Wolf – Still One of Wyoming’s Finest Hotels
One of Saratoga’s largest and most historic structures is on the west side of the Upper North Platte River and was opened in 1894.
It is the three-story hotel of native brick, built at the cost of $6,000 by Frederick G. Wolf, who found that by living in Saratoga he could take advantage of the hot mineral springs to help heal his wounds sustained during the Civil War. Wolf’s new hotel was designed by D. C. Kinnaman and built of the finest materials.
Guests told of the excellent accommodations and the splendid dining room where meals were served in courses. Men were impressed with the office and reading room on the northwest corner where they could have a smoke while they read or met friends.
The hotel’s most elaborate feature was the ladies’ parlor on the second floor, over the office. In this room, a thick Brussels carpet covered the floor, lace curtains hung at the windows, and ladies could sit on luxurious furniture. Women guests used the room to play cards, read or embroider, and the proprietor’s wife, Christina Wolf, served them coffee, pastries and cookies in the afternoon.
Men gathered in the saloon to drink, visit or gamble, and entire families, many from valley ranches, were overnight guests in the then lush rooms.
Originally called the Hotel Wolf, the name of the structure was changed to Sisson Hotel in 1907 and remained that until April Fools Day 1977 when the Campbells, along with good friend Mike Self, purchased it from Mary Moore and changed the name back to Hotel Wolf.
Hotel Wolf was restored by Doug and Kathy Campbell beginning in 1977 and is still the most prominent structure in town. Tourists flock to the Wolf for its world-renowned meals, especially the Wolf steak and prime rib, to drink at its historic bar and to stay in its unique rooms.
Information compiled from “Tough Country” by Gay Day Alcorn; Mark Junge, historian for Wyoming Recreation Commission, who was instrumental in getting the building enrolled on the National Register of Historic Places; “The Saratoga Sun” and the Bob Martin/Dick Perue collection.
