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History · Fort Laramie

Fort Laramie’s post office opened in 1850, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1930.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fort Laramie’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fort Laramie began

When was Fort Laramie founded?

1850

The Fort Laramie post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 245 in 19302020 census: 206176 years
Founding year: the first Fort Laramie post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fort Laramie’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 356 in 1980; 206 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1840–1945.Old housesHalf of Fort Laramie’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · People over time

Fort Laramie, census by census

010020030019401960198020002020Peak: 356

Peaked at 356 in 1980; 206 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fort Laramie’s Wikipedia page.

By decade

Fort Laramie, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1840s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1840s–1860s8 items
Elevations of Post Hospital, Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]1840Elevations of Post Hospital, Fort Laramie, Dakota Ter…Map of the Route Pursued from Fort Laramie to Fort Leavenworth by Captain L.C. Easton1849Map of the Route Pursued from Fort Laramie to Fort Le…MapFortLaramie18581858FortLaramie1858Fort Laramie, Nebraska [i.e. Wyoming]1858Fort Laramie, Nebraska [i.e. Wyoming]Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]1867Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]1867Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]1867Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]P15390 Peace Negotiations1868P15390 Peace Negotiations
1870s2 items
Map of Fort Laramie, Wyoming Territory1874Map of Fort Laramie, Wyoming TerritoryMapPlan of1876Plan ofMap
1940s2 items
Record of Interments - Fort Leavenworth - John L. Grattan, killed 18541940Record of Interments - Fort Leavenworth - John L. Gra…[Camp life on the Plaines of Laramie - S. Dacota 30 Aug - 66]c. 1945[Camp life on the Plaines of Laramie - S. Dacota 30 A…
1950s–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
The story so far

Fort Laramie, in brief

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

Fort Laramie is a town in Goshen County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 206 at the 2020 census. The town is named after historic Fort Laramie, an important stop on the Oregon, California and Mormon trails, as well as a staging point for various military excursions and treaty signings. The old fort was located south of town across the North Platte River, at the mouth of the Laramie River.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 230 to 206 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Fort Laramie, 1840 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840In the archiveElevations of Post Hospital, Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]
  3. 1850Post officeThe Fort Laramie post office opens
  4. 1858In the archiveFortLaramie1858
  5. 1865Born hereFrank Hopkins is born here
  6. 1867In the archiveFort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]
  7. 1874In the archiveMap of Fort Laramie, Wyoming Territory
  8. 1882Born hereInnis P. Swift is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1940In the archiveRecord of Interments - Fort Leavenworth - John L. Grattan, killed 1854
  11. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 356
On the map

Fort Laramie on the map, 1950 to 1990

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

Fort Laramie on the 1950 USGS mapFort Laramie on the 1978 USGS mapFort Laramie on the 1990 USGS map1950Fort Laramie sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Elevations of Post Hospital, Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming]
Retake this viewElevations of Post Hospital, Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory [Wyoming], 1840

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Fort Laramie

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Frank HopkinsAmerican horseman · b. 1865
Innis P. SwiftUnited States Army general · b. 1882
Help out

Finish Fort Laramie’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 viewElevations of Post Hospital, Fort Laram…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Fort Laramie’s history

What year was Fort Laramie founded?

The Fort Laramie post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.