The west side, a cluster of approximately 300 homes sandwiched between the railroad to the east and the Laramie River to the west, was once looked upon as a less desirable neighborhood. Now, residents work with University of Wyoming students to uncover the west side’s place in history.
The west side neighborhood’s rich past drew interest two years ago from UW’s American Studies Program, a discipline that combines history with American folklore and historic preservation. UW students completed a historic preservation survey of 248 properties in the west side neighborhood.
Students pounded the pavement documenting each building through photographs, writing detailed descriptions and interviewing residents. The students researched the history of the neighborhood through public documents and recorded oral histories.
Later, the students prepared a report for residents to better understand the history of their property and gave historic walking tours. In June 2012, the program will work with the west side again to put on historic preservation workshops, which will help residents update their homes while maintaining historic integrity.
Mary Humstone, a research scientist with UW’s American Studies Program, taught the field studies class that undertook the west side project. “The reason we do this is to identify places that are historic and potentially worthy of preservation,” Humstone said. “This is definitely one worth preserving.”
The styles of houses were of particular interest to the researchers. Some of the first homes were built by the Union Pacific Railroad as early as 1870. New residents, often of Scandinavian and German origin, built simple homes without the aid of an architect. The Spiegelberg families, who emigrated from Prussia in 1888, founded a construction company that built 23 homes in the west side—many out of wood, chicken wire and stucco.
Humstone said discrimination played a role in the development of the neighborhood during World War II. After the 1930s, Hispanic populations increased in the west side as railroad jobs increased and the government heavily recruited immigrants to work the war factories. Despite their contribution to the war effort, Hispanics were often unwelcome at businesses east of the railroad tracks.
“One of the reasons this ended up being such a cohesive neighborhood was because of discrimination. People were forced to stay in this neighborhood because they were discriminated against,” Humstone said.
In modern times, the west side neighborhood is as tight-knit as ever. A neighborhood alliance was formed to provide support for these studies and draw more interest to the area.
Gina Chavez, an organizer for the West Side Neighborhood Alliance, has family roots in the west side. Her family moved to Laramie from Mexico in the 1920s and her mother lived in an old railroad car that the family converted into a home. Chavez said she believed that the west side was special to Laramie’s history.
“You can only get to it by accessing bridges. It’s like a little island, almost invisible. And it’s one of the very first neighborhoods in Laramie,” Chavez said.
Chavez said she learned a lot from the American Studies students’ research. She learned that one of the structures on her property was an old boarding house where Mrs. Wilson, who may have been one of Laramie’s first business owners, put up railroad workers for the night.
“I would like to see the west side as a gem of the city. I would like to see appreciation for the businesses and buildings there that have been able to weather the test of time. It’s a testament to the kind of people who lived there and continue to live there,” Chavez said.
Some houses in the west side are still rumored to have old railroad cars buried in the walls, making up their bones. The history, embedded like cinders from railroad smoke, lives on in the houses and the American Studies students are helping to unearth it.
