Standard Oil Refinery Building, Casper Wyoming

Headquarters for the former Standard Oil Refinery in Casper Wyoming.  This building, with additional new construction is now a branch of branch of tbe University of Wyoming's Wyoming Technology Business Center.

Every once in awhile I'll have some of these photos, taken for one of my blogs, that I end up not being sure what to do with. This is an example of that.

I took these sometime during the summer of 2015, while down on the Platte River Commons pathway.  I was probably riding my bicycle down there.  After that, I didn't put them up as I wasn't quite sure where they belonged.  My original thought was that they should go on Painted Bricks, our blog dedicated to signs painted on buildings, but there aren't any signs painted on this building, and the old Standard Oil sign has been removed.  Having said that, there is a major sidewalk feature here, and I do put sidewalk features on our Painted Bricks blog, so there will probably be an entry there after all.

Instead, I decided to put this up here because of this somewhat sad memorial at this location.

Now, there were people who died one way or another at the refinery over the many years it was in operation, but this monument is simply to people who worked there from 1913 up until it closed in 1991.  When it closed, it came somewhat close to being a mortal blow to the city, which was already really hurting at that time.  Having said that, the decline of the refinery, which had at one time been enormous and one of the prime economic engines of the city, was obvious for years.

When the refinery was operating, this building was on the edge of the refinery, along the old Yellowstone Highway, prior to that highway being moved across the river. As a kid I must have ridden as a passenger in my parents vehicle past it countless times.  I can remember it quite well, and frankly it looks newer now than it did then.

I don't know when the building was built, but as the refinery opened in 1913, chances are that it was right around then.  The substantial refinery, now a golf course, was a major Natrona County employer and its closure really nearly ended an era in the town.  The town had three refineries up until about that time, but only one of them, the  Sinclair refinery, remains today.  The Standard Oil refinery was the largest of the three.

Bridger Trail, Wyoming

Washakie County Pioneers' Memorial, Worland Wyoming

This memorial in the Washakie County Wyoming Courthouse commemorates the early residents of the county.

Thermopolis Historical Museum Veterans Memorial, Thermopolis Wyoming

This is the Veterans' Memorial outside of the Historical Museum in Thermopolis Wyoming.  The memorial features a M2 105mm howitzer.

Old Trail Town Cemetary, Cody Wyoming

 This is the cemetery at the Old Trail Town in Cody Wyoming. The cemetery includes the graves and markers for several well known frontiersmen.

 This is the marker for John "Liver Eating" Johnson, more popularly known ad "Jeremiah" Johnson due to the film.  Johnson was a cavalryman, mountain man, and in later years, a law man in Wyoming and Montana.  His marker is marked with, in addition to his name and nickname, "No more trails".

 Marker for Jim White, buffalo hunter

Markers for Floyd Stillings, early rodeo cowboy, and William Garlow "Cody", grandchild of Buffalo Bill Cody and attorney in Big Horn County Wyoming.

Wyoming National Guard Headquaters Displays, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

F86D at Wyoming National Guard Headquarters, Cheyenne Wyoming

M7 105 Howitzer Carriage

These displays are at the Wyoming National Guard Headquarters in  Cheyenne, Wyoming. Both displays commemorate the Wyoming National Guard, Air and Army, during the 1950s.

Shoshone Forest Fire of August 21, 1937 Memorial (Blackwater Fire)

This memorial is to the Civilian Conservation Corps, United States Forest Service, and Bureau of Public Roads men who died in the Blackwater Fire of 1937.  The fire is the fourth deadliest forest fire in the U.S. history.

John E. Boltz Memorial, Washakie County Wyoming.

Memorial to Wyoming Department of Transportation engineer John E. Boltz, who was killed in a construction accident near where this memorial is located.

Pioneer Plaza, Casper Wyoming

This is Pioneer Plaza, in Casper Wyoming. The small park is dedicated to the memory of pioneers.  The park is across the street from both the old and new Natrona County courthouses, although the obelisk itself was once in front of the county's first courthouse, which was removed long ago. 

 While the oldest feature of the small park dates from 1911, the park itself was dedicated in 1967.

The sheep commemorate the sheep ranching industry that was once so prominent in Natrona County, Wyoming.

Freedom Tower, New York City

Freedom Tower, September 11 Memorial, New York City

New York Korean War Veterans Memorial

Freedom Tower and September 11th Memorial, New York City.