Cowley, Wyoming

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cowley is a town in Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 560 at the 2000 census.

The current mayor is the honorable Roland Simmons - a local businessman. Counsel members are David Banks, Timothy Jones and Carolyn Barnes.

The Big Horn Academy building is found in Cowley, Wyoming. It was built in 1916.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Cowley is located at 44°52′58″N, 108°28′5″W (44.882684, -108.468193)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 560 people, 200 households, and 160 families residing in the town. The population density was 308.9/km² (796.5/mi²). There were 223 housing units at an average density of 123.0/km² (317.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.32% White, 0.18% Asian, 2.14% from other races, and 0.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.39% of the population.

There were 200 households out of which 41.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.0% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.0% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the town the population was spread out with 31.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $38,750, and the median income for a family was $39,722. Males had a median income of $31,848 versus $20,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,964. About 3.8% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

The Town of Cowley was settled by a group of Mormon pioneers called to settle Wyoming's Big Horn Basin. The town was named in honor of Matthias F. Cowley, one of the Apostles of the Mormon church at the time. The first company of pioneers arrived in the area May 2, 1900, and began the construction of the Sidon Canal to bring water to the town from the Shoshone River. The Canal was over 30 miles long and was not completed until 1904.

By the winter of 1900 there were approximately 18 log houses built in the area. Those original homes were built by Robert Baird, John Black, John Burke, Hyrum Cook, John Dickson, Robert Fraser, William Graham, David Lewis, Gilbert Marchant, Alfred Nebeker, William Partridge, William Simmons, George Taggart, Henry Tucker, Franklin Turnbow, Lemuel Willis, W. W. Willis, and George Harston.

The first school was opened in a log house in January 1901, and the first teacher was Eliza R. Black. There were about 24-30 students.

On September 26, 1910, the Big Horn Academy was opened in Cowley, as the first High School. The first class to be graduated fromt the Big Horn Academy was the class of 1912, consisting of 13 students. The first four-year graduating class was in 1915.

A new stone building was erected to house the Big Horn Academy in 1916. In 1925 the name was changed to the Cowley High School. The School's mascot was the Jaguars. The Cowley High School remained in the Big Horn Academy building until 1983, when the last class was graduated from Cowley High School. There were only six students in the class of 1983, John Barnes, Ernesto Campos (a visiting student from Mexico), Gilbert Fisher, Greg Marchant, Randy Marchant and Bart Stevens. Due to the declining enrollment, the school in Cowley was closed.

Beginning in 1984, the town's students began attending the consolidated Rocky Mountain High School in Byron, Wyoming, with students from Byron, Deaver and Frannie.

(Information for the History section was taken primarily from "With Book And Plow," by Mark N. Partridge, published 2003 by Family History Publishers, Bountiful, Utah, Copyright Cowley Pioneer Museum History Center.)