The National Park Service celebrated its 100th birthday in 2016. In the years since the NPS took over park management, Yellowstone National Park has changed profoundly. Here's how things looked in 1916 compared to 2016.
Number of Visitors
Early Yellowstone visitors at Handkerchief Pool (1923)
National Park Service
A crowd watches Old Faithful erupt on a summer afternoon.
NPS Jacob W Frank
2016
1916
4,257,177 park visitors
35,849 park visitors
Train Stations
A stagecoach leaving the Gardiner train station headed to Yellowstone (1904)
National Park Service
2016
1916
0 train stations at entrance towns
5 train stations, the closest being Gardiner and West Yellowstone
Cost of Hotel
The Old Faithful Inn in 1912
National Park Service
Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn current day
Grant Ordelheide
2016
1916
$208 for a standard hotel room in Old Faithful Inn
$50 for an all-inclusive 5.25-day package that included lodging, meals and stagecoach tours
Park Roads
A car stuck on a muddy road in Yellowstone (1925)
National Park Service
Yellowstone's East Entrance Road over Sylvan Pass current day
NPS/Neal Herbert
2016
1916
310 miles of paved roads
0 miles of paved roads
Entrance Fees
Cars driving under the Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone's north entrance (1924)
National Park Service
Car driving under Roosevelt Arch in 2016
NPS/Neal Herbert
2016
1916
$30 park entrance fee
$5-10 park entrance fee, depending on the number of seats in your car
Park Rangers
A Yellowstone park ranger feeding a marmot in the 1930s
National Park Service
Park Ranger Heather Basak at Palette Spring, current day
NPS/Jacob W Frank
2016
1916
800 park rangers
~25 park rangers
Park Lodges
Yellowstone's Mammoth Hotel in 1913
National Park Service
Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, current day
Jeff Vanuga
2016
1916
9 park lodges
8 park lodges
Number of Months Open to Visitors
Removing the snow with hand shovels on Swan Lake Flat (no date)
National Park Service
Snowplowing Madison to Old Faithful, current day
NPS/David Restivo
2016
1916
12 months open to park visitors
2.5 months open to park visitors (June 15-Sept. 1)
Number of National Park Sites
"Half Dome, Apple Orchard, Yosemite”
Ansel Adams, April 1933
2016
1916
410 national park sites across the nation
30 national park sites across the nation
Number of Wolves in the Park
Yellowstone rangers with coyote pelts in 1927
National Park Service
2016
1916
99 wolves in the park
Darn-near 0 wolves in the park, according to park historian Lee Whittlesey
At the battlefield, retrace steps of Indian warriors and U.S. soldiers. At the Crazy Horse Memorial, see the world’s largest mountain-carving-in-progress.
Tucked next to the Wind River Range near Yellowstone, you’ll find the lively historic town that paved the way for women to receive the right to vote in 1869.
U.S. Army cavalry men protected the park from poachers and those looking to exploit its natural resources before the National Park Service 32 years later.