Casper, Wyoming, United States

🇺🇸 Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second largest city in the state. Casper is nicknamed "The Oil City" and has a long history of oil boomtown and cowboy culture, dating back to the development of the nearby Salt Creek Oil Field. Casper is located in east-central Wyoming at the foot of Casper Mountain, the north end of the Laramie Mountain Range, and along the North Platte River.

History The city was established east of the former site of Fort Caspar, which was built during the mid-19th century mass migration of land seekers along the Oregon, California and Mormon trails. The area was the location of several ferries that offered passage across the North Platte River in the early 1840s. In 1859, Louis Guinard built a bridge and trading post near the original ferry locations.

The government soon posted a military garrison nearby to protect telegraph and mail service. It was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William O. Collins. Native American attacks increased after the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado in 1864, bringing more troops to the post, which was by now called Platte Bridge Station. In July 1865, Lieutenant Caspar Collins (the son of Colonel Collins) was killed near the post by a group of Indian warriors. Three months later the garrison was renamed Fort Caspar after Lieutenant Collins. In 1867, the troops were ordered to abandon Fort Caspar in favor of Fort Fetterman downstream on the North Platte along the Bozeman Trail.

The town of Casper itself was settled in 1887 and incorporated a year later, well after the fort had been closed. The city was founded by developers as an anticipated stopping point during the expansion of the Wyoming Central Railway; it was an early commercial rival to Bessemer and Douglas, Wyoming. The lack of a railhead doomed Bessemer in favor of Casper. Douglas, also a railhead, survives to the present day. The presence of a railhead made Casper the starting off point for the "invaders" in the Johnson County War. The special chartered train carrying the men up from Texas stopped at Casper. The town is named "Casper", instead of "Caspar", honoring the memory of Fort Caspar and Lt. Caspar Collins, due to a typo that occurred when the town's name was officially registered.

A site a few miles east was planned to be the original site of Casper, where a homesteader named Joshua Stroud lived prior to a station of the Chicago and North Western Railway being built. The site was laid out by the Pioneer Town Site Company in 1888 and was known as Strouds.

The city received a significant number of visitors during the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, due to its position along the path of totality.

Geography Interstate 25, which approaches Casper from the north and east, is the main avenue of transportation to and from the city. The towns immediately adjacent to Casper are Mills, Evansville, and Bar Nunn. Unincorporated areas include Allendale, Dempsey Acres, Red Buttes, Indian Springs, and several others.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.24 square miles (70.55 km²), of which 26.90 square miles (69.67 km²) is land and 0.34 square miles (0.88 km²) is water.

Economy Casper is a regional centre of banking and commerce. After the discovery of crude oil in the region during the 1890s, Casper became the regional petroleum industry centre. Oil has figured prominently in its history from nearly the outset. Oil was first discovered in the famous Salt Creek Oil Field in 1889, approximately 40 miles (64 km) north of Casper; the first refinery in Casper was built in 1895. The city has featured a refinery ever since, although various refineries have been built and closed over the years. As recently as the early 1980s, the city was near or home to three refineries. The surviving one, operated by Sinclair Oil Corporation, is located nearby in Evansville. Development of Wyoming coal and uranium fields in recent decades has helped Casper continue its role as a centre in the energy industry.

Casper Wind Farm began operations near Casper in Natrona County and has 11 turbines with a generating capacity of 16.5 MW. Energy Transportation Inc. is headquartered in Casper. This logistics firm transports overweight and outsized components used in the wind power industry. The Casper landfill is also a disposal site for windmill blades.

Education Casper is home to Casper College, a community college that offers bachelor's degrees in sixteen areas of study from the University of Wyoming through their UW/CC Center.

Public education in the city of Casper is provided by Natrona County School District #1. The district operates sixteen elementary schools, five middle schools, and three high schools in Casper. The high schools are Kelly Walsh, Natrona County, and Roosevelt High Schools. A program called CAPS is being added to Natrona County School District, which will provide more space and classrooms for juniors and seniors at the three high schools.

Casper has a public library, a branch of the Natrona County Public Library System.

Media Casper is served by one print newspaper, the Casper Star-Tribune, a daily, and until recently the Casper Journal, published weekly. Casper is also home to WyoFile, an online publication focusing on state issues and Oil City News, an online news and media site.

Sport • UFC 6 took place at the Casper Events Center in 1995. • Casper hosted the AIFA Championship Bowl III at the Casper Events Center on July 26, 2009. • The Events Center has hosted the College National Finals Rodeo since 2001. • The Casper Recreation Center offers basketball, fitness, racquetball, volleyball and is adjacent to the Casper Family Aquatics Center and Casper Ice Arena. • Soccer matches are held at the Casper Soccer Complex. • The Casper Municipal Golf Course is a public 27-hole golf course in Casper.

Sports teams based in Casper include: • Casper Cannibal RFC, an amateur rugby football team in the Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union • Casper Coyotes were a Junior A hockey team in the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) that played out of the Casper Ice Arena. They renamed to Casper Bobcats for the 2018–2019 season and folded before the 2019–2020 season. • Casper Ghosts (formerly). From 2001 to 2011, Mike Lansing Field hosted the Ghosts of the Pioneer League, Rookie-level affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. In 2011, the team relocated to Grand Junction, Colorado to become the Rockies. • Casper Horseheads (formerly). From 2018 to 2022 the Horseheads, a collegiate summer baseball team of Independence League Baseball, played their home games at Mike Lansing Field before closing operations. • Casper Spuds, a collegiate summer baseball team of Independence League Baseball that started play in the summer of 2023, after relocating from Caldwell, Idaho, playing their home games at Mike Lansing Field.

Museums and historical sites Casper is home to a number of museums and historical sites: • Fort Caspar Museum and Historic Site • National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, a federally funded and operated museum • Nicolaysen Art Museum • Tate Geological Museum at Casper College • Werner Wildlife Museum • Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum • The Science Zone • Historic Bishop Home

Performing arts and music Casper has three locations offering theater: the Gertrude Krampert Theatre at Casper College, Stage III Community Theatre, and the Casper Events Center where an annual series of touring Broadway shows, Broadway in Casper, can be seen.

Casper is home to the Troopers, a drum and bugle corps in Drum Corps International, and the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. During the summer months, Casper's City Band performs free concerts Thursday evenings at Washington Park, weather permitting.

Architecture Wyoming National Bank, a mid-century modern tower, was designed by Charles Deaton and is featured in Casper's logo.

Transport: Road Interstate Highways: • I-25 – North-South Interstate running from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Buffalo, Wyoming.

US Routes: • US 20 – East–west route through Casper that runs concurrent with I-25 through Casper. At exit 189 the highway continues west out of Casper, and no longer runs concurrent with the interstate. The business route of US 20 follows N. Beverly St. and Yellowstone Hwy. going east–west from I-25/US 87 (Exit 186) to U.S. 20–26 west of Casper in Mills. • US 26 – East–west route through Casper that runs concurrent with I-25 through Casper. At exit 189 the highway continues west out of Casper, and no longer runs concurrent with the interstate. The business route of US 26 follows N. McKinley St. and Yellowstone Hwy. going east–west from I-25/US 87 (Exit 187) to U.S. 20–26 west of Casper in Mills. • US 87 – North-South through Casper that runs concurrent with I-25 through Casper.

Wyoming State Highways: • WYO 220 (N. Poplar St., CY Avenue) – East–west route from I-25/US 87 (Exit 188B) west out of Casper towards Alcova. • WYO 251 (Wolcott St., Casper Mountain Rd.) – North–south route that continues south out of Casper and up Casper Mountain, eventually ending at WYO 487. • WYO 252 (S. Poplar St.) – North–south route from the intersection of Poplar Street and CY avenue to Casper Mountain Road. • WYO 254 (Salt Creek Hwy.) – North–south route from I-25/US 87 south to US 20-26 (Yellowstone Hwy.) in Mills. • WYO 255 (Center St., 9th St., CY Avenue) – North–south route from I-25 exit 188A to the intersection of S. Poplar and CY Avenue, where CY Avenue continues as WY 220. • WYO 258 (Wyoming Blvd.) – East-West loop route from I-25/US 87 to US 20-26 west of Casper in Mills; the majority of the highway runs along the southern borders of Casper.

Transport: Air The city has scheduled air service at Casper–Natrona County International Airport, a former army air base built during World War II. The runways are large, having been built for bombers. It replaced a regional airport north of Casper which later became the town of Bar Nunn, Wyoming. The airport is located west of the city just off of US Highway 20/26. In July 2004, the airport facilities were renovated. Passenger service at the airport is offered by United Express (SkyWest Airlines and GoJet Airlines), and Delta Connection (SkyWest Airlines). FedEx Express and FedEx Feeder provide cargo airline service to the airport.

Public transit Public transit in the Casper area had been provided by the Casper Area Transportation Coalition but is now offered by the city of Casper. They offer fixed route service called Casper Area LINK and an on-request service called ASSIST from Monday to Saturday.

Scheduled bus service Scheduled bus service once offered by Power River Bus Lines is now offered by ExpressArrow (formerly Black Hills Stages).