Description
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) worked to dramatically improve the conditions at the old armory in Casper, Wyoming in 1934. Casper Star-Tribune described the project as an “armory for the use of the national guard … erected near Durbin and Fifteenth streets, at a cost of $12,308.” A 1950s map shows that the facility was located south of 15th Street, between S Wolcott and S Durbin St.
oilcity.news: “The Wyoming National Guard Armory was a unique, round brick structure originally built in 1927 to house cavalry horses. Over the years it was modified and used for more modern National Guard purposes, and leased for public events.”
Cassity: “Casper’s armory finally found workers in the CWA projects to build a retaining wall using cobble stone so that the building would no longer be flooded by the drainage from the adjacent hill; they also graveled and oiled the roadway and parking area, adding fencing while they were at it, since “the grounds were utterly useless and there was no available parking space.””
The structure has since been demolished.
Source notes
"CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES COSTING $700,000 PROVE COMMUNITY ASSET IN 1934," Casper Star-Tribune, March 3, 1935 (pg. 27): https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/348227545/
oilcity.news: https://oilcity.news/community/backstory/2020/09/07/backstory-caspers-armory-crumbles-after-tough-preservation-fight-photos/
Building Up Wyoming: Depression-Era Federal Projects in Wyoming, 1929–1943. Michael Cassity. Prepared for the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office ... (pg. 101).
https://www.michaelcassity.org/uploads/1/2/7/7/12777320/wyodepressionerafedprojects_mpdf.pdf
Project originally submitted by Evan Kalish on May 26, 2022.
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