Blue sky view, towards Laramie River, foundations first 1850 guardhouse next to New 1876 Guardhouse, Fort Laramie, Wyoming, USA


The New Guardhouse, built in 1876, is the third jail at Fort Laramie, being built on the ruins (seen here) of the first guardhouse built in 1850. The building, measuring 50ft by 36ft, is a lime grout concrete structure, with wood shingle roof, 2 concrete chimneys and front porch. It was built to replace Fort Laramie's Second Guardhouse, built in stone in 1866 to hold 40 prisoners in cells which were unheated and had no furniture. Alcohol was responsible for most breaches of discipline. The US Army owned Fort Laramie 1849-1890 (before which the site was occupied by two privately owned fur trading forts). In the 1950s and 1960s the Fort was restored by the National Park Service, when workmen found the ruins of the first guardhouse.


Size: 4592px × 3056px
Location: 1876 'New Guardhouse', Fort Laramie Historic Site, Wyoming, United States
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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