Wyoming's Oldest Schoolhouse and Its Restless Residents
710 Garfield St, Laramie, WY 82070
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public areas free to visit; event rentals vary
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved interior corridors; multi-floor building
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1878 · Wyoming Territorial Era · Frontier Vigilante History · Oldest School Building in Wyoming
When Wyoming was still a territory, Laramie was a place where gunfights broke out in broad daylight and vigilante committees handled what the provisional government could not. Construction on what would become Wyoming's oldest school building began in 1878, during this period of contested order. Before ground could be broken, bodies had to be moved — victims of vigilante killings who had been buried across the area, including on the future school site, were relocated and given proper interment.
The East Side School opened on the cleared land and served Laramie's children for over a century. Two major additions followed: in 1928 and again in 1939, expanding the original structure to 167,000 square feet. The building closed as a school in 1979 and was repurposed as the Laramie Plains Civic Center in 1982, now occupying an entire city block at 7th and Garfield Streets.
The facility houses two gymnasiums, a theater, ballroom, an unfilled basement swimming pool, and the original classroom wings. A woman working in the building died of cancer in the 1970s. A janitor died in a hospital of cancer; another janitor died in his apartment of a brain injury. None of these deaths occurred in the building itself.
In 2022, Cowboy State Daily joined Way Out West Paranormal for an investigation of the building. Arron BlackBurn of Way Out West concluded that at least one presence was detectable in the Civic Center — described as friendly and curious. The building's director of operations attributed the documented odd sounds to the basement boiler system and voices traveling through the ductwork network.
Sources
The building's paranormal reputation is documented in first-person accounts from staff members who work late in the building.
A witness working regularly in the facility has described a pattern of experiences in the older sections: a copy machine switched off at the wall turning on by itself; an office door opening as though someone had entered, with no one visible; the back of a man in a yellow shirt seen sitting in the janitor's office who was not there when investigated directly. These reports were documented with the Shadowlands Haunted Places Index.
Other accounts describe hearing what sounds like a full basketball game in progress in one of the gymnasiums after hours, with no one in the building. Staff have walked through localized pockets of rose-scented perfume that would not dissipate or move. Indian drumming has been reported in the building at night, with no obvious source.
The electric door phenomenon is specific: a door slammed with what witnesses described as furious repeated force around 10 PM, on an evening when the power to that door had been turned off. Staff have also heard voices when the building was empty and the sound of children running in the halls.
Way Out West Paranormal investigators concluded in 2022 that at least one presence inhabits the building, characterized as shy and curious rather than aggressive.
Notable Entities
Walk the 167,000-square-foot complex occupying a full city block — Wyoming's oldest school building, constructed in 1878, with additions in 1928 and 1939. The facility holds two gymnasiums, a theater, ballroom, and an unfilled basement swimming pool. Staff have reported activity concentrated in the older east wing classrooms, hallways, and the janitor's office.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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