Description
Vision
Fort Caspar Museum serves as the regional history museum for central Wyoming. Through exhibitions, historic reconstructions, and educational programs, the Museum shares the stories of central Wyoming with visitors ranging from local students to travelers from foreign countries. The Museum provides a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds and abilities to make meaningful connections to our past in educational and entertaining ways.
History
Fort Caspar Museum was established in 1936 when Casper citizens reconstructed an 1865 military post located along the Oregon/California/Mormon Pioneer/Pony Express trail corridor through Wyoming. In 1967, the City of Casper provided funding for the first full-time staff at the site and, in 1982, built a new Museum building which included an exhibit gallery, collections storage, and office space. In 2002, the City of Casper added a new entrance, lobby, and store to the existing Museum building. In 2007, the City doubled the size of the Museum adding additional exhibit space, a classroom, and multi-purpose room that is used for programs, meetings, and available for rental. In addition to the Museum building and reconstructed fort, the Museum includes a reproduction Mormon ferry and Guinard bridge section, a carriage shed with open storage of the wagon collection, river trail, and memorial cemetery. In 1990, Centennial Park was added with picnic shelters, playground, Wyoming history interpretive signs, and signature cabin.
Exhibits & Collections
The existing Museum gallery features a variety of exhibits, including three to six temporary exhibits that are generally changed on an annual basis. The reconstructed fort buildings are furnished with clothing, personal items, and equipment as they would have been in the 1860s. The Museum has a broad-based humanities collection ranging from prehistoric tools to a 2003 Casper National Guard deployment ceremony program. The Museum has approximately 6,000 artifacts, 7,000 photographs, and 3,000 archival materials in its collection.
