Historic Downtown Casper

historictour.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Gamble Store, Casper Wyoming

This is the painted sign for the Gamble Store, in downtown Casper Wyoming.  This building is now occupied by other establishments.

Gambles was a department store. As the sign indicates, the stores offered a wide range of products, although as I don't ever recall this business operating here, and therefore don't know, I have to wonder how this range of products was offered in a relatively small retail space.  Anyhow, the Minnesota based company expanded from an initial store in that state in the late 1920s to being the 15th largest retailer in the United States by the end of the 1970s.  In the 1980s, it was so large that it attempted to take over Brooks Brothers.

Since that time, the company's fortunes declined.  A descendant company still exists, but it does not operate under the Gambles name as a storefront name.

Furniture Store, Casper Wyoming

Remnants of a furniture store sign, now on the side of the Kirkwood Oil and Gas building, in downtown Casper.

McEwen and Central Feed, Lewistown Montana

Two buildings on the main street of Lewistown Montana.  I have no Idea what McEwen is.

Tripeny Building, Casper Wyoming

The building on the right, with the "Sanford's" sign, is the Tripeny Building. The Sanford's sign is covering the Tripeny name on the masonry, but it is there.  The tile work at the entry way, however, remains.

The Tripeny Building was built as an pharmacy, but the store was much more than that.  Still in operation when I was young, the store had a substantial jewelry counter and an old fashion soda fountain.  It was a neat place.  I can distinctly recall the juke box and a very old arcade game the store had in which the player attempted to shoot down bombers passing over a city.

After the death of the proprietor the store ceased operations and then became Giansanti's Pizzeria, a restaurant well remembered by Casperites of a certain age.  When Giansanti's ultimately closed, the location became the home of the Casper expression of Anthony's, a restaurant that had started in Jackson Wyoming (it can be seen, getting busted up, in the not so great movie Any Which Way But Loose).  Again, for Casperites, Anthony's was the Casper, not the Jackson, location, event  though they were both excellent.  The restaurant was always very popular and had a huge lunch crowd, but as with all restaurants, it too eventually closed.  Since that time, the building has been occupied by Sanford's, a regional restaurant chain that originated in Gillette with a restaurant called Humphrey's there, and which has expanded throughout the state.

Sanford's uses a style which involves featuring a lot of stuff in and outside of the restaurant in a manner that's clearly intended to recall the 1970s television show Sandford & Son.  For those who need a bit more of a clue, the menu titles provide it.  At this location it was involved in a bit of a spat with the city of Casper over an effort to convert its liquor license to a specialized cheaper variety intended only for restaurants, but the city gave it a bit of a bad time about that, resulting in the "$1 Pint" program, which must have been popular, as it continues on.  In spite of the big restaurant sign and the pint banner, observers can still pick up the details of the building if they look closely.

I'm not sure of this buildings age but I believe that it dates to the 1920s

Updated: Painted Bricks: Kistler Tent & Awning.

Recently updatated:  Painted Bricks: Kistler Tent & Awning..

Casper Power Box: Buildings of Interest.

This is an unusual city display, memorializing prominent buildings of Casper that were there in 1922.  The structure this is on is a power box.  Neat display.

Sinclair Station, Hudson Wyoming

This is the former Sinclair station in Hudson Wyoming. The building features a variety of fading painted signs, including one fairly clear Sinclair sign, and a second Sinclair sign which has either been painted over with another sign, or which painted over another sign.

The building also has a sign for Eli D. Bebout, who ran for Governor in Wyoming in 2002.  Hudson is a bit unusual in that brick signs are not only common, but political ones have been done within the last two decades.  One was this one for Eli D. Bebout, and another, across the street, is painted on the El Toro restaurant building for the late John P. Vinich.

Svilar's, Hudson Wyoming

 

 

This is the building housing the legendary Svilar's Restaurant in Hudson, Wyoming. Svilars is a first rate restaurant, and at one time the small town of Hudson housed Wyoming's two highest rated restaurants, this one, and another one owned by the same family which was located across the street.

This restaurant has been in business for many years and I don't know what this building was originally used for. Today it has a restaurant scene on one side.  On the other there's a remnant of a sign for a baseball game in Hudson, but when the game, or games, were played, I have no idea.

Guest Post #3. Dillon Montana

And one more set from our friend Sandy:

And two older ones from Dillon, Montana. Dillon is cattle country and the home of the U of M West, aggie- quite a different flavor than Missoula, U of M.  I haven't (yet) seen any yaks in this part of the state.

Guest Post #2: Thompson Falls, Montana

Some more photos sent by our friend, Sandy:

These are from Thompson Falls, Montana along Rt 200, which follows the Flat Head River to its confluence with the Clark Fork River and on to Lake Pend Oreille.

Guest Post #1: Oddfellow's Building, Colfax Washington

Our friend Sandy sent us these photos, and reports:

This is the Oddfellows building, from both sides, in Colfax, Washington on Rt 195, about an hour south of Spokane, in the heart of wheat country . As you can see there are several generations of paintings here. Alas, the book store seems to be gone. Choose whichever pics you'd like. By the way, I think I've seen signs by Heck somewhere before, not sure, but it seems familiar.

Sandy

Coca Cola Building, Casper Wyoming

This is the Coca Cola Building in Casper, Wyoming.  The building was a bottling plant at one time.  There is presently an effort underway to save this particular building.

Skelly Gasoline Station, Casper Wyoming

 

Skelly was an oil company that had its own gasoline stations, as most oil companies did, up until 1977 when it was bought by Getty Oil, and then subsequently Getty's interest was sold to Texaco.

This Skelly station was located along Yellowstone Street, the in town expression of the old Yellowstone Highway, in Casper Wyoming.  I am quite familiar with this area and had no idea that this building had ever been a Skelly station.  It's identity only came to light recently when the facade of the building, which has seen a variety of uses over the years, was stripped off.

Gasoline stations like this one were once very common.  Small brick and mortar stations which offered full service.  In this case, the station was located across the street from the substantial Wyatt's Gasoline Station and across from Tripeny Motors, which also had a gasoline station.  The location was a good one, as the Yellowstone Highway was the main regional highway at the time.

Campbell County Mural, Gillette Wyoming

College Bar, Douglas Wyoming

"Cafe-Hotel" Buffalo Wyoming

Capitol Hotel, Buffalo Wyoming

The Capitol Hotel building on Main Street, Buffalo Wyoming.

Grain Elevator, Leister Wyoming

A grain elevator near Leister Wyoming.

Elder, Quinn & McGill Company Building, Casper Wyoming

This building is the Elder, Quinn and McGill Building in Casper, Wyoming. I'm not really familiar with this company, but I believe it does construction work of some type. They've had a very long presence in Casper, and obviously owned this building at some point. I don't know if they still own it. This downtown building is directly across from the railroad and very near Natrona Transfer and Storage.

Fire Station No. 1, Casper Wyoming

This is Casper's old Fire Station No. 1, now a commercial office building. The newer looking brick work on the right is an addition.

This is a bit out of the scope of this blog, as this old fire station has no painted signs on it. Still, it does have some decorative work identifying it as a fire station. This fire station was still in use as a fire station as late as the 1970s, and after the last fire trucks were moved two blocks to the north to a new station, it hung on for some time in other uses for the Casper Fire Department. As can be seen from the details at the top of the building, it was built in 1921.

Occidental Hotel, Buffalo Wyoming

This depicts Main Street, downtown Buffalo Wyoming. The building in the foreground is the Occidental Hotel, a very old Buffalo Hotel that has seen such varied occupants as Theodore Roosevelt and Butch Cassidy. Another Buffalo hotel is seen further up the street.

Natrona County International Airport Mural

Mural depicting the history and industries of Natrona County, Wyoming, in the Natrona County International Airport.

Best Out West elevator, Sheridan Wyoming

Old elevator in Sheridan Wyoming. This elevator belonged to the Best Out West flour mill, and apparently this was the mill. The hotel next to it is named after the mill.