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Evanston is an old railroad town in the southwest corner of Wyoming that does a great job preserving its heritage.
Overview of Evanston, Wyoming
Evanston was founded in November 1868 during construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, and the first train arrived on December 16. It was incorporated the following year, and the town eventually became a refueling station for locomotives.
Evanston was a major stop on the Lincoln Highway and an oil boom in the 1980s later contributed to rapid growth. According to one source, the town is named after James A. Evans (1827–1887), a civil engineer for Union Pacific. Another source claims it’s named for John Evans (1814–1897), the second governor of the Territory of Colorado.
In our experience, Evanston was supposed to be a quick stopover as well as our first night in a real bed after a week of camping at Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We ended up sticking around a bit longer than we had anticipated, enjoying the morning taking the excellent Evanston Walking Tour.
Depot Square
We started exploring Evanston at Depot Square, which is at the heart of the small and compact historic downtown. This is also the starting point for the Evanston Walking Tour.
Depot Square was created in 1983 and consists of three blocks. In addition to some historic buildings and museums, it features basketball courts and public restrooms. It hosts farmers’ markets, weddings, and public events throughout the year.
Union Pacific Depot
At the center of Depot Square is the old Union Pacific Depot, built in 1900 and donated to the town by the railroad in 1989. It’s now used as an event center.
Uinta County Museum
The Uinta County Museum is housed in an old Carnegie library designed by Albert Randolph Ross (1868–1948). Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) donated 2,509 libraries worldwide between 1883 and 1929. This one was built thanks to a public grant of $11,000 on February 20, 1903, and built on land donated by Union Pacific.
Carnegie initially thought Evanston was too small for a library and rejected the first request, but Wyoming Senator Clarence D. Clark (1851–1930) persisted through negotiations and made a successful second attempt. The library opened in 1906 and served the community until 1984, when a new Uinta County Library opened on Main Street. The building was then converted into the Uinta County Museum, which opened the same year. An addition was completed in 2008. The museum is open Monday through Friday throughout the year and on Saturdays from June to August. Admission is free (as of January 2026).
Beeman-Cashin Building
The Beeman-Cashin Building stands opposite the museum Built around 1883, it was first used as storage for the Beeman-Cashin Mercantile Company and was originally twice the size it is today. It was dismantled and moved to the railroad by J.R. Broadbent Ranching, who used it for wool storage.
The building was donated to the City of Evanston in the 1980s and relocated to the square in 1984. It’s now a community center used for public and private functions. The 3,000-square-foot building is unique in that it doesn’t have interior support pillars, and for its Scandinavian features on the exterior.
9/11 Memorial
Next to the building is a monument dedicated to 9/11, made of steel beams from the World Trade Center.
Chinese Joss House Museum
The Chinese Joss House Museum, on the east side of Depot Square, is dedicated to the Chinese immigrants who worked in Evanston from the 1870s to 1930s. Working mostly as railroad laborers and coal miners, they established a Chinatown north of the railroad tracks. The museum, constructed in 1990, is a replica of an original Joss House. It’s open Monday through Friday and admission is free (as of January 2026).
Wing Family Gazebo and Garden
The Wing Family Gazebo and Garden was constructed in 2006 near the museum. Former resident Wayman Wing, who grew up in Evanston, had decided to give something back to the town, and created the gazebo as a gift. The city raised funds for the garden, which was completed in 2008. It features a koi pond with a waterfall and is landscaped with traditional Chinese flowers and trees.
Martin Park
Martin Park makes up the west end of Depot Square. There, you can find a gazebo and a statue of “Albert the Bison”.
Columbo Hall
Columbo Hall, which served as an employee club for Union Pacific workers, faces Martin Park.
Lincoln Highway Marker
Next to Columbo Hall is an original Lincoln Highway marker. In 1928, Boy Scouts placed 3,000 concrete markers along the entire route between New York and San Francisco, and less than a dozen stood in their original location by 1996. This one was donated by the Emery Bond family of Evanston and placed there by Boy Scout Will Hendricks of Troop 911 on July 2, 1996.
Front Street in Evanston, Wyoming
The two blocks of Front Street, from 9th Street to Harrison Drive, was once part of the Lincoln Highway. Many of the buildings — which hosted hotels, restaurants, bars, and brothels — have been lost or altered, but the city has been able to restore several others.
Downs’ Opera House
At the corner of Front and Harrison Streets is the Downs’ Opera House. It was built in 1885 by Peter J. Downs as a venue for local theatrical productions and road show companies, but the rise of movie theaters and the opening of the Strand Theatre around the corner put it out of business. The second floor served for a time as the Normandy Dance Hall while the Trans-Continental Garage operated on the first floor. The garage took over the entire building, installing an elevator to lift cars upstairs. In the 2000s, the building was sold and converted into an office, storage space, and loft.
City Bar
Next door, at 1031 Front Street, was City Bar. Greek immigrants Steve Coumas (Fat Steve) and Steve Kochiras (Slim Steve) opened the bar in 1920. Their motto was “We treat you square, year round”. Loyal customers were treated to a drink along with candy and soda, and sometimes even got a free lunch. During prohibition, bottles were hidden in a fake sewer pipe, and in the 1950s, the basement contained a two-lane bowling alley with manual pin setters. Their most famous customer was Clark Gable (1901–1960), who passed through town on his way to Jackson Hole to go hunting.
Hotel Evanston
Hotel Evanston, at 1025 Front Street, was built by George Spencer and Joseph Bird in 1912. It was advertised as “high-class and up-to-date, thoroughly modern, inviting and comfortable in every detail”. At one point, it contained 50 rooms along with a coffee shop, fine dining room, banquet rooms, and a three-chair barber shop. All rooms had telephones and hot and cold water, and several had private baths.
In the 1930s, W.B. Freeman purchased the hotel and renamed it the Freeman Hotel. It changed ownership many times over the years, but continued to be a social center for the community from the 1940s to the 1970s. Civic clubs regularly met there and it often hosted high school banquets. In addition, it served as a Western Union telegraph station and Greyhound bus stop for many decades. The hotel closed down in 1988 after Amtrak ended passenger service through southern Wyoming and the public taste in lodging changed.
The Evanston Urban Renewal Agency purchased the building in 2001 and began restoration efforts. They replaced the roof, windows, and doors, and refreshed the façade.
Schofield’s
At 941 Front Street is a building constructed around 1883. It was originally owned by the Beeman-Cashin Mercantile Company, who purchased the site and hardware business of Thomas Lanktree and started operations in December 1883.
Consolidated Wagon and Machine later purchased Beeman-Cashin. Their manager Aranthon E. Bingham bought the store and partnered with Stephen F. Neville in 1943 to create Bingham-Neville’s. By 1951, it was just Neville’s, and in 1974, it became Ferd’s. In the early 1980s, Schofield’s Furniture and Appliance Store moved in.
Uinta County Courthouse
Walking a block up 9th Street from Front Street, you’ll come to the Uinta County Courthouse. Although it was built in 1873, Evanston wasn’t officially made the county seat until 1896.
In addition to county offices, the building contained a Wyoming Territorial Prison and the Winslow Hotel, which served as a homeless shelter. Legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy (1866–1908) and members of his gang were incarcerated there for a short time as “horse thieves”. The modern wings were constructed around the original building in 1984 to accommodated growth. A clock tower stands nearby.
Doughboy Monument
In front of the courthouse is a Doughboy monument dedicated on July 4, 1920. It originally honored local veterans of the Spanish–American War and World War I, but a plaque honoring World War II veterans was later added to the base. Another dedication took place on June 13, 1987, for veterans of the Korean War and Vietnam War. It’s believed to be the only memorial in the country dedicated to veterans of all five major wars.
St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church
Across the street from the courthouse is St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church. It was built in the 1939 to replace a wooden structure destroyed by fire in the 1930s and is designed after a similar church in Ireland.
Main Street in Evanston, Wyoming
Main Street is a block south of Front Street and features a nice collection of historic buildings. Some feature retro advertisements painted on the sides, giving the town a more nostalgic feel.
Masonic Building
The Masonic Building, at 904 Main Street, was built in 1910 to hold Freemason meetings on the top floor. The main floor once hosted a movie theater and later a dance hall known as the Wyoming Hall and the Alcazar. Both formal balls and square dances were held there.
Vehar Building
At 906 Main Street is the Vehar Building. It was once a private family home belonging to Chung Gin Wing, a Chinese traveler on his way to California who ended up snowbound in Evanston one night. He stayed to build a life and family, and eventually ran the Ranch Café, Standard Café, and White House Café with his wife Mah Shee and their six children. The building later housed the Vehar Law Offices.
Blyth & Fargo Building
The Blyth & Fargo Building — across the street at 927 Main Street — was built in 1882 and housed one of the first department stores in the West. It included millinery and shoe departments, groceries, fabric, clothing, and furniture. The store’s motto was “We sell everything but fresh meat and drugs”. Owner Thomas Blyth added a third story in 1987.
Blyth’s had a unique system with miniature trams connecting each sales counter to the cashier’s office at the back of the store. Sales clerks would send money to the cashier’s office in small wooden containers, and receipts and change would be returned to the front of the store. This system was in place into the 1960s.
Strand Theatre
The Strand Theatre, further up on the next block, opened in 1918 for showings of silent films and vaudeville acts. Movies were screened twice a nigh at 7:30pm and 9pm. The original interior and roof burned in a fire on May 7, 2007. The owners donated the remains to the Evanston Urban Renewal Agency, who restored the theatre to its former appearance.
U.S. Post Office and Courthouse
The old U.S. Post Office and Courthouse on 10th Street was built in 1907. It got much more use out of the post office on the first floor than it did out of the courthouse. The federal court occupied the second and third floors, but historians aren’t sure if a trial was ever held there. During the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918–1920, the building housed a makeshift hospital. It now holds shops and offices.
Where to Stay in Evanston, Wyoming
We spent one night in town.
Prairie Inn
Our hotel in Evanston was the Prairie Inn, conveniently located near I-80. The room and bathroom were huge but could’ve used an update. Breakfast was included but wasn’t anything special. The owner was friendly, although it got annoying when he asked at least five times at check-in if we had any pets or were smokers. The price was reasonable for a room with two queen beds. If I had to stop in Evanston, I would stay there again.
Where to Eat in Evanston, Wyoming
We had one meal while in town.
Suds Brothers
We ate dinner at Suds Brothers, a brewpub on Main Street. It’s located in a historic former JC Penney store (JC Penney’s mother store is in nearby Kemmerer). They’ve got good food, friendly service, a fun atmosphere, and a nice selection of beers. Try the Monkey’s Butt Amber Ale. For our meals, I had a very tasty bowl of chili while Martin and Gönül had burgers.
