The Homesteader Museum is one of two area buildings to be up for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Curator Brandi Wright said the nominations for the museum as well as the Sage Creek Community Club to be on the National Register of Historic Places are finalized and to the state for approval. If the state does indeed approve the museum as Wright expects in October, then the National Parks Service would make the final approval next spring.

In June, both entities were nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.The nomination for Homesteader Museum started with former Heart Mountain Interpretive Center Executive Director Dakota Russell. He initially wanted to register the Needles in the Shoshone National Forest, but when that fell through, he had designated the Homesteader Museum as the next best choice. Other local places designated for listing in recent years include the Clay Butte Fire Lookout, listed in 2014, and the Pagoda Creek, listed in 2017.

If the museum is registered, it will join the Ralston Community Clubhouse, the Powell Post Office, Pioneer School in Clark, along with a number of Cody buildings — the city’s downtown has a historic designation.

Wright said that more than anything, being on the register will give the museum access to more grants to help maintain the building. The log building was started in 1933 and finished in 1934 as the town’s American Legion. It was built on a block reserved for more publicly focused buildings during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, and has thus been used as some type of community center throughout its life, Wright said.

“The block was designated as a community block,” she said.

In 1976 the building became home to the museum, which the city started and which was initially to go into a historic building across the street until that was torn down.

As part of the process to be registered, Wright is holding an open house from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday to explain to people about the nomination process, what it will mean for the organization, as well as an overview of the museum, and building history.

She also attended a recent open house at Sage Creek a clubhouse east of Cody, which was also a special experience for Wright, who grew up in Cody attending dances at the nearly 100-year-old building.

Now, Wright said she’s mostly just excited for the lengthy process to be nearing a likely happy conclusion.

“It’s a long process,” she said, “but the nomination is in, the forms are filled out.”