Tour Guide, Laramie and Albany County, Wyoming: Historic Downtown Laramie, Wyoming's Hometown

From introduction: "The city of Laramie was founded in 1868 as a major stop on the Union Pacific Railroad (U.P.) — a place where steam engines were fueled, repaired, and made ready to haul passengers and freight. Early arrivals on the first trains included a volatile mixture of respectable, hardworking citizens from the East and a mixed bag of thugs who rode the rails while trying to stay one step ahead of the law. Within a few months some of the West’s most notorious criminals threatened the town’s very existence, their rowdy and often murderous behavior driving away law-abiding people. Out of desperation, a citizens’ vigilante committee was formed to take control, capturing and hanging some of the worst offenders and causing others to flee to the next end-of-the-tracks town. With law and order established, good people like businessman and philanthropist Edward Ivinson and trailblazing Louisa Swain — the first woman in history to cast a vote in a general election — began to build a prosperous community destined to grow into a progressive university town with a stable economic base. We encourage you to explore Laramie’s downtown area, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Enjoy the shops, restaurants and historic remnants of this former hell-on-wheels town. Learn about the places where Laramie’s first citizens lived, worked, and made their mark on this historic town. If you’re lucky enough to be close by when a train comes into town today, close your eyes for a minute when you hear its whistle and imagine you have just arrived in the “Gem City of the Plains” more than a century ago. Welcome to Laramie!" Project funding was provided in part by a 2013 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Albany County Historic Preservation Board (project number WY-13-07) administered by the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P13AF00107) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Albany County, Wyoming is a Certified Local Government.

Tour Guide, Laramie and Albany County, Wyoming: Historic Downtown Laramie, Wyoming's Hometown

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