Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Strand Theatre, Rawlins Wyoming





This is the Strand Theatre Building in Rawlins, Wyoming.  The theater was built in 1919, at a time when movies were becoming increasingly popular.  I don't know what the current use of the building is, and whether or not it is still used as a theater.

Some may wonder why the Strand had its name painted on the back of its building.  The theater is located only one block from the Union Pacific railroad, and at that height, rail passengers would have been likely to notice the sign.  Rawlins was a major stop on the Union Pacific at that time, and its likely that quite a few travelers saw the sign and were tempted to take in a movie if they were staying overnight in Rawlins, which had at least one fairly good sized hotel in the downtown district.

Public School wall, Rawlins Wyoming.


This is a former wall for the public school in Rawlins, Wyoming. The school is no longer there, and hasn't been for as long as I can recall, but the decorative wall remains.  As noted on the wall, the school must have been built in 1886, prior to statehood.