After 12,000 years or more of Indigenous populations living in the area,[6] Laramie was settled by European Americans in 1868 with the completion of theUnion Pacific Railroad line to the area, which crosses the Laramie River at Laramie. The river and several creeks fed by freshwater springs made the area an attractive place for settlement. It is home to theUniversity of Wyoming,WyoTech, and a branch ofLaramie County Community College.Laramie Regional Airport serves Laramie. The ruins ofFort Sanders, an army fort predating Laramie, lie just south of the city along Route 287. Located in the Laramie Valley between theSnowy Range and theLaramie Range, the city draws outdoor enthusiasts with its abundance of outdoor activities.
Laramie is named forJacques La Ramee, a French or French-Canadian trapper who disappeared in the Laramie Mountains in the early 1820s. 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 butJim Bridger.[7]
The city was founded in the mid-1860s as a tent city near theOverland Stage Line route, theUnion Pacific portion of thefirst 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.[8][9] 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.[10] Laramie's fame as thewestern terminal of the Union Pacific Railroad, acquired when the 268-mile (431 km) section fromNorth 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-daySinclair, Wyoming.
The frontier town initially suffered from lawlessness. Its firstmayor,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.[11] This was due to the threat to the community from three half-brothers, earlyOld Westgunman"Big" Steve Long, Con Moyer and Ace Moyer. Long was Laramie's firstmarshal, and with his brothers owned thesaloon 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.
The first Albany Countysheriff, rancherN. K. Boswell, organized a "Vigilance Committee" in response. On October 28, 1868, Boswell led the committee into the Bucket of Blood, overwhelmed the three brothers, andlynched them at an unfinished cabin down the street. Through a series of other lynchings and other forms of intimidation, the vigilantes reduced the "unruly element" and established a semblance of law and order.[12]
By the end of the decade, Laramie became the cultural and economic center of the newly organizedWyoming Territory.[13] In 1869, Wyoming's first legislature passed a bill granting equal political rights to women in the territory. In March 1870, five Laramie residents became the first women in the world to serve on a jury.[13] As Laramie was the first town in Wyoming to hold a municipal election, on September 6, 1870, Laramie residentLouisa Swain was the first woman in the United States to cast a legal vote in a general election.[10]
Laramie was officially incorporated on January 13, 1874.[14]
Early businesses included rolling mills, a railroad-tie treatment plant, a brick yard, a slaughterhouse, a brewery, a glass manufacturing plant, and a plaster mill, as well as the railroad yards. In 1886, a plant to produce electricity was built.[10] Several regional railroads were based in Laramie, including theLaramie, North Park and Pacific Railroad and Telegraph Company founded in 1880 and theLaramie, North Park and Western Railroad established in 1901.
GovernorFrancis E. Warren signed a bill that established theUniversity of Wyoming (UW) in 1886, the only public university in the state. Laramie was chosen as its site, and UW opened there in 1887. Under the terms of theMorrill Act, also known as the Land Grant College Act, in 1891 UW added an agricultural college and experiment station to gain benefits as a land grant college.[15]
The city was covered by international media in 1998 after the murder ofMatthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming. His murder generated an international outcry.[16] It became the symbolic focus for a nationwide campaign against gayhate crimes. Federal hate crimes legislation was signed into law in 2009.[17] As of May 2023, Wyoming does not have a hate crimes law,[18] having failed to pass its most recent attempt at a hate crimes law in March 2021.[19] Shepard's murder was the subject of the award-winning play, later adapted as a movie,The Laramie Project.[20]
In 2004, Laramie became the first city in Wyoming to pass a law to prohibit smoking in enclosed workplaces, including bars, restaurants and private clubs.[21] Opponents of the clean indoor airordinance, funded in part by theR. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, immediately petitioned to have the ordinance repealed. However, the voters upheld the ordinance in a citywidereferendum which was conducted concurrently with the 2004 general election. The opponents challenged the validity of the election in court, claiming various irregularities. The judge ruled that the opponents had failed to meet their burden of showing significant problems with the election, and the ordinance, which had become effective in April 2005, remained in effect.[22] In August 2005, Laramie's City Council defeated an attempt to amend the ordinance to allow smoking in bars and private clubs.
According to theUnited 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.[23]
Laramie is on a high plain between two mountain ranges, theSnowy Range, about 30 miles (48 km) to the west, and theLaramie Range, 7 miles (11 km) to the east. The city's elevation abovesea level is approximately 7,165 feet (2,184 m). TheLaramie River runs through Laramie toward its confluence with theNorth Platte River east of the Laramie Range.
The city is about 50 miles (80 km) west ofCheyenne, and 130 miles (209 km) north ofDenver, Colorado. Laramie lies alongU.S. Route 30, Interstate 80, and U.S. Route 287, and it remains an important junction on the Union Pacific Railroad line.
Laramie has acold semi-arid climate (KöppenBSk) with long, cold, dry winters and short, warm, somewhat wetter summers.
Laramie's total precipitation averages about 11 inches (280 mm) a year, and the average number of rainy days per year is about 86. The city experiences an afternoon that is 90 °F (32.2 °C) or hotter 2.2 times a year, and a morning that is 0 °F (−17.8 °C) or colder 23 times in an average year. The average temperature in December is 21.1 °F (−6.1 °C), and in July it is 64.0 °F (17.8 °C). Annual snowfall averages 48 inches or 1.2 meters, although there is no record of more than 20 inches or 0.51 meters on the ground. Because of the high elevation, winters are long, and summers short and relatively cool. The growing season is short, as the average window for freezing temperatures is September 14 through June 6, while for accumulating (≥0.1 inches or 0.0025 meters) snow it is October 5 through May 12.
Climate data for Laramie, Wyoming (Laramie Regional Airport), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1892–present
As of the2010 Census,[32] there were 30,816 people, 13,394 households, and 5,843 families residing in the city. Thepopulation density was 1,737.1 inhabitants per square mile (670.7/km2). There were 14,307 housing units at an average density of 806.5 per square mile (311.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 89.5%White, 3.2%Asian, 2.8% from two or more races, 2.5% fromother races, 1.3%African American, 0.7%Native American, and 0.1%Pacific Islander. 9.2% of residents wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 13,394 households, of which 20.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.0% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 56.4% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.85.
The median age in the city was 25.4 years. 15.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 32.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.5% were from 25 to 44; 17.4% were from 45 to 64; and 7.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 52.0% male and 48.0% female.
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 27,204 people, 11,336 households, and 5,611 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,442.5 people per square mile (942.9/km2). There were 11,994 housing units at an average density of 1,076.9 per square mile (415.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 90.81% White, 1.24% African American, 0.89% Native American, 1.92% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.89% from other races, and 2.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 7.94% of the population.
There were 11,336 households, out of which 23.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.5% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the city, 17.5% of the population was under the age of 18, 31.8% was from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,319, and the median income for a family was $43,395. Males had a median income of $30,888 versus $22,009 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $16,036. About 11.1% of families and 22.6% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
Laramie Jubilee Days started in 1940 to celebrate Wyoming Statehood Day on July 10. Since then, Jubilee Days has expanded to include several days around theFourth of July. Events typically include food, live music, games,carnival rides, a streetfair, a parade, a softball tournament, androdeo events.[33]
The Geological Museum at the University of Wyoming is open to the public and houses more than 50,000 catalogued mineral, rock, and fossil specimens, including a dinosaur exhibit.[34] The university's art museum offers gallery exhibits, lectures, workshops, classes, and public tours year-round.[35] The Fine Arts Concert Hall on campus presents frequent concerts and recitals during the school year.[36] Housed in the Ivinson Mansion near the center of town is the Laramie Plains Museum.[37] The Wyoming Children's Museum and Nature Center has interactive exhibits and pottery classes for children aged three and older.[38] In 2012, theWyoming House for Historic Women was opened in downtown Laramie.[39][40]
The central library of the Albany County Library system, with a wide range of materials for adults and children, is near downtown Laramie; the system's branch libraries are inCentennial, 28 miles (45 km) west of Laramie andRock River, 32 miles (51 km) northwest of Laramie.[41]William Robertson Coe Library, the main library of the University of Wyoming, has materials for general research in business, education, fine arts, science, humanities, and the social sciences as well as audio visual and government documents collections. The Brinkerhoff Geology Library specializes in geology, geophysics, physical geography, mining and petroleum geology, and geological engineering. Also at the university are the George W. Hooper Law Library, the Library Annex, a high-density storage facility located in the basement of the UW Science Complex, the Rocky Mountain Herbarium Library, a learning resources center with materials for teachers and children, and an archives, rare book, and manuscript repository known as the American Heritage Center.[42]
TheUniversity of WyomingCowboys and Cowgirls compete at theNCAA Division I level (FBS-Football Bowl Subdivision for football) as members of theMountain West Conference. UW offers 17 NCAA-sanctioned sports teams – nine women's sports and eight men's sports. Wyoming's nine NCAA sports for women include basketball; cross country; golf; soccer; swimming and diving; tennis; indoor track & field; outdoor track and field; and volleyball. UW's eight NCAA sports for men include basketball; cross country; football; golf; swimming and diving; indoor track and field; outdoor track and field; and wrestling.
Sports enthusiasts find much to do in and near Laramie, nestled at 7,165 feet (2,184 m) above sea level between the Laramie Range (Laramie Mountains) and the Snowy Range (Medicine Bow Mountains). Popular activities include skiing,snowmobiling,mountain biking,hunting, fishing, and hiking.
Rock climbing, hiking, and camping are among the attractions ofVedauwoo, an assemblage of weathered granite slabs, boulders, and cliffs covering 10 square miles (26 km2) in theMedicine Bow – Routt National Forest, about 16 miles (26 km) east of Laramie off Interstate 80.[44]
Volunteers from the Medicine Bow Nordic Association, in cooperation with theForest Service, maintain groomedcross-country ski trails in a sector of the Laramie Range about 10 miles (16 km) east of the city.[45] To the west, Snowy Range cross-country trails run through the national forest west of Centennial, and other trails follow gentle terrain 32 miles (51 km) southwest of Laramie nearWoods Landing. Miles of snowmobile trails wind through the forests, and many forest areas are open to travel bysnowshoe.[46]The Snowy Range Ski Area, about 30 miles (48 km) west of Laramie off Wyoming Highway 130, offersdownhill skiing andsnowboarding on 27 trails ranging in difficulty from beginner to expert.[47]
Laramie is a center for mountain biking. Mountain bike trails meander through forests in the Laramie Range and the Snowy Range. The Medicine Bow Mountain Bike Patrol, part of the Laramie Bicycling Network, is a non-profit volunteer organization that works with the Forest Service to patrol and maintain biking trails east of Laramie. The Medicine Bow Rail–Trail is a mountain bike trail, 21 miles (34 km) long, built between 2005 and 2007 on the bed of an abandoned railroad southwest of Laramie. It starts near the town of Albany and Lake Owen and extends south to the town of Mountain Home near the Wyoming–Colorado border. The Laramie Enduro 111K, an endurance mountain bike race of 111 kilometres (69 mi) is held annually on Laramie Range trails.[48]
Other annual events include the Poker Run recreational ski race held in the Snowy Mountains each February, and the Tour De Laramie, a bicycle rally with stops at local pubs held in May. TheWyoming Marathon Races, a series of running and ultra-running events held inMedicine Bow National Forest, are held annually eachMemorial Day weekend.
Trout fishing is another popular sport in and near Laramie. The Laramie River, which flows north into Wyoming from Colorado, is fished as are the smaller streams in both mountain ranges and the many small plains lakes in the Laramie Basin.[49]
Other outdoor activities popular near Laramie include camping, picnicking, rafting on the Laramie River and the North Platte River, viewing of wildlife such as mule deer, elk, moose, and pronghorn, and general sightseeing. For 27 miles (43 km) of its length as it crosses the Snowy Range, the Highway 130 corridor has been designated aNational Forest Scenic Byway.[50]
Laramie has 14 city parks.[51] In addition to a public country club and golf course, Laramie residents also have access to the University of Wyoming's 18-hole golf course[52] and to a wide variety of university recreation sites.[53]
The Community Recreation Center has pools and several other facilities.[54] The Community Ice Arena is open to the general public.[55]
According to a 2012 report by theWyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), a former industrial site for the production of aluminum, arsenic acid, strategic metals and cement now owned by L.C. Holdings, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Laramie hadarsenic concentrations in on-site water well samples 3,100-times higher than DEQ cleanup levels.[56] The site has been storing a 1,000-ton pile of contaminated flue dust fromBunker Hill Mine and Smelting Complex, an Idahosuperfund site, under a tarp since the 1980s.[56] In 2011 L.C. Holdings entered the DEQ's "Voluntary Remediation Program".
Laramie has acouncil–manager form of government. The council, the city's legislative body, consists of nine members who serve overlapping four-year terms. The council members set policy, approve budgets, pass ordinances, appoint citizen volunteers to advisory boards, and oversee the city staff.[57] Three members of the council are elected from each of three wards. The council picks a mayor and vice-mayor once every two years at the first council meeting in January.[57] Laramie is the county seat of Albany County and houses county offices, courts,[58] and the county library.
In 2015, Laramie passed an LGBT anti-discrimination bill.[59] The ordinance bans discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodations such as bars and restaurants.[59]
Albany County School District#1, the only school district in the county,[60] is headquartered in Laramie. It governs 19 public schools in an area of 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2) including Laramie, Centennial, Rock River, and rural locations. A total of about 4,000 students attend these schools, the Laramie fraction of which includes seven elementary schools, one middle school,Laramie High School, and Whiting High School.[61] Snowy Range Academy, a charter school, serves children in gradesK–7.[62] The University of Wyoming also offers a Lab School (colloquially referred to as "Prep") for K–9 students.[63]
St. Laurence, a Catholic school of theRoman Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne, formerly served children in grades K–6.[64] It opened in 1951 and in 2016 it had 30 students.[65] It closed on June 30, 2016, as its costs had increased and the numbers of students had declined.[66] Laramie Montessori School now occupies the campus.[65]
The main campus of theUniversity of Wyoming is in Laramie. In fall 2024, about 8,200 students were enrolled there for live instruction at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, with nearly 2,300 others enrolled in online programs.[67] A branch campus ofLaramie County Community College is also in Laramie.
TheWyoTech campus offers 9-month courses in Automotive Technology, Collision & Refinishing Technology, and Diesel Technology, as well as a variety of specialized industry programs—including High-Performance Power Trains, Street Rod, Trim and Upholstery, Chassis Fabrication, and Applied Service Management.
From 1958 to 1962, Laramie was the setting forABC TV seriesLawman, starringJohn Russell andPeter Brown, and from 1959 to 1963,Laramie was also the name of anNBCwesterntelevision series, starringJohn Smith andRobert Fuller as ranch partners who operate a stagecoach station 12 miles (19 km) east of the city.[72] In July 2017, the 83-year-old Fuller visited the city for the first time, serving as grandmaster of Laramie's annual Jubilee Days parade and festivities.
In 2011, German actor and writerJoachim Meyerhoff wrote his first novel,Amerika, about the year he spent as a student in Laramie. The book was a bestseller inGermany.[74]
SkyWest Airlines (United) provides daily commercial flights betweenLaramie Regional Airport andDenver International Airport in Denver, Colorado.[75] The airport, 3 miles (5 km) west of the central business district on WYO 130, is operated and financed by the City of Laramie and Albany County. In addition to commercial flights, the airport serves private and corporate planes and atmospheric research aircraft from the University of Wyoming.[76]
TheUniversity of Wyoming Transit System provides bus service in the city. While it is primarily centered on students and staff at the university, it is open to the general public.[77]
Laramie has multiple taxi companies, as well asUber service, which launched in 2017.
For intercity service, Laramie is served byGreyhound Lines, with service to and from Cheyenne and Fort Collins. Green Ride of Northern Colorado provides service from Laramie to Fort Collins and Denver International Airport.
Laramie had passenger rail service from the Union Pacific until 1971.Amtrak continued service until 1983 on thePioneer, then again from 1991 to 1997. Only curbsideAmtrak Thruway bus service is currently available.[78]
The formerUnion Pacific passenger depot in Laramie was donated to theLaramie Plains Museum in 1985, and then to the Laramie Railroad Depot Association in 2009, which operates it as a small museum and a venue for community events.
The city's drinking water comes from the Big Laramie River, the largest single source, and wellfields in the CasperAquifer,[79] and it is treated in a modern plant.[80] The current wastewater plant began operation in 1998.[81] The Solid Waste Division operates the city-owned landfill, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the city.[82] Laramie has 135 miles (217 km) of streets and 31 miles (50 km) of alleys.[83]
Grace Raymond Hebard (1861–1936), Wyoming historian, suffragist, pioneering scholar, prolific writer, political economist and noted University of Wyoming educator
Ken Sailors (1921–2016), basketball player, credited with inventing the jump shot, graduated from Laramie High School, in 1943 led the University of Wyoming Cowboys in winning the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship
Matthew Shepard (1976–1998), University of Wyoming student, victim of hate-motivated murder
Pete Simpson (born 1930), university administrator, historian, politician
^correspondent, W. Dale Nelson Star-Tribune (November 4, 2004)."Laramie approves smoking ban".Casper Star-Tribune. RetrievedFebruary 13, 2024.{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)
^Laramie (Western), Robert Fuller, John Smith, Spring Byington,Dennis Holmes, Revue Studios, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), September 15, 1959, retrievedSeptember 6, 2020{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^"Hell on Wheels: Truth or Fiction".Wyoming Postscripts. Wyoming State Archives. July 23, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2016.Hell on Wheels, a television series with the backdrop of the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 1860s..., Season 5, set in California and Laramie, Wyoming, premiered last Saturday.
