edward ivinson

Laramie, Wyo., was founded in 1868 with the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad and won early fame as the place where women first voted and served on juries. It’snow known for its nationally ranked university and proximity to the Medicine Bow Mountains. 

Historian Grace Raymond Hebard worked with Laramie banker Edward Ivinson on a monument to honor Albany County soldiers who fought and died in the Great War. The eagle-topped memorial at the corner of Sixth and Ivinson lists more than a thousand who served—and 32 who died.

Created in 1868 before Wyoming was even a territory, Albany County and its vast plains are still good for livestock grazing. Thanks to the Union Pacific Railroad and early gold and copper mining, however, the county was industrial in its earliest times. Laramie, the county seat, was chosen as the site of the University of Wyoming in 1886, and the university stabilizes the town’s economic and cultural life.