Activities

Museums

American Heritage Center

American Heritage Center

 (ONSITE )
Address:
2111 Willet Drive
Laramie, WY 82071



Phone: 307-766-4114
Website: American Heritage Center
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The American Heritage Center (AHC) is UW’s archives, rare books, and manuscripts repository. Most universities have special collections. Few have special collections as extensive and significant as the American Heritage Center. More importantly, few universities have special collections as welcoming and accessible to undergraduate and graduate students. Not a dusty attic or an exclusive sanctuary, the AHC is a welcoming, lively, place where both experts and novices engage with the original sources of history.

Historic Ivinson Mansion

Historic Ivinson Mansion

 (GUIDED ONSITE )
Address:
603 E. Ivinosn Avenue
Laramie, WY 82070



Phone: 307-742-4448
Website: Historic Ivinson Mansion
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Set on the property of the magnificent Ivinson Mansion, the Laramie Plains Museum is one of the region's finest historic house museums. Thousands of visitors from around the country and the world view its collections each year. Located between 6th and 7th Streets on Ivinson Street, it is a must-see when visiting Laramie, Wyoming, 45 miles west of Cheyenne on Interstate 80. The Ivinson Mansion was saved from demolition in 1972, and has been fully restored to its original opulence because of the Laramie community. It is the perfect setting for the museum’s collections, ranging from Victoriana to Cowboy and Native American. There is a grand floating staircase in the foyer, dramatic woods in each room, and decorative papers on walls and ceilings that are exceptional to 19th Century Victorian styling. Built in 1892 by one of the city’s most notable pioneer couples, the mansion was the talk of the town in its day and remains one of the major highlights in Laramie. Edward and Jane Ivinson were instrumental and most benevolent in the development of Laramie, so it is highly fitting that their palatial home heralds Laramie’s historic past. The flower gardens, birch trees, lilacs, grand evergreens, and commemorative benches on the mansion property are a step back in time, and make the perfect setting for weddings which occur on the museum’s East Lawn. The museum offers an air of graciousness and hospitality to all who step onto the grounds and into the grand mansion. The docent-guided tours make it a living legend . . . an outstanding reminder of when grandeur stood alongside the rowdy western lore of the high plains of Wyoming.

Laramie Union Pacific Train Depot

Laramie Union Pacific Train Depot

 (ONSITE )
Address:
1st Street and Kearney Street
Laramie, WY 82070



Phone: 307-399-3772
Website: Laramie Union Pacific Train Depot
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The Laramie Union Pacific Depot officially opened at 7:00pm, September 6th, 1924. This station was built and served as Laramie’s passenger station until 1996 when Amtrak ceased passenger service along the Wyoming corridor. By Union Pacific standards, the station is of unique exterior design; finished in red brick with a number of distinctive accents, the most prominent of which are the terra-cotta Union Pacific “Overland Route” roundels in the center of the east and west facing walls. The interior is also distinctive, finished in wood paneling with large wooden beams, and featuring indirect lighting around the perimeter of the cathedral ceiling over the waiting area. A Railway Express Agency office was located off the baggage area in the north end of the building, and served Laramie’s parcel needs throughout the hey-day of the railroads. This was one of the last Union Pacific stations to be built in the traditional style, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Historic Downtown Laramie District. The depot is now used for meetings, weddings and private and public functions. For more information about rentals or tours please call 307-399-3772.

Nici Self Museum

Nici Self Museum

 (ONSITE )
Address:
2734 Hwy 130
Centennial, WY 82055



Phone: 307-742-7763
Email: cagoldie@msn.com
Website: Nici Self Museum
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The museum is partially housed in a 1907 Hahn's Peak and Pacific Railroad depot. Its exhibits depict the general history of the Centennial Valley. Topics include mining, lumbering, ranching, and railroading. A 1944 Union Pacific caboose and many large pieces of ranching, farming, and mining equipment are on site.

Laramie Wyoming Venue

University of Wyoming Anthropology Museum

 (ONSITE )
Address:
UW Campus
Laramie, WY 82071



Phone: 307-766-5136
Website: University of Wyoming Anthropology Museum
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The museum will open at the beginning of September. The museum has a wide range of exhibits. See displays on Native American materials from the Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southwest and Arctic, as well as displays on the material culture and artistry from throughout the world, including Africa, Polynesia, Australia, and Asia.

University of Wyoming Art Museum

University of Wyoming Art Museum

 (ONSITE )
Address:
2111 Willet Drive
Laramie, WY 82071



Phone: 307-766-6622
Website: University of Wyoming Art Museum
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Bringing the world of art to Wyoming through collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting the highest quality visual art by national, regional, and international artists, the University of Wyoming Art Museum is an educational institution that provides leadership in the arts and serves Wyoming's academic community, citizens, and visitors. The museum is located in the dramatic Centennial Complex on the university campus in Laramie, Wyoming, an award-winning facility designed by the internationally acclaimed architect Antoine Predock.

University of Wyoming Art Museum
Laramie Wyoming Venue

University of Wyoming Geological Museum

 (ONSITE )
Address:
UW Campus
Laramie, WY 82071



Phone: 307-766-2646
Website: University of Wyoming Geological Museum
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The University of Wyoming Geological Museum in Laramie functions to support both public education and scientific research. Wyoming is rich in geologic treasures and the Museum presents to the visitor some glimpse of this geologic diversity. Housing more than 50,000 cataloged fossil, rock, and mineral specimens, it is an important source of information for researchers throughout the world. The UW Geological Museum is open Tuesday thru Friday 1 pm to 4pm and Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 2 pm.

University of Wyoming Insect Gallery

University of Wyoming Insect Gallery

 (ONSITE )
Address:
Agriculture Bldg. Room 4018
Laramie, WY 82071



Phone: 307-766-5338
Website: University of Wyoming Insect Gallery
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The University of Wyoming Insect Museum is the only research collection of insects in the state of Wyoming. Present holdings are estimated at more than a quarter of a million specimens. It is an important regional resource, as well as a collection of national and international significance. Holdings are particularly strong in the major orders Hymenoptera (53%), Diptera (12%), Lepidoptera (10%), and Coleoptera (9%). Several unique voucher collections are housed at University of Wyoming including the Pawnee National Grasslands Collection, Johnston and Wyodak Power Plant Collections, Hanna Strip-Mine Collection, the 1989-1990 Yellowstone Post-Fire Collection, Shelterbelt Insect Collection, the 1992 Brazilian Araguaia River Expedition Collection, and the world's largest research collection of Costa Rican parasitic wasps of the family Braconidae.

University of Wyoming Planetarium

University of Wyoming Planetarium

 (ONSITE )
Address:
10th and Lewis
Laramie, WY 82071



Phone: 307-766-2631
Website: University of Wyoming Planetarium
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The UW Planetarium is a facility of the University of Wyoming Department of Physics and Astronomy. The Planetarium offers shows for the public, as well as for K-12 and college classes and community groups. The UW Planetarium first opened in 1969 and has served the community for many years with shows for the public, for K-12 students, and for college astronomy teaching. Our planetarium is equipped with a Spitz starball.

Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site

Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site

 (ONSITE )
Address:
975 Snowy Range Road
Laramie, WY 82070



Phone: 307-745-6161
Website: Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site
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Built in 1872 and restored in 1989, the prison is the highlight of the WTPSHS. Pick up a brochure in the gift shop and head toward the prison for a self-guided tour. (Development of an audio tour system is in the works.) Plan to spend at least an hour inside. Stops along the tour include: furnished cells, the prisoners' dining area, guard's quarters, infirmary, women's quarters, laundry room, warden's office, and various exhibit galleries. New exhibit's include: Found During Restoration: Artifacts Uncovered (including items found during the History Channel sponsored, Unlocking Secrets in the Soil project), N. K. Boswell: Warden and Lawman, Innocent or Guilty? Women Inmates of the Wyoming Territorial Prison, and a new exhibit on Butch Cassidy.

Wyoming's House for Historic Women

Wyoming's House for Historic Women

 (ONSITE )
Address:
2nd and Garfield
Laramie, WY 82070



Phone: 307-721-5118
Website: Wyoming's House for Historic Women
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Early in the morning on September 6, 1870 in Laramie, Wyoming, Louisa Swain, a 70 year old Quaker lady, became the first woman in the world to cast a ballot under laws giving women the right to vote with full civil equality to men. The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday during the summer from 1 pm to 5 pm.