911Meeteetse sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Meeteetse.

Every building

Meeteetse, building by building, 1907–1912

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Meeteetse fire insurance map, 1907, sheet 21907Sheet 2 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Meeteetse

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
First National Bank of Meeteetse
First National Bank of Meeteetse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Victorian Commercial1
First National Bank of MeeteetseLate Victorian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Meeteetse’s post office has been open since 1883.

Gone or out of use
Barling Pitmine
1cemetery inside Meeteetse
Meeteetse

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Meeteetse’s history

What year was Meeteetse founded?

The Meeteetse post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Meeteetse?

One place: the First National Bank of Meeteetse (listed 1990).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.