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History · Centennial

Centennial’s post office opened in 1875, and 5 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Centennial was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 19 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1933 on.

1875first post office
5on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Centennial’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Centennial began

When was Centennial founded?

1875

The Centennial post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 283151 years
Founding year: the first Centennial post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Centennial’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

5 listings protect 23 historic buildings

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
23
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Libby Lodge
Libby LodgeCentennial DepotCentennial Work CenterMountain View HotelFlying Horseshoe Ranch
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

USFS Rustic1
Late Victorian1
Folk Victorian1
Log1
Libby LodgeBuilding
Centennial DepotBuilding
Centennial Work CenterUSFS Rustic
Mountain View HotelLate Victorian
All 5 listings
Flying Horseshoe RanchDistrict · listed 2000

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

The story

How Centennial came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Centennial.

Read it all →

As the Union Pacific Railroad was pushing west to link up with the Central Pacific Railroad, as part of the First transcontinental railroad, they sent logging crews into the Snowy Range, in the Medicine Bow Mountains, to cut down timber (mainly Lodgepole Pine) for railroad ties. A work camp was built on the site of the town. After they had completed most of their work and the workers started having conflicts with area Native Americans, the crews left the area. After the area was opened to homesteaders a few ranchers returned to the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Centennial, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
Classroom Building from east - S.H. Knight Science Camp, State Route 1301933Classroom Building from east - S.H. Knight Science Ca…Classroom Building, detail of log buttresses - S.H. Knight Science Camp, State Route 1301933Classroom Building, detail of log buttresses - S.H. K…Classroom Building, general view from east showing setting - S.H. Knight Science Camp, State Route 1301933Classroom Building, general view from east showing se…Classroom Building, general view from southeast - S.H. Knight Science Camp, State Route 1301933Classroom Building, general view from southeast - S.H…Detail of log construction - S.H. Knight Science Camp, State Route 1301933Detail of log construction - S.H. Knight Science Camp…Main Lodge, detail of southeast entrance - S.H. Knight Science Camp, State Route 1301933Main Lodge, detail of southeast entrance - S.H. Knigh…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Classroom Building from east - S.H. Knight Science Camp, State Route 130
Retake this viewClassroom Building from east - S.H. Knight Science Camp, State Route 130, 1933

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Centennial’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Centennial

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

See all →
Jim BeaverAmerican actor · b. 1950
Jaycee CarrollAzerbaijani basketball player · b. 1983
Sheridan DowneyAmerican politician · b. 1884
Gerry SpenceAmerican lawyer · b. 1929
J
June DowneyAmerican psychologist · b. 1875
Thurman ArnoldAmerican judge · b. 1891
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Centennial’s post office has been open since 1875.

Gone or out of use
Centennial MinemineCentennial Ridge MinemineCliff MineminePlatinum City MinemineUtopia Minemine

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

Help out

Finish Centennial’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewClassroom Building from east - S.H. Kni…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Centennial’s history

What year was Centennial founded?

The Centennial post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Centennial?

5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Libby Lodge (listed 1976, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Centennial Work Center and the Flying Horseshoe Ranch, with 19 contributing buildings. 23 historic buildings in all.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.