| Bill Sommers |
| Cooke City has gone through several cycles of feast and famine. The Sommers family was one of the few who saw the promise that Cooke City held during the 1940's. Bill moved to Cooke as a very young man with his father. The photos below will share some of the Sommer's family history over the past 60 years in Cooke City. |
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The first photo shows the Sommers Motel as Bill's Father purchased it in 1942 from Ed Bice. The rooms were built on Stilts. |
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A front view of the property in 1942 |
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This was the gasoline station portion of the Sommer's property The photo shows Ed Sommers. Ed Brice and a black Cocker Spaniel. |
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Five Buck for 2 persons!! October 1958. Ma Perkin's Restaurant and Nick Babiluks Union 76 in the background. |
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This photo shows the progression of the motel as the family made improvements and expanded. The Allison building is at the very far left of the picture and the two cabin roofs shown to the right of the sign are at Kelly's Motel. Today the cabins from Kelly's Motel are part of the elk Horn Lodge. |
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A postcard I came across showing the Auto court. Date unknown. |
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Here's young Bill pumping gas at the family station in October 1958. Interesting photo of the Cooke City street. |
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Rick, Bill, Betty and Vicky |
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Linderman's Bar going up in flames. Bill ran a garden hose across the street to fight the fire, but by the time the hose worked it was too late. |
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