Laramie, WY

Union Pacific was making plans to have its tracks run across the Laramie Plains as early as 1864. The railroad went up and over the mountains from Cheyenne and reached Laramie May 4, 1868. Scheduled passenger service soon followed on June 7. The town was named for Jacques La Ramie, a trapper for the American Fur Company.

Andrew J. Russell imperial print, "Round House and Shops, Laramie, [Wyoming]," plate 39.

A.J. Russell's 19th century photographic images, contained in stereo card format, showing the rear view of machine shops in Laramie, Wyoming, 1869. Plate 140.

A.J. Russell's 19th century photographic images, contained in stereo card format, showing a man with a four month old bear cub, known as Cinnamon Bear, in Laramie, Wyoming, 1869. Plate 139.

A.J. Russell's 19th century photographic images, contained in stereo card format, showing machine shops in Laramie, Wyoming, 1869. Plate 138.

A.J. Russell's 19th century photographic images, contained in stereo card format, showing B Street, looking East, in Laramie, Wyoming, 1869. Plate 133.

A.J. Russell's 19th century photographic images, contained in stereo card format, showing the railroad employees' headquarters located in Laramie, Wyoming, 1869. Plate 129.

Similar to other towns in southern Wyoming, Laramie was designated an "end of tracks" town. As the tracks came through, folks would put up tent houses and log buildings. By the time the first trains came through, there would be a substantial number of residents.

By 1869, Laramie had a school, churches and stores, and the area was proving excellent for cattle and sheep ranching. Other industries developed over the years included mills for railroad rails, a brickyard, slaughter house, a brewery, a glass-blowing plant and a plaster mill. Pacific Fruit Express had an ice-storing plant in Laramie, filled with ice carved from local lakes. The ice would be loaded onto train fruit cars to keep produce fresh as it traveled to market. According to an early town history, Laramie also was one of the first small towns west of the Mississippi to have a power plant. It was built in 1886 and provided electricity to individuals and local businesses.

The area, once part of the Dakota Territory, was organized as Wyoming Territory in 1869. In December of that year the legislative assembly passed a general women's suffrage bill allowing Wyoming to become the first place in the United States where women could vote in every election. In 1870, a 70-year-old Laramie resident, Mrs. Swain, became the first woman to vote in a general election. In that same year, Laramie had the first jury on which women were allowed to serve.

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