Today In Wyoming's History: February 8, 1919. Edwin Kieth Thomson born.

Today In Wyoming's History: February 8:

February 8

1919  Edwin Keith Thomson born in Newcastle.  Thomson had risen spectacularly young, graduating from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1941 at which time he was only 22 years old.  He entered the service thereafter and became the youngest battalion commander in the Army during World War Two, reaching that position at age 24.  He was still in his 20s when discharged as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1946.  He became the Congressman from Wyoming in 1955.  He was elected to the Senate in 1960, but died of a heart attack at age 41 before assuming his office.  His widow, Thyra Thomson, served as Wyoming's Secretary of State for 24 years.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: Corpus Christi, Newcastle Wyoming

Churches of the West: Corpus Christi, Newcastle Wyoming:

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Weston County Courthouse, Newcastle Wyoming

Courthouses of the West: Weston County Courthouse, Newcastle Wyoming:

This is the Weston County Courthouse in Newcastle, Weston County, Wyoming. If this well preserved courthouse is not the oldest operating courthouse in the state, it must be very close to the oldest one still in use. The courthouse houses a courtroom of the 6th Judicial District, which also has a courthouse in Gillette, Wyoming.

(Note, the text here is the original from the original Courthouses of the West entry.  Since that time, I've learned that there is in fact an older courthouse still in use in the state, in Evanston Wyoming.).

Wyoming National Guard Stable, Newcastle Wyoming

This is the former stable for the Wyoming National Guard in Newcastle, Wyoming.  The Armory was downtown, and no longer stands.  

The reference to the 3d Infantry Regiment, Wyoming National Guard, is curious as this building was built for the 115th Cavalry in the 1930s by the WPA.  The 3d Infantry sign might have come from the old Newcastle Army downtown.  Wyoming had infantryman and artillery prior to World War One, but after the Great War it was switched over to cavalry, at a point in time in which the Army was expanding cavalry in the National Guard in an effort to insure that static warfare, such as had happened in World War One, did not reoccur.

In the 1960s the old armory downtown was torn down, by which time a new one was located next to this armory, which was on the edge of town (and still basically was).  Newcastle no longer has a National Guard unit, and that building is used by the State in some other capacity. This transformation, resulting form the elimination of the Guard's presence from a small town, has been very common throughout the country.  Now, the nearest National  Guard unit may be in Gillette, which is quite some distance away.

This building ins now the Anna Miller Museum in Newcastle.

One Room Schoolhouse, Newcastle Wyoming.