Brenda Whitman, Realtor, Laramie, Wyoming

Laramie, Wyoming. We have some culture, really - we do! The challenge of this just for fun series . . .

Can You Find It ?!

If you haven't been to or live in Laramie, Wyoming, it won't be easy to do the "Can You Find It?" part of this challenge. However, I hope that far away visitors can still enjoy the pictures. (Though, for this particular sculpture, the building peeking over the rise in the road will still allow anyone who has seen a particular previous blog to know, at least, what it is near. . . )

(This series was inspired by Sculpture, A Wyoming Invitational. www.uwartmuseum.blogspot.com )

While driving down the street , I almost drove past this giant flag without noticing it . . . because it was doing what flags do around here - flapping vigorously in the daily wind. It is only when flags hang limply from their ropes that we stop in our tracks and say, "Hey, the wind isn't blowing...." as we look around suspiciously.

Flag flying here is not for the timid as the message will be delivered "Loud and Proud".

P.S. Flags flown here get tattered quickly, needing replaced every 4 to 8 months.
There are probably plans to replace this one. So please, don't let its tattered condition offend you!

Laramie, Wyoming: What Is It? (#1)

This wasn't always a pile of rubble - can you guess what it used to be?

Hints:

-At the time it was built, it did not use electricity.
-It is located by the river and the railroad tracks.
-Yes, that is solid concrete.

It is also true that now this is pretty much an eyesore, but if you enjoyed cold milk, or even perhaps ice cream in the early 1900's, then you had a place like this to thank. Why?

Because this was an Ice House. Back then, people cut blocks of ice from the river, hauled them up to places like this, and surrounded the ice by thick, layers of sawdust where it could and would last up to a year. It was quite a business!

Surprisingly, I couldn't find anything about this particular ice house online. But, from what I remember, this ice house is so enormous (this is only the south half) because it was built for the railroad. Just imagine all the ice they needed to ship refrigerated goods from coast to coast! Laramie would have been the perfect place to stop and refresh their supplies.

I would guess these concrete chambers were surrounded by a wooden structure, insulated roof and strong, thick doors to every compartment. It must have been quite a sight with all the ramps for sliding the big ice blocks from the river and then later, to the trains.

This won't be a place on anybody's "To Do" list if they come to Laramie, but if you do happen to drive by it you can now say, "Hey, I know what that is!"

(Post #16 in the "Why I Love Laramie" series)

Trains. The Transcontinental Railroad. The main reason many towns across the mid United Stated exist at all. Naturally, these towns sprung up on both sides of the tracks and early on people just crossed them to get from one side of town to the other.

However, as towns grew and more tracks were laid, there came a time when it was no longer fitting, and downright dangerous, for people to make their way across the actual tracks. So that is how crossings like the Garfield Street Footbridge came about.

You'd think that by now it would be obsolete - a relic of old times. That everyone going anywhere just goes in a car. Surprisingly, a good number of people still use this bridge every day. Most use it as the crossing it was intended to be whereas others like to go up and just watch the trains - feeling, not just hearing, the roar as they rattle by underneath.

Its just another little piece of Laramie history that is still around. And seriously, the trains are amazing up close!

(Post #14 in the "Why I Love Laramie" series)

The Wyoming Territorial Prison's claim to fame is that it once housed the outlaw Butch Cassidy and other members of his "Hole in the Wall" gang. The prison was finished in 1872 and held prisoners for offenses that ranged from shoplifting to murder.

When the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins was completed in 1903, the Wyoming Territorial Prison closed its doors. Until restoration began in 1989, the prison, outbuildings and grounds were used by the University of Wyoming as an experimental stock farm. In other words, it became home to cows, sheep and other livestock - even the inside of the prison building itself had animals in it.

Fortunately for people who love history, the prison is now fully restored and includes the Horsebarn Theatre, the old Broom Factory (where prisoners worked), a mini frontier town and the prison itself.

A favorite part of the tour for the young and old alike is getting "locked" into the restored cells - not for the claustrophobic! They were small. During summer activity days, kids from all over the grounds are summoned to help the warden and his deputies find and capture an escaped "prisoner." It is fun to watch the red-faced laughing kids scrambling everywhere in search of the bad guy.

So come on by, there is plenty to learn about for the grown ups and enough open spaces for the kids that it can be a good visit for everyone.

More information can be found at: http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/site/SiteInfo.asp?siteID=25