Laramie () is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States, known for its high elevation at , for its railroad history, and as the home of the University of Wyoming. The population was 31,407 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Wyoming. Located on the Laramie River, the city is west of Cheyenne and north of the Colorado state line, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287.
After 12,000 years or more of Indigenous populations living in the area, Laramie was settled by European Americans in 1868 with the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad line to the area, which crosses the Laramie River at Laramie. The river and several creeks fed by freshwater springs made the area an attractive place for settlement. It is home to the University of Wyoming, WyoTech, and a branch of Laramie County Community College. Laramie Regional Airport serves Laramie. The ruins of Fort Sanders, an army fort predating Laramie, lie just south of the city along Route 287. Located in the Laramie Valley between the Snowy Range and the Laramie Range, the city draws outdoor enthusiasts with its abundance of outdoor activities.
Etymology Laramie is named for Jacques La Ramée, a French or French-Canadian trapper who disappeared in the Laramie Mountains in the early 1820s. He was one of the first Europeans to visit the area. European-American settlers named a river, mountain range, peak, US Army fort, county, and city for him. More Wyoming landmarks are named for him than for any other trapper but Jim Bridger.Parkin, Patsy, "Jacques LaRamie History" , 2000. Retrieved on April 14, 2008.
Founding The city was founded in the mid-1860s as a tent city near the Overland Stage Line route, the Union Pacific portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and just north of Fort Sanders army post. The rails reached Laramie on May 4, 1868, when construction crews worked through town. A few passengers arrived on that same day. The first regular passenger service began on May 10, 1868, by which time entrepreneurs were building more permanent structures. Laramie City (as it was known in early years) soon had stores, houses, a school, and churches."Laramie History" Laramie Plains Museum. Retrieved on August 11, 2007. Laramie's fame as the western terminal of the Union Pacific Railroad, acquired when the section from North Platte, Nebraska, was opened in May, ended in early August 1868 when a section of track was opened to Benton, east of present-day Sinclair, Wyoming.
The frontier town initially suffered from lawlessness. Its first mayor, M. C. Brown, resigned his office on June 12, 1868, after six turbulent weeks, saying that the other officials elected alongside him on May 2 were guilty of "incapacity and laxity" in dealing with the city's problems. This was due to the threat to the community from three half-brothers, early Old West gunman "Big" Steve Long, Con Moyer and Ace Moyer. Long was Laramie's first marshal, and with his brothers owned the saloon Bucket of Blood. The three began harassing settlers, forcing them to sign over the deeds to their property to them. Any who refused were killed, usually goaded into a gunfight by Long. By October 1868, Long had killed 13 men.
The first Albany County sheriff, rancher N. K. Boswell, organized a "Vigilance Committee" in response. On October 28, 1868, Boswell led the committee into the Bucket of Blood, overwhelmed the three brothers, and lynched them at an unfinished cabin down the street. Through a series of other lynchings and other forms of intimidation, the vigilantes reduced the "unruly element" and established a semblance of law and order."Chapter 3: Coming of Rails" Roberts, Phil (editor), University of Wyoming History Department, Readings in Wyoming History. Retrieved on August 11, 2007.
By the end of the decade, Laramie became the cultural and economic center of the newly organized Wyoming Territory. In 1869, Wyoming's first legislature passed a bill granting equal political rights to women in the territory. In March 1870, five Laramie residents became the first women in the world to serve on a jury."Chapter 4: Establishing the Territory and Granting Women Equal Rights Roberts, Phil (editor), University of Wyoming History Department, Readings in Wyoming History. Retrieved on August 11, 2007. As Laramie was the first town in Wyoming to hold a municipal election, on September 6, 1870, Laramie resident Louisa Swain was the first woman in the United States to cast a legal vote in a general election, seven months after the territorial suffrage act took effect.
Laramie was officially incorporated on January 13, 1874.
Early businesses included rolling mills, a railroad-tie treatment plant, a brick yard, a slaughterhouse, a brewery, a glass manufacturing plant, and a plaster mill, as well as the railroad yards. In 1886, a plant to produce electricity was built. Several regional railroads were based in Laramie, including the Laramie, North Park and Pacific Railroad and Telegraph Company founded in 1880 and the Laramie, North Park and Western Railroad established in 1901.
Governor Francis E. Warren signed a bill that established the University of Wyoming (UW) in 1886, the only public university in the state. Laramie was chosen as its site, and UW opened there in 1887. Under the terms of the Morrill Act, also known as the Land Grant College Act, in 1891 UW added an agricultural college and experiment station to gain benefits as a land grant college."Fact Book: Historical Highlights" University of Wyoming. Retrieved on August 12, 2007.
Late 20th century to present The city was covered by international media in 1998 after the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming. His murder generated an international outcry. It became the symbolic focus for a nationwide campaign against gay hate crimes. Federal hate crimes legislation was signed into law in 2009. As of May 2023, Wyoming does not have a hate crimes law, having failed to pass its most recent attempt at a hate crimes law in March 2021. Shepard's murder was the subject of the award-winning play, later adapted as a movie, The Laramie Project.Matthew Shepard and Laramie: A crime that lingers, The New York Times, Retrieved on January 22, 2011.
In 2004, Laramie became the first city in Wyoming to pass a law to prohibit smoking in enclosed workplaces, including bars, restaurants and private clubs. Opponents of the clean indoor air ordinance, funded in part by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, immediately petitioned to have the ordinance repealed. However, the voters upheld the ordinance in a citywide referendum which was conducted concurrently with the 2004 general election. The opponents challenged the validity of the election in court, claiming various irregularities. The judge ruled that the opponents had failed to meet their burden of showing significant problems with the election, and the ordinance, which had become effective in April 2005, remained in effect.Laramie Smoking Ban Subject of Television Program Tuesday" University of Wyoming news release, October 16, 2006. Retrieved on August 10, 2007. In August 2005, Laramie's City Council defeated an attempt to amend the ordinance to allow smoking in bars and private clubs.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Laramie is on a high plain between two mountain ranges, the Snowy Range, about to the west, and the Laramie Range, to the east. The city's elevation above sea level is approximately . The Laramie River runs through Laramie toward its confluence with the North Platte River east of the Laramie Range.
The city is about west of Cheyenne, and north of Denver, Colorado. Laramie lies along U.S. Route 30, Interstate 80, and U.S. Route 287, and it remains an important junction on the Union Pacific Railroad line.
Climate Laramie has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with long, cold, dry winters and short, warm, somewhat wetter summers.
Laramie's total precipitation averages about a year, and the average number of rainy days per year is about 86. The city experiences an afternoon that is or hotter 2.2 times a year, and a morning that is or colder 23 times in an average year. The average temperature in December is , and in July it is . Annual snowfall averages , although there is no record of more than on the ground. Because of the high elevation, winters are long, and summers short and relatively cool. The growing season is short, as the average window for freezing temperatures is September 14 through June 6, while for accumulating (≥) snow it is October 5 through May 12.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Laramie had a population of 31,407. The median age was 27.2 years. 16.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 106.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 106.7 males age 18 and over.
99.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.6% lived in rural areas.
There were 13,554 households in Laramie, of which 20.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 33.0% were married-couple households, 30.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 14,959 housing units, of which 9.4% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.2%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 25,914 82.5% Black or African American 407 1.3% American Indian and Alaska Native 349 1.1% Asian 1,013 3.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 36 0.1% Some other race 1,143 3.6% Two or more races 2,545 8.1% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 3,455 11.0%
2010 census As of the 2010 Census, there were 30,816 people, 13,394 households, and 5,843 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 14,307 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 89.5% White, 3.2% Asian, 2.8% from two or more races, 2.5% from other races, 1.3% African American, 0.7% Native American, and 0.1% Pacific Islander. 9.2% of residents were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 13,394 households, of which 20.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.0% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 56.4% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.85.
The median age in the city was 25.4 years. 15.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 32.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.5% were from 25 to 44; 17.4% were from 45 to 64; and 7.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 52.0% male and 48.0% female.
2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 27,204 people, 11,336 households, and 5,611 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,442.5 people per square mile (942.9/km2). There were 11,994 housing units at an average density of 1,076.9 per square mile (415.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 90.81% White, 1.24% African American, 0.89% Native American, 1.92% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.89% from other races, and 2.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 7.94% of the population.