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First National Bank building in Rock River during renovation last summer (1996). This building is also home to the Rock River museum. |
Below is a listing of the towns of Albany County that have been able to glean from several sources. Many of these will not have much of a description at first. Many were only in existence for a few years. We welcome your research history to add to these pages
Buford: First stop for the Union Pacific Railroad entering Albany County from the east. Founded in 1869, it was primarily used as a siding and shipment point for lumber. Buford still exists, and consists of a gas station and a half dozen houses.(1)
Centennial: Named after the famed (at least around here) Centennial mine that was discovered in 1875 by I. P. Lambing of Golden, Colorado. By 1905, the town had a bank, schoolhouse, a lumberyard that boasted 300,000 feet of lumber in stock, and a hotel and livery stable.
Cummins City: Founded in 1879, Cummins City was a Wyoming gold rush town. In 1880 the town had 31 houses, four stores and four saloons, and the alleged population was between 250 and 300. By 1881 most of the population had left. In 1898 Cummins City was renamed Jelm. Eventually it was abandoned. The town is on the state line on highway 10.(2)
Dale City: A town a few miles west of Sherman that existed only during the building of the U. P. Railroad.(1)
Douglas Creek/Keystone: Founded in 1878, this was a mining boom town in the Medicine Bow Mountains. After the end of the mining boom, the town became home to timber workers beginning to log the area.(2)
Holmes: Mining community in the Medicine Bow Range near Rob Roy reservoir. Built in 1901, the town was named for Avery T. Holmes, the manager of the primary mine in the area. The town was abandoned in the late 1910s.(2)
Platinum City: Near Centennial, Platinum City was founded in 1928 at a mining operation. The mine and the town failed by 1938.(2)
Red Buttes: Another station on the U. P. built in 1875, with a store and a few buildings. No longer in existence.(1)
Rock Creek: Station on the Union Pacific, it became the point from which mail was taken overland to Ft. Fetterman, and a freighting point for goods shipped on the government road built in 1880s.(1)
Rock River: Founded in 1900, the town was incorporated in 1909. It is along route 30, and has a population near 400.
Sherman: Seven miles west of Buford, Sherman was at the highest point of the U. P. Railroad. In 1869 the population was 150-200. It was occupied until at least 1878, but nothing remains today.(1)
Tie Siding: Founded in 1874, Tie Siding was a shipping point for railroad ties and other assorted lumber. In the 1880s it had a population of 50. The town still exists, with a gas station, store, and assorted buildings.(1)
Wyoming Station: Stop on the Union Pacific,
west of Laramie, this was a shipping point for railroad ties.(1)
Sources:
1. Homsher, Lola M. The History of Albany County, Wyoming to 1880 Lusk: Lusk Herald, 1965
2. Evans, Lloyd R. Ghost Towns of
Albany County Twice Told Tales Laramie: Laramie
Plains Museum 1984
3. "Our Valley Town" Centennial
Post, Sept. 2nd 1905