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History · Alcova

Alcova’s post office opened in 1892, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Below: maps from 1979 on and old-book passages.

1892first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Alcova began

When was Alcova founded?

1892

The Alcova post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 34134 years
Founding year: the first Alcova post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Alcova’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Alcova are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alcova’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alcova’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Alcova, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alcova yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alcova is a census-designated place (CDP) in Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. It is part of the Casper, Wyoming Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 34 at the 2020 census. Wyoming's center of population is located in the small Town of Alcova. Alcova and the nearby reservoir, Alcova Lake, are popular vacation spots with many seasonal residents.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 76 to 34 (-55%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Alcova in 1923

Passages that mention Alcova, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The Bessemer bridge across the Platte river was built in 1889 by the Wyoming Improvement company. The bridge across the river at Alcova was built in 1894, and the government bridge across the Platte was built in 1905 when the Pathfinder dam was being built. Several bridges have been built across th…
History of Natrona county, Wyoming, 1888-19221923Read the page →
Read the text

The Bessemer bridge across the Platte river was built in 1889 by the Wyoming Improvement company. The bridge across the river at Alcova was built in 1894, and the government bridge across the Platte was built in 1905 when the Pathfinder dam was being built. Several bridges have been built across the Sweetwater, one in 1894 by C. R. Countryman and the latest one being built immediately west from Independence Rock in 1920. The Chicago & Northwestern Railway company and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The bridge across the Platte river at Alcova, owned by the Alcova Hot Springs company, was on July 6, 1897, declared to be in a dangerous and unsafe condition and that loss to life and property might ensue should the structure be allowed to stand. It was therefore condemned and ordered removed with…
History of Natrona county, Wyoming, 1888-19221923 · page 15Read the page →
Read the text

The bridge across the Platte river at Alcova, owned by the Alcova Hot Springs company, was on July 6, 1897, declared to be in a dangerous and unsafe condition and that loss to life and property might ensue should the structure be allowed to stand. It was therefore condemned and ordered removed within thirty days or the county would remove it as provided by law.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Alcova, decade by decade

Today7 recent
mypubliclandsroadtrip 2016- Places That Rock, Alcova Fossil ACEC2016mypubliclandsroadtrip 2016- Places That Rock, Alcova …mypubliclandsroadtrip 2016- Places That Rock, Alcova Fossil ACEC2016mypubliclandsroadtrip 2016- Places That Rock, Alcova …Alcova Wyoming town2014Alcova Wyoming townAlcova Wyoming sign2014Alcova Wyoming signIndependance Rock2012Independance RockAlcovaPanorama2011AlcovaPanoramaWYMap-doton-Alcova2004WYMap-doton-Alcova
On the map

Alcova on the map, 1979 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alcova. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Alcova on the 1979 USGS mapAlcova on the 1984 USGS map1979Casper sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alcova.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Alcova

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2015
Pathfinder Dam Historic District
Pathfinder Dam Historic DistrictDistrict

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Alcova

Nobody well known was born in Alcova itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Lynne CheneySecond Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2… · b. 1941
M
Matthew ShepardAmerican LGBT student and murder victim · b. 1976
Tom CoburnAmerican politician and physician · b. 1948
J
Jim J. BullockAmerican actor and comedian · b. 1955
Anne Gorsuch BurfordAmerican politician and attorney · b. 1942
John HoffmanAmerican politician · b. 1965
Places that used to be

Old corners

Alcova’s post office has been open since 1892.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Alcova Po

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Alcova’s history

What year was Alcova founded?

The Alcova post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Alcova?

One place: the Pathfinder Dam Historic District (listed 2015).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.