(Post and photos by David Miller, Rob Gilchrist, Ernie Blankenship, and Brian Childress)
Jackson is a town in the Jackson Hole valley of Teton County, Wyoming. The population was 10,760 at the 2020 census, up from 9,577 in 2010. It is the largest town in Teton County and its county seat. Jackson is the principal town of the Jackson, which includes Teton County in Wyoming and Teton County in Idaho. The town, often mistakenly called Jackson Hole, derives its name from the valley in which it is located. Jackson is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the ski resorts Jackson Hole Mountain, Snow King Mountain, and Grand Targhee, as well as Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
Jackson has gained notabilty since a livestream of its town square went viral on YouTube in 2016, leading to much fascination with the town's elk antler arches and unusually high prevalence of red pickup trucks. It first went viral when a sheriff stopped at a red light in the early hours of the morning, got out of his patrol car, and dabbed towards the camera before leaving.
Movies shot in Jackson include The Big Trail (1930), The Big Sky (1952), Shane (1953), Any Which Way You Can (1980), Rocky IV (1985), Ghosts Can't Do It (1990), and Django Unchained (2012). It is also a major location in the action-adventure video game The Last of Us (2013) and its sequel (2020), in which it is home to a large community of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world.
Coversations/Things we learned:
This is a lovely town near Yellowstone and Tetons National Parks. The town has a western historical feeling and there are wonderful and colorful stores and restaurants to shop and browse. The town has become a tourist magnet and can be an expensive endeavor for souvenirs and food. But this should be a stop you make when visiting Yellowstone and Tetons National Parks. The famous Gun Barrel Restaurant is in Jackson and featured later in this post.
Contact Information:
Website:
https://www.jacksonholechamber.com/
Jackson Antlers Gates at the Town Square:
Displays/Statues in Jackson:
Jackson Welcome Center:
Jackson American Legion:
St. John’s Campus:
Downtown Area:
Merry Piglets Restaurant:
The Gun Barrel Restaurant:
The Gun Barrel Steak & Game House, which is locally owned and operated, opened in 1993 in what had formerly been the Wyoming Wildlife Museum & Taxidermy. The Gun Barrel Steak & Game House name was taken from the small east Texas town of Gun Barrel City. The original 1950’s hand-painted town sign was given to us by the town.
Many of the museums full mount game trophies, which were taken from around Jackson Hole, can still be seen – some even in front of their original painted dioramas. In addition to these indigenous animals, there are numerous others from around the world, many of which were collected by us.
Most of the antique cowboy artifacts also come from Wyoming and many have historical significance; Hank William’s 1800’s buffalo coat that he wore on the Lone Wolf album; two Harrison Crandall colorized photographs taken in Grand Teton National Park in the forties; and eight original Edward Curtis portrait photogravures of American Indians taken circa 1890. Our largest gun is an .82 caliber rampart gun from India forged in the 1700’s.
The Gun Barrel’s mixed game platter is one of their most popular dishes, featuring a sampling of elk steak, buffalo prime rib, and venison bratwurst. They also offer other unique dishes, like Buffalo ribs – which tend to be 2-3 times larger than your average pork rib.
The Wort Hotel:
Vintage Mountain/Rock Climbing:
