Laramie Wyoming History & Facts

Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was estimated 32,711 in 2019, making it the third-largest city in Wyoming after Cheyenne and Casper. Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is north west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287.

Laramie was settled in the mid-19th century along the Union Pacific Railroad line, which crosses the Laramie River at Laramie. It is home to the University of Wyoming, WyoTech, and a branch of Laramie County Community College. Laramie Regional Airport serves Laramie. The ruins of Fort Sanders, an army fort predating Laramie, lie just south of the city along Route 287. Located in the Laramie Valley between the Snowy Range and the Laramie Range, the city draws outdoor enthusiasts with its abundance of outdoor activities.

In 2011, Laramie was named as one of the best cities in which to retire by Money Magazine, which cited its scenic location, low taxes, and educational opportunities.

Laramie was named for Jacques LaRamie, a French or French-Canadian trapper who disappeared in the Laramie Mountains in the early 1820s and was never heard from again. He was one of the first Europeans to visit the area. European-American settlers named a river, mountain range, peak, US Army fort, county, and city for him. More Wyoming landmarks are named for him than for any other trapper but Jim Bridger. Because the name was used so frequently, the town was called Laramie City for decades to distinguish it from other uses.

The city was founded in the mid-1860s as a tent city near the Overland Stage Line route, the Union Pacific portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and just north of Fort Sanders army post. The rails reached Laramie on May 4, 1868 when construction crews worked through town. A few passengers arrived on that same day. The first regular passenger service began on May 10, 1868, by which time entrepreneurs were building more permanent structures. Laramie City (as it was known in early years) soon had stores, houses, a school, and churches. Laramie's fame as the western terminal of the Union Pacific Railroad, acquired when the 268-mile (431 km) section from North Platte, Nebraska was opened in May, ended in early August 1868 when a 93-mile (150 km) section of track was opened to Benton, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of present-day Sinclair, Wyoming.

The frontier town initially suffered from lawlessness. Its first mayor, M. C. Brown, resigned his office on June 12, 1868 after six turbulent weeks, saying that the other officials elected alongside him on May 2 were guilty of "incapacity and laxity" in dealing with the city's problems. This was due to the threat to the community from three half-brothers, early Old West gunman "Big" Steve Long, Con Moyer and Ace Moyer. Long was Laramie's first marshal, and with his brothers owned the saloon Bucket of Blood. The three began harassing settlers, forcing them to sign over the deeds to their property to them. Any who refused were killed, usually goaded into a gunfight by Long. By October 1868, Long had killed 13 men.

Laramie is located at 41°18′47″N 105°35′14″W (41.312927, −105.587251). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.76 square miles (46.00 km2), of which 17.74 square miles (45.95 km2) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km2) is water.

Laramie is on a high plain between two mountain ranges, the Snowy Range, about 30 miles (48 km) to the west, and the Laramie Range, 7 miles (11 km) to the east. The city's elevation above sea level is approximately 7,165 feet (2,184 m). The Laramie River runs through Laramie toward its confluence with the North Platte River east of the Laramie Range.

The city is about 50 miles (80 km) west of Cheyenne, and 130 miles (209 km) north of Denver, Colorado. Laramie lies along U.S. Route 30, Interstate 80, and U.S. Route 287, and it remains an important junction on the Union Pacific Railroad line.

Famous Peoples From Laramie Wyoming

Sheridan Downey

(March 11, 1884 – October 25, 1961) was an American lawyer and a Democratic U.S. Senator from California from 1939 to 1950.

He was born in Laramie, the seat of Albany County in western Wyoming, the son of the former Evangeline Victoria Owen and Stephen Wheeler Downey. He was educated in public schools of Laramie, and attended the University of Wyoming. Downey attended the University of Michigan Law School, and attained admission to the bar in 1907. In 1914, the school awarded Downey his LL.B. degree as of the graduating class of 1907. He practiced law in Laramie, and in 1908 he was elected district attorney of Albany County as a Republican. In 1910 he married Helen Symons; they had five children. In 1912, Downey split Wyoming's Republican vote by heading the state's "Bull Moose" revolt in support of Theodore Roosevelt, thus leading to a Democratic victory statewide.

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