Cody, Wyoming

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cody is a city in Park County, Wyoming and named after William Frederick Cody, primarily known as Buffalo Bill, from William Cody's part in the creation of the original town. The population was 8,835 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Park County^GR6.

Cody is served by Yellowstone Regional Airport.

1 Geography
2 Culture
3 Industry
4 Climate
5 Demographics
6 Trivia
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Cody is located at 44°31′24″N, 109°3′26″W (44.523244, -109.057109)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.7 km² (9.5 mi²). 24.0 km² (9.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (2.52%) is water.

Cody's elevation is about 5016 ft (1,500 m) above sea level. The main part of the city is split across two levels, separated by about 60 feet (18 m).

The Shoshone River flows through Cody in a fairly deep canyon. There are four bridges over this river in the Cody vicinity, one at the north edge of town that allows travel to the north, and one about 5 miles (8 km) east of Cody that allows passage to Powell and the areas to the north and east. The other two are west of town; one allows access to the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park, and the other is used by fishermen in Shoshone Canyon and as access to the Buffalo Bill Dam.

Cody is located at the western edge of the Bighorn Basin, a depression surrounded by the Big Horn, Wind River, and Absaroka ranges. At the western edge of Cody, a deep canyon formed by the "north fork" of the Shoshone River provides the only passage to Yellowstone's Eastern Entrance. At its mouth and rising above Cody are Rattlesnake Mountain on the north side and Cedar Mountain on the south side. Most of Cody has a spectacular view of Heart Mountain, whose 8000 ft (2,400 m) peak is 9 miles (14 km) directly north of Cody, and the Carter Mountains, which form a line with peaks at about 12,000 ft (3,700 m), some 15 miles (24 km) to the south.

[edit] Culture

near Cody, Wyoming

Themes surrounding Cody's pioneer and Cowboy and Western history are common in the cultural events and activities in the area. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is a large and modern facility located near the center of the city, and contains large collections, and is a favorite stopping point for tourists passing through the town, on their way to or from Yellowstone. During the summer, a re-enactment of a wild-west shoot-out takes place next to the Irma Hotel, another historical site still open for business with a hotel and restaurant, which forms the nucleus of the town.

Cody is one of the premier towns for rodeo. In the months of June, July, and August, Cody has a rodeo every night. It also hosts the Cody Stampede Rodeo, a large event centered around the weekend of July 4th.

One of the biggest weekends of the year celebrates the Old West and Cowboy culture with the annual Cody Old West Show & Auction. It happens every 4th weekend in June and attracts visitors from all around the world with an interest in Cowboy and Native American artifact and antiques.

[edit] Industry

Cody Rodeo

The primary industry in Cody is tourism. Hotels, restaurants and shops cater to travelers coming to visit the West and Yellowstone Park. Cody has several art galleries, and seems a magnet for artists. Some fairly famous painters and artists live in the area, and galleries feature things that vary from paintings to statues.

Another industry is western style furniture, with several small furniture makers producing custom pieces. An example would be Santos Furniture. All of these businesses seem to seek out unique local woods and craft them into useful works of art.

Another notable example would be Norseman Design, which does totally custom furniture, promising never to produce exact copies of anything they make, whether it be desks, conference tables, chairs, or beds—each the result of hundreds of hours of work by highly skilled wood crafters and artists.

The oil industry seems to wax and wane over the years in the Cody area. Husky Oil Company at one time had a large refinery just across the river on the north end of town, but it has since been dismantled and almost all traces of its existence are now gone. The office building is still there, and forms a large facility on the upper level of Cody, next to the post office. Celotex is a large factory that produces Sheetrock or plaster board for construction. Just to the south of Cody are large deposits of gypsum, which are being mined for the plant.

Another large business is the Y Tex Corp, which produces plastic ear tags for cattle, goats, sheep, etc. These tags are distributed all over the world, and their bright orange, green, red, yellow and blue tags with large black numbers can be seen gracing cattle almost anywhere.

A large contribution to the local economy are the local farmers and ranchers. The local climate does not often treat them kindly, but these hard-working, innovative businessmen have endured and are a strong presence in the area.

The Park County school system is another large employer in the area. Cody currently has three elementary schools that house kindergarten through the fifth grade, a middle school for sixth to eighth grade, and a four year high school.

[edit] Climate

The weather in the Big Horns is highly variable. Large temperature swings are always possible. Cold winters normally bring average lows of 10 °F (-12 °C). and hot summers can bring record 100 °F (38 °C). The humidity of the air is usually 30% or less, which is fairly dry. Precipitation averages 9 inches (229 mm) of rain per year, making the surrounding area a semi-arid desert. During the summer months of June, July and August, if it does snow, it is usually brief and melts quickly. Such events are not frequent, but there are sudden and drastic shifts in weather conditions.

Cody enjoys about 300 days of sunshine per year.

Wind is almost a constant presence in the Cody area and the Big Horn Basin in general. The air flow in the Basin is turbulent, but during the winter, most storms seem to move in from the north-northwest. During the summer, it is not unusual to see storms move in from the southwest. Throughout a normal day, winds can be experienced as coming from almost any direction, mostly from the north and west, but sometimes from the south and east. The Canyon at the west end of Cody seems to funnel rain and wind across the city from the west. The winds can be quite strong at 30 to 40 mph (50 to 60 km/h) and last for several days.

Because of the dryness of the climate, the entire area is laced with irrigation canals, holding ponds, laterals, and drops. The Buffalo Bill Dam between Rattlesnake and Cedar mountains forms a large reservoir about 10 miles (16 km) to the west of Cody. This reservoir (among others) feed a large system for irrigation water distribution.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 8,835 people, 3,791 households, and 2,403 families residing in the city. The population density was 367.6/km² (952.3/mi²). There were 4,113 housing units at an average density of 171.1/km² (443.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.90% White, 0.10% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.22% of the population.

There were 3,791 households out of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,450, and the median income for a family was $40,554. Males had a median income of $31,395 versus $19,947 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,813. About 9.4% of families and 13.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.3% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Trivia

Cody is home to a Carmelite monastery with cloistered monks.[1]
Cody is the burial site of John "Liver-Eating" Johnson known also as Jeremiah, at Old Trail Town.
Cody's official sister city is Lanchkhuti, Georgia.
Cody is home to the famed Cody Nite Rodeo.
Cody is the birthplace of the famous abstract artist Jackson Pollock.
Cody is referenced in the Kurt Vonnegut work Slaughterhouse Five as the home of a US Army colonel "Wild Bob"

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