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Laramie, Wyoming, is a cowboy city that’s home to the University of Wyoming.
Overview of Laramie
Laramie was founded in the mid-1860s and is named after French fur trader Jacques La Ramée (1784–1821), who disappeared in the area in 1821. The railroad arrived on May 4, 1868, and stores, houses, a school, and churches soon sprung up. It was a lawless town, but by the next year it was Wyoming Territory’s cultural and economic hub. Laramie was officially incorporated on January 13, 1874.
The University of Wyoming was established in 1886 and Laramie was chosen as its location. It remains the only public university in the state today.
Laramie features a nice historic downtown, a Wild West prison, and the University of Wyoming. We stopped for a few hours on our way to Cheyenne. Overall, I enjoyed my visit and the friendly people we met.
Downtown Laramie
The downtown area is a pleasant place to take a walk. The streets are lined with shops, restaurants, cafés, and bars housed in historic buildings. Most of the action focuses on 2nd and 3rd Streets.
We found some cool decorative elements during our visit, such as a vegetable garden wall, murals, old advertisements, and bike racks shaped like locomotives and cabooses.
Wyoming Women’s History House
As a United States territory in 1869, Wyoming was the first place in the world that allowed women to vote, with Louisa Swain (1801–1880) casting the first ballot on September 6, 1870, in Laramie. In March 1870, Laramie was the first city in the world to include women on a jury. The Wyoming Women’s History House celebrates those achievements and the important women in Wyoming history. It’s typically open Monday through Saturday from 11am to 4pm, March 1 through mid-December. Admission is free (as of April 2025). A statue of Swain stands out front.
Laramie Depot
A bit further south at 1st and Kearny Streets is the old Laramie Depot, which has a small railroad museum. Laramie, like many cities and towns in the West, was born shortly after the railroad came to town. The depot was built in 1924 to replace an older one destroyed by fire in 1917. It served as an Amtrak depot until 1983. The museum has free 45-minute guided tours but donations are welcome (as of April 2025). It’s open on Mondays or by appointment only with minimum 24 hours notice. You can also enjoy the small park with rail cars on display.
Union Pacific Railroad Pedestrian Footbridge
Crossing the pedestrian footbridge over the Union Pacific railroad tracks gives clear views of both the tracks and Laramie.
The bridge was built in 1930 to eliminate a dangerous street-level crossing and allow workers easier access to the rail yard. It’s still used by pedestrians and bikers today.
Johnson Hotel
From the bridge you can see the historic Johnson Hotel, built in 1900. It was considered Laramie’s finest hotel during the heyday of the railroad, but declined after automobile travel grew in popularity.
Albany Mutual Building Association
A block is at 2nd and Grand is the Albany Mutual Building Association. Originally built in 1892, architect Wilbur A. Hitchcock (1886–1930) designed a new façade in 1919. The building once housed the Albany National Bank and later the Albany Mutual Building Association.
Wagner Building
The Wagner Building at 209 Grand Avenue was built in 1924. The five-story building housed offices on the first four floors and apartments on the fifth. It’s now used as residential units for students and professionals.
Buckhorn Bar
Around the corner on Ivinson Avenue is the Buckhorn Bar, which has been open for business since 1900. It’s a relic of Laramie’s past, and includes a bullet hole shot by a jealous lover into the mirror in 1971. The second floor was used as a brothel until the 1950s.
St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral
The beautiful St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral stands at the corner of 3rd Street and Ivinson Avenue. Designed by architect William Halsey Wood of New York City, it was built between 1892 and 1896 while the towers were added in 1916. The cross on the spire is at 7,276 feet above sea level, making it the highest cathedral in the country.
The stained glass windows were made by Heaton, Butler and Bayne of London; Charles Jay Connick (1875–1945) of Boston; and Rowan (1926–2014) and Irene (1926–1970) LeCompte of New York and Washington, DC. The pipe organ was built in 1926 by Ernest M. Skinner (1866–1960) of Boston, while the clock in the tower was made by E. Howard & Co., also of Boston.
Laramie Plains Museum
It was too late for us to visit the Laramie Plains Museum, which is housed in the Ivinson Mansion. Built in 1892, it displays Victorian artifacts, items from early Laramie history, and historic clothing and farming equipment. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $5 for students (as of April 2025). It’s open Tuesday through Saturday. Tours last about an hour and run from 1pm to 3pm.
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a public land grant research museum founded in March 1886. It opened in September 1887, four years before Wyoming became a state. The university consists of seven colleges: agriculture and natural resources, arts and sciences, business, education, engineering and applied sciences, health sciences, and law. The athletics teams are named the Cowboys and Cowgirls.
The university features a handful of museums, including an art museum, geological museum, anthropology museum, and insect museum. Admission is free for all three (as of April 2025). Check the official websites for current opening hours.
Wyoming Territorial Prison
Laramie’s top attraction is the Wyoming Territorial Prison. It was built in 1872 and served as a federal prison for 18 years. From 1890 to 1903, it was Wyoming’s state penitentiary. Many notorious convicts passed through its doors, including Butch Cassidy (1866–1908).
After it closed, the prison was given to the University of Wyoming, which used it to conduct experiments on livestock breeding until 1989. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 29, 1978. It opened to the public in 1991 and was designated a state historic site in 2004.
The prison is open daily May through September from 9am to 4pm. From October through April, it’s open Thursday through Saturday from 10am to 3pm. Admission is $9 for adults, $4.50 for kids age 12–17, and free for kids under 12 (as of April 2025). Tours are self-guided.
At the visitor center, visitors are given an “identity” card. The card had the name, details, and story of a famous prisoner held here. After finishing our tour, we would find out the fate of the prisoner. I got Butch Cassidy.
Warden’s House
The first stop is the Warden’s House. It was built by convicts in 1875 and shows what life could have been like for the warden’s family.
Inside you’ll see period furniture in the various rooms of the house, including bedrooms, the parlor, and the dining room.
Prison
Next, is the prison, which is one of only three territorial prisons that still exist in the West. It was heavily damaged over the years but was reconstructed to near its original specifications. 1,063 prisoners were held there during its use.
The prison has a numbering system to guide visitors during their tour. At each stop, there’s an interpretive panel with interesting stories about the rooms, certain events that occurred in them, individual prisoners, and much more. It’s very nicely organized.
Entering the Prison
After walking into the prison through the heavy iron doors, you’ll be greeted by a panel outlining the original prison rules. Some of these rules were no talking to anyone while indoors, smoking is allowed, only writing one letter per month is permitted, and keeping the cell in perfect order. The rules are posted near the processing room, where photos of the prisoner were taken and they were issued their bedding and uniforms. Across the hall is the warden’s office, and nearby is the kitchen.
Cellblock
From there, you’ll enter the cellblock. There are three levels of cells with concrete walls and heavy iron doors. Some of the cells are open to allow visitors to see how prisoners could have lived. A portion of the cellblock is left in the condition it was found — the original foundation is exposed to show how the prison was constructed.
Another cellblock features a very different type of construction — all of the walls and doors are made with steel with smaller cells for just one inmate. In this section is a solitary confinement cell.
Finally, you can see the dining hall where inmates ate their meals. It’s decorated with two long picnic tables put together and pianos.
Butch Cassidy Exhibit
A special room dedicated to Butch Cassidy and the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang took up the majority of our visit. It has several original artifacts, photos, and newspaper clippings about the gang, their crimes, and the lawmen who pursued them.
It even covers the mysterious circumstances of the gang’s disappearance and alleged reappearance in South America, leading to a shootout in Bolivia.
Another exhibit includes artifacts unearthed during excavations at the prison site, including bottles, shoes, shackles, bones from food scraps, buttons, and tools.
Guard’s Quarters
The tour continues to the guard’s quarters. You can enter one of the cages from where the guards would watch the prisoners. One peers into one of the cellblocks.
Infirmary
Tours continue with the infirmary. It’s decorated with several medical instruments common during the time period the prison was in operation.
Female Wing
The infirmary is followed by a very small wing that housed female inmates. There are stories of a few interesting female prisoners who had been incarcerated there.
Bathrooms and Laundry Room
The bathrooms show toilets and a row of wooden tubs where prisoners would bathe. It’s near the laundry room, which has antique washing equipment, irons, and sewing machines on display.
Prison Yard
Out the back door is the prison’s yard, where inmates could exercise and get some fresh air. It’s surrounded by a tall wooden wall with guard towers. One of the doors opens to a nature trail that leads to the Laramie River.
Prison Industries Building
The building behind the prison is a the prison industries building, where prisoners would make brooms and later furniture.
One of the impressive pieces on display is a table made by John Hjorth, a Swedish architect, in 1902. Hjorth was sentenced on November 2, 1899, for forging a check in the amount of $25 to the W.H. Holliday Company in Laramie.
Pioneer Village
A pioneer village with authentic buildings relocated to the park is behind the prison complex.
The church, St. Mary’s of the Plains, was an Episcopal church built in 1920 and originally located in Rock River. All of the furnishings inside are original.
The Chimney Rock Ranch was built in the 1880s and features a few different log buildings, including a schoolhouse, farmhouse, and shed.
Science on the Range
Science on the Range is an exhibit in a big blue barn. It covers the prison’s use as a science research facility for the University of Wyoming.
Next to the barn is a carriage house displaying historic carriages.
Where to Eat in Laramie
We had one memorable meal during our visit.
Grand Avenue Pizza (Permanently Closed)
We had a very good and affordable lunch at Grand Avenue Pizza, located at the corner of 3rd and Grand. The staff was very friendly and we liked the paintings of rock legends on the wall. According to Food Network, they have the best pizza in Wyoming. They also serve other Italian dishes. Once our waiter found out we had all lived in Istanbul, we had a great conversation about world travel and Turkish politics. He was a political science student at the University of Wyoming.
