Cities, Towns & Counties

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Title Article Type Author
A.M.E. Church, Rock Springs Encyclopedia Brigida R. (Brie) Blasi
African-American women voters, early Wyoming elections Encyclopedia Wyoming State Archives
Airmail, U.S. in Wyoming Encyclopedia Steve Wolff
Albany County, Wyoming Encyclopedia Marguerite Herman
Atlantic City, Wyo. Encyclopedia Lori Van Pelt

Union Pacific locomotives still rumble through Cheyenne, as they first did 150 years ago. But after the railroad arrived in November 1867, skeptics questioned whether the town would last, as so many other end-of-tracks communities had died once the graders and tracklayers moved on.

As an agricultural depression swept Wyoming, one of Powell’s banks temporarily closed. The owner of a second, S.A. Nelson, ordered tellers to stack cash in plain sight to calm jittery depositors. Thirty-six banks failed in Wyoming in 1924 alone. Confidence eventually returned—but only very slowly.

Historian Grace Raymond Hebard worked with Laramie banker Edward Ivinson on a monument to honor Albany County soldiers who fought and died in the Great War. The eagle-topped memorial at the corner of Sixth and Ivinson lists more than a thousand who served—and 32 who died.

Starting a newspaper is tough, even without rivals. Against enormous odds, the Jackson Hole News managed to not only thrive while competing for three decades with the Jackson Hole Guide, it ended up buying the established newspaper and merging into the Jackson Hole News&Guide, which survives today.

Stability can be fleeting in a boom-and-bust economy, especially for racial minorities facing discrimination. African-Americans struggled to earn respect in early 20th century Wyoming, and building churches in Rock Springs and other towns helped them anchor their lives with a sense of belonging.

Another high heating bill? A newspaperman wondered why. What he found led the Casper Star-Tribune on a probe in 1984 that revealed how a gas company was passing the cost of its own mismanagement on to Casper customers. It saved residents money, and earned a Pulitzer nod.

In May 1950, Louise Spinner Graf served as foreman of a jury in Green River, Wyo.—practically the first Wyoming jury to include women since 1871. The jury convicted Otto Long of second-degree murder. Afterward, Long’s attorney blamed the outcome on “those damn women.” Women have served successfully on Wyoming juries ever since.

Journalist Merris Barrow arrived in Douglas, Wyo., in 1886 to treat readers to a newspaper “written to be read”—Bill Barlow’s Budget. It needled the powerful and tickled its readers, all while boosting the town. Barrow’s monthly Sagebrush Philosophy circulated nationwide. He died in 1910, just 53 years old.

Two highly educated families of African-American farmers founded Empire, Wyo., near the Nebraska line northeast of Torrington in 1908. At one time it boasted school, church and post office. But drought, low crop prices and, evidence shows, the racial prejudices of their neighbors drove the people away; all were gone by 1930.