Bob Edgar, a native of the Wyoming Big Horn Basin, had developed an interest in archaeology and history at a young age. After exploring much of the region and having spent seven years working as an archaeologist for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Bob realized that the old historical buildings and associated materials were rapidly disappearing from the landscape.
In the spring of 1967, the work began to gather the historic buildings and relics to be displayed at a site on the west side of Cody. This was the area Buffalo Bill and his associates had chosen for the first town site of “Cody City” in 1895.
Many of the buildings were taken completely apart, moved to  the new site and reassembled. The Old Trail Town collection now consists of 26 buildings, which date from 1879 to 1901, one hundred horse drawn vehicles, an extensive collection of memorabilia from the Wyoming frontier and authentic Indian artifacts.
The project has been helped by the support of the ranch people of the region and by the cooperation and support of many friends.Old Trail Town is the largest collection of its kind in Wyoming.