When Laramie was founded in 1868, barbers appeared on the scene almost immediately. Not hairdressers--women didn’t routinely get haircuts here until 1915. Read on for more information on Laramie barbers and hairdressers.

In 1901, Laramie had seven grocery stores and four meat markets, most in the downtown area. The one exception was John Anderson’s market at 308 S. Pine on the West Side. Meat and sometimes fresh produce were mostly sold at separate businesses then and none were self-service as we know it today. Much would change in the coming years.

From 1868 to 1890, Laramie’s first 22 years, there were over 40 different grocery, bakery, and meat market proprietors. This estimate is based on newspaper advertisements. Most stores were in the four blocks of 2nd St., from University to Custer.

Laramie residents were eagerly looking forward to Thursday, September 8, 1949. That was grand opening day for Laramie’s new WYO Theater. But was it really new? Yes and no. The WYO was a new name, but the building was a remodel of the Crown Theater on 5th St. that opened on September 2, 1928. It has been mostly closed for several years but efforts are underway to restore it for community use.

There wasn’t much doubt about what Arvin Martinez was going to do when he graduated from Laramie High School in 1986. He would continue his after-school activity of learning the automotive radiator business.

If you hanker for some Wooly Boogers, Hare’s Ear, Buzzballs, Micky Finns, Adams, Caddis or other delicacies, the West Laramie Fly Store has been the place to go since the 1950s. For generations of residents and non-residents, it’s a traditional stop before driving on to the many popular fishing spots in Albany County and beyond

On May 10, 1871 the Laramie Sentinel announced that “the Richard Brothers will in a few days have in operation the most extensive brick works this side of Omaha. They have located their yard about a mile southwest of town, upon one of the finest beds of clay we have ever seen

Early Laramie newspapers - successes, failures and some scoundrels very early on.

Laramie has had drug stores since the day the first train reached the tent city that sprang up in 1868. In fact, the first one might have been here even before the railroad.

Laramie’s airport has a long and interesting history. Originally named for an Army general, it now bears the name of our town.

Laramie’s 1889-1930s plaster industry.

Steam whistles were commonly heard in early Laramie. Most of us have no idea what it was like to live in Laramie during the era of steam engines. It wasn’t just the whistles of the steam locomotives disturbing the peace; it was the whistles from all the steam-powered factories of Laramie.

Mining on the way from Laramie to Walden is of interest. Fluorspar is an important additive used in steel making to reduce the melting point and remove impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus. It is also used in aluminum, ceramics and glass production. It was mined there for several years.

Remember the Broadway hit “The Musicman”? It featured flim-flam artist “Professor” Harold Hill who promised a boys’ band for the citizens of fictitious River City, Indiana. He planned to follow his usual practice of leaving town once the money was paid to him for uniforms and instruments, but he never intended to place the orders.

Laramie was probably the victim of a similar promoter, Francis M. McHale (1858 -?) who came on the local scene in 1891 from Denver, Colorado.

You would never know that the new Snowy Range Road Bridge cuts through property that once was an early 20th century oil refinery and later a factory to produce an obscure element. Almost no trace remains of these forgotten enterprises.

Sitting along U.S. 287 just at the south entrance to Laramie is the looming hulk of an abandoned manufacturing plant on the west side of the highway at Howe Road.

In the days of mom and pop travel lodges “No Vacancy” signs festooned motel row.

Before Ivinson Memorial Hospital opened in 1917, of the over 23 “hospitals” in Albany County, nearly 20 were in private homes. One of the longest-running of these was the Sydenham private hospital at 264 North 2nd Street.

An old landmark of Laramie has come to light with the opening of the new Snowy Range Bridge over the railroad tracks.  It is a large stone building, a remnant of Laramie’s original glass factory.  It sits behind the Gas Light Motel on 3rd Street, especially visible when traveling east over the tracks and looking to the left.