Casper, Wyoming

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Downtown Casper
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Downtown Casper

Casper is a city in Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 49,644 at the 2000 census. It is a medium-sized city in east-central Wyoming on Interstate 25. It is the county seat of Natrona CountyGR6 and the largest city in Wyoming. It is also the principal city of the Casper metropolitan statistical area which encompasses all of Natrona County.

The city sits at the foot of Casper Mountain, the north end of the Laramie Mountain Range along the North Platte River. The city was site of Fort Caspar during the days of the Oregon Trail, which passed along the North Platte through the town. Although small by national standards, its large size within the region make it a banking and commerce center. Since the discovery of crude oil in the region in the 1890s it has been a center of the regional petroleum industry. The famous Salt Creek Oil Field was first drilled in 1889 approximately 40 miles (64 km) north of Casper, and the first refinery in Casper was built in 1895. The city has scheduled air service at Natrona County International Airport.

With the development of the Wyoming coal fields in recent decades, it has continued its role as an important center of the energy industry. Casper and the rest of Wyoming is served by the Casper Star-Tribune, a newspaper with statewide circulation. Casper is also the site of Casper College. The city is home to the Casper Troopers, a drum and bugle corps in Drum Corps International.

Casper was the hometown of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was murdered in October 1998 in an apparent anti-gay hate crime that received international media attention. In January 2005 Shepard's former high school classmate Guy V. Padgett III was elected mayor of Casper, becoming the first openly gay elected official in Wyoming history.

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[edit] Geography

Location of Casper, Wyoming

Casper is located at 42°50′5″N, 106°19′30″W (42.834665, -106.325062)GR1. It sits at an average elevation of about 5100 to 5200 ft (just slightly lower than Denver).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 62.8 km² (24.3 mi²). 62.0 km² (24.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (1.32%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 49,644 people, 20,343 households, and 13,141 families residing in the city. The population density was 800.3/km² (2,073.2/mi²). There were 21,872 housing units at an average density of 352.6/km² (913.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.03% White, 0.86% Black or African American, 1.00% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.04% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. 5.35% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 20,343 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.94.

The Dick Cheney Federal Building in downtown Casper, named for Dick Cheney.
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The Dick Cheney Federal Building in downtown Casper, named for Dick Cheney.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,567, and the median income for a family was $46,267. Males had a median income of $34,905 versus $21,810 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,409. About 8.5% of families and 11.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.4% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Famous people

  • Dick Cheney, Vice President of United States under George W. Bush, Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush, Former CEO of Haliburton
  • Mike Devereaux, professional baseball player with World Series rings with Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves
  • Tom Browning, former major league pitcher, threw perfect game with the Cincinnati Reds
  • Mike Lansing, former major league second baseman
  • Pete Williams NBC News correspondent, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
  • Ron Franscell, newspaperman and author of novels "Angel Fire" and "The Deadline," and "Fall," a nonfiction about a 1973 crime that rocked Casper

[edit] Trivia

  • Natrona County, and the city of Casper were involved in the filming of the 1997 sci-fi film Starship Troopers, which was largely filmed at Hell's Half Acre, a small gorge and tourist attraction in the northwestern corner of the county.
  • The Casper Rockies minor league baseball team compete here.
  • Dick Cabela the founder of Cabela's ran a classified ad advertising hand tied flies in the Casper Star Tribune in 1961 thus starting the company

[edit] External links

Casper, Wyoming Flag of Wyoming
Suburbs

Mills | Evansville | Vista West | Red Butte | Mountain View
Natrona County
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