Jackson

History

Jackson was originally populated by Native American tribes including the Shoshoni, Crow, Blackfeet, Bannock, and Gros Ventre. In the early 1800s, the locality became a prime area for trappers and mountain men to travel through, one example being John Colter. After being discharged from the Corps of Discovery of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806 at Fort Mandan, in present-day North Dakota, Colter visited Jackson Hole during the winter of 1807/1808. Other mountain men who visited the valley include Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, and William Sublette, who are responsible for many of the names in the area. David Edward Jackson gave his name to the valley after a winter spent on the shores of Jackson Lake. As part of the Hayden Expedition of 1871 and 1872, William Henry Jackson took the first photographs of the Teton Range and Yellowstone. His photographs along with the sketches by Tom Moran, were important evidence to convince Congress to protect Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone National Park became the first National Park in 1872. Grand Teton National Park was created in 1929 and greatly expanded in 1950 after John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased and then donated over . The town of Jackson was named in 1894 and incorporated in 1914. Some of the early buildings remain and can be found throughout the area of the Town Square. The town of Jackson elected an all-woman city government (including town council and mayor, who in turn appointed women to town marshal, town clerk and treasurer) in 1920. The first ski rope tow was built at Teton Pass in 1937 and Snow King Resort was established in 1930. Teton County has three excellent ski areas including Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village, Grand Targhee Ski, and Summer Resort located on the western slope of the…

Geography

Jackson is located at an elevation of above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (1.03%) is water. Flat Creek, a tributary of the Snake River, runs through the town. Jackson experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), with warm summers and very cold winters. Due to its location in a very narrow river valley, Jackson and the rest of the Snake headwaters experience a unique microclimate that gets considerably more precipitation–much of it snow–than the majority of Wyoming and has higher humidity during much of the year. Its elevation is also responsible for extreme differences between day and night temperatures, which makes the climate very close to being classified as subarctic (Köppen Dfc). Extreme temperatures range from on December 20, 1924, to on July 17, 1934, and July 20, 1934, and on average 236.0 mornings fall below freezing and 34.7 of these below ; the 1991 to 2020 average window for subzero Fahrenheit temperatures is from November 22 to March 3, while the window for freezing temperature is from August 22 to July 5, but freezing temperature have been recorded on every single day of the year except for July 25. Snowfall averages . The highest monthly total has been in January 1969, and the most in one season being between July 1966 and June 1967.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Jackson Hole High School
  High · Jackson · 822 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• Jackson Hole Middle School
  Middle · Jackson · 703 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• Munger Mountain Elementary School
  Elementary · Jackson · 366 students · 11.1:1 ratio
• Jackson Elementary
  Elementary · Jackson · 296 students · 9:1 ratio
• Colter Elementary
  Elementary · Jackson · 293 students · 9.2:1 ratio
• Wilson Elementary
  Elementary · Wilson · 188 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• Summit Innovations School
  High · Jackson · 34 students · 5.7:1 ratio
• Red Top Meadows
  High · Wilson · 2 students