View source for Centennial, Wyoming

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Primary|date=September 2023}} 
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Centennial, Wyoming
|settlement_type          = [[Census-designated place|CDP]]
|nickname                 =
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Centennial Depot.JPG
|imagesize                = 250px
|image_caption            = The old [[Centennial Depot|Union Pacific depot]] in Centennial, now a museum. 
|image_flag               =
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = Albany County Wyoming incorporated and unincorporated areas Centennial highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 260px
|map_caption              = Location in [[Albany County, Wyoming|Albany County]] and the state of [[Wyoming]].
| pushpin_map = USA
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in the United States
<!-- Location -->
| subdivision_type       = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name       = {{flagu|United States}}
| subdivision_type1      = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1      = {{flag|Wyoming}}
| subdivision_type2      = [[List of counties in Wyoming|County]]
| subdivision_name2      = [[Albany County, Wyoming|Albany]]

<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     =
|government_type          =
|leader_title             =
|leader_name              =
|leader_title1            =
|leader_name1             =
|established_title        =
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref  =  Imperial
|area_footnotes           =
|area_magnitude           =
|area_total_km2           = 
|area_land_km2            = 
|area_water_km2           = 
|area_total_sq_mi         = 16.3
|area_land_sq_mi          = 16.3
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.0

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2010 United States Census|2010]]
|population_total         = 270
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="Census2010">{{cite web|title=2010 City Population and Housing Occupancy Status |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL2.ST13&prodType=table |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |accessdate=July 13, 2012 }}{{dead link|bot=medic|date=April 2020}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
|population_density_km2   = 
|population_density_sq_mi = auto

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain (MST)]]
|utc_offset               = -7
|timezone_DST             = MDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -6
|elevation_footnotes      =
|elevation_m              = 2461
|elevation_ft             = 8074
|coordinates              = {{coord|41|17|53|N|106|8|15|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 82055
|area_code                = [[Area code 307|307]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 56-13440<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |accessdate=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 1586522<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|accessdate=2008-01-31|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=2007-10-25}}</ref>
|website                  =
|footnotes                =
}}
'''Centennial''' is a small mountain-[[town]] in [[Albany County, Wyoming|Albany County]], [[Wyoming]], United States. It serves a fairly large surrounding landscape, along with a few ranches, located along a gently sloping hillside traversed by a highway. Because it has been, since 1980 or later, included in a [[census-designated place]] (CDP), bearing the town's name, specific demographics characterizing the town itself are not available.

==History==
[[File:Centennial Wyoming 130.JPG|thumb|left|Wyoming 130 facing Centennial.]]

As the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] was pushing west to link up with the [[Central Pacific Railroad]], as part of the [[First transcontinental railroad]], they sent logging crews into the [[Medicine Bow Mountains|Snowy Range]], in the Medicine Bow Mountains, to cut down timber (mainly [[Lodgepole Pine]]) for railroad ties.  A work camp was built on the site of the town.  After they had completed most of their work and the workers started having conflicts with area Native Americans, the crews left the area.  After the area was opened to homesteaders a few ranchers returned to the area.<ref name=GTP-WTandT>[http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/ghost2.html Ghost Town Photos] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303014322/http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/ghost2.html |date=2009-03-03 }}. - Wyoming Tales and Trails.</ref><ref name=C-UWAandTE>[http://www.ultimatewyoming.com/section%20pages/Section%205/centennial.html Centennial] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717153003/http://www.ultimatewyoming.com/section%20pages/Section%205/centennial.html |date=July 17, 2011 }}. - ''The Ultimate Wyoming Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia''.</ref>

Men working for I. P. Lambing (superintendent at the mine) of [[Golden, Colorado]] and [[Stephen Wheeler Downey|Colonel Stephen W. Downey]] (a lawyer and president of what would become Centennial Gold Mining Company) of [[Laramie, Wyoming]], discovered gold on what would become Centennial Ridge on Centennial Mountain in 1875.  As miners and prospectors started coming to the area, to work the Centennial Mine (also called the Downey Lode and Centennial Vein), they reestablished a community on the old work camp site in 1876 and named the town Centennial in honor of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] and founding of the United States.  Most of the gold was stripped from the mines by 1877, but the town was now established and merchants who came to serve the miners stayed to serve the nearby ranchers.<ref name=GTP-WTandT /><ref name=C-UWAandTE /><ref name=C-WTorg>[http://www.wyomingtourism.org/cms/d/centennial.php Centennial] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105083123/http://www.wyomingtourism.org/cms/d/centennial.php |date=January 5, 2009 }}. - WyomingTourism.org.</ref>

On the west side of Centennial Ridge a copper claim was discovered by Jacob Schnitzler in 1896.<ref>Thybony, Scott, Robert G. Rosenberg, Elizabeth Mullett Rosenberg (2001). - ''The Medicine Bows''. - Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Press. - p.102. - {{ISBN|978-0-87004-415-1}}.</ref>

Gold had people coming to the area again in 1902, and again in 1923&ndash;1924, but no significant amount was ever found.  Loggers returned to the area in 1905 to cut timber for a coal mine near [[Coalmont, Colorado|Coalmont]] in [[Jackson County, Colorado]].  Acme Consolidated Gold & Mining Company, headed by Isaac Van Horn, bought up timber land around the town, the townsite (Interstate Town Site Company), opened a sawmill, a [[planing mill]] and lumber yard, and opened a newspaper, the ''Centennial Post''.  The partners in Acme Consolidated Gold & Mining Company, Van Horn, Fred A. Miller, and Edward R. Miller, also formed the [[Laramie, Hahns Peak and Pacific Railway]] to transport the coal out to eastern markets.  The railroad, originating in Laramie, reached Centennial on June 17, 1907 (it would finally reach Coalmont in 1911).  That same year a bank was founded.<ref name=GTP-WTandT /><ref name=C-UWAandTE /><ref name=C-WTorg /><ref>Thybony. - p.137.</ref>

A. J. Hull, Jesse Northrop, and B. F. Northrop located the Platinum Queen (aka Queen Mine) on September 23, 1923, approximately 2.3 miles southwest of Centennial, on Centennial Ridge.  Most activity around the mine area ceased after the [[Stock Market Crash of 1929]] and the advent of the [[Great Depression]].<ref>"Queen Mine On Centennial Ridge. Medicine Bow National Forest". - Historic American Engineering Record. - National Park Service. - Department of the Interior.</ref>

==Geography==
Centennial and its surrounding CDP are located at {{coord|41|17|53|N|106|8|15|W|type:city}} (41.297981, -106.137614).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the CDP has a total area of 16.3&nbsp;square miles (42.2&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), all land.<ref name=censusnl>{{cite web|title=2010 Wyoming Place Names |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_56.txt |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |accessdate=July 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704211805/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_56.txt |archivedate=July 4, 2012 }}</ref>

===Climate===
{{Weather box
|location = Centennial, Wyoming, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1899–2010
|single line = Yes
|Jan record high F = 59
|Feb record high F = 57
|Mar record high F = 66
|Apr record high F = 74
|May record high F = 83
|Jun record high F = 91
|Jul record high F = 95
|Aug record high F = 90
|Sep record high F = 89
|Oct record high F = 77
|Nov record high F = 72
|Dec record high F = 63
|year record high F =

|Jan high F = 34.0
|Feb high F = 35.3
|Mar high F = 42.7
|Apr high F = 50.2
|May high F = 60.5
|Jun high F = 71.2
|Jul high F = 76.5
|Aug high F = 74.6
|Sep high F = 67.5
|Oct high F = 55.5
|Nov high F = 42.6
|Dec high F = 33.7
|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 23.2
|Feb mean F = 23.9
|Mar mean F = 30.6
|Apr mean F = 36.9
|May mean F = 46.1
|Jun mean F = 56.1
|Jul mean F = 62.4
|Aug mean F = 60.3
|Sep mean F = 53.2
|Oct mean F = 41.6
|Nov mean F = 30.3
|Dec mean F = 23.2
|year mean F =

|Jan low F = 12.4
|Feb low F = 12.5
|Mar low F = 18.4
|Apr low F = 23.5
|May low F = 31.6
|Jun low F = 41.0
|Jul low F = 48.2
|Aug low F = 45.9
|Sep low F = 38.8
|Oct low F = 27.7
|Nov low F = 17.9
|Dec low F = 12.7
|year low F =

|Jan record low F = −45
|Feb record low F = −34
|Mar record low F = −23
|Apr record low F = -15
|May record low F = 2
|Jun record low F = 19
|Jul record low F = 26
|Aug record low F = 26
|Sep record low F = 6
|Oct record low F = -6
|Nov record low F = -23
|Dec record low F = −40
|year record low F =

|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 0.94
|Feb precipitation inch = 0.81
|Mar precipitation inch = 1.08
|Apr precipitation inch = 1.37
|May precipitation inch = 1.53
|Jun precipitation inch = 1.33
|Jul precipitation inch = 1.67
|Aug precipitation inch = 1.10
|Sep precipitation inch = 1.25
|Oct precipitation inch = 0.87
|Nov precipitation inch = 1.02
|Dec precipitation inch = 0.99
|year precipitation inch =

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 7.2
|Feb precipitation days = 7.0
|Mar precipitation days = 8.4
|Apr precipitation days = 8.4
|May precipitation days = 9.8
|Jun precipitation days = 7.7
|Jul precipitation days = 8.9
|Aug precipitation days = 9.0
|Sep precipitation days = 6.9
|Oct precipitation days = 5.5
|Nov precipitation days = 7.1
|Dec precipitation days = 7.5

|Jan snow inch = 10.9
|Feb snow inch = 14.7
|Mar snow inch = 15.8
|Apr snow inch = 15.0
|May snow inch = 7.3
|Jun snow inch = 0.4
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 2.8
|Oct snow inch = 7.2
|Nov snow inch = 19.1
|Dec snow inch = 15.2
|year snow inch =

|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 7.2
|Feb snow days = 7.1
|Mar snow days = 7.4
|Apr snow days = 6.6
|May snow days = 2.9
|Jun snow days = 0.2
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.9
|Oct snow days = 2.9
|Nov snow days = 6.7
|Dec snow days = 7.1
|year snow days = 49.0

|Jan snow depth inch = 
|Feb snow depth inch = 
|Mar snow depth inch = 
|Apr snow depth inch = 
|May snow depth inch = 
|Jun snow depth inch = 
|Jul snow depth inch = 
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|year snow depth inch =

|source 1 = NOAA (precip/precip days, snow/snow days 1981&ndash;2010)<ref name = NOAA>
{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00481610&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Centennial 1NE, WY (1991&ndash;2010)
|access-date = December 5, 2023
}}
</ref><ref name = NOAA2>
{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly&stations=USC00481610&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Centennial 1 NE, WY (1981&ndash;2010)
|access-date = December 5, 2023
}}
</ref>
|source 2 = XMACIS2<ref name = XMACIS2>
{{cite web
|url = https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = xmACIS2
|access-date = December 5, 2023
}}
</ref>
}}

==Demographics==
Demographics from the [[United States Census Bureau]] for the town proper are not made available as, since 1980 or later, the town has been included in a [[census-designated place]], for which individual communities' data are munged with that of the surrounding larger environment. Therefore, what follows cannot be construed to represent the nature of the town alone.

The population of the CDP was 270 at the [[United States Census, 2010|2010 census]].

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 191 people, 97 households, and 57 families residing in the CDP. The [[population density]] was 19.1 people per square mile (7.4/km<sup>2</sup>). There were 295 housing units at an average density of 29.4/sq&nbsp;mi (11.4/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.29% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.05% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 1.05% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], and 2.62% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 3.14% of the population.

There were 97 households, out of which 15.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 2.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.2% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.44.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 13.1% under the age of 18, 3.1% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 44.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females, there were 130.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $32,292, and the median income for a family was $45,417. Males had a median income of $57,292 versus $37,969 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $29,477. About 15.9% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 100.0% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those 65 or over.

==Education==
Public education in the community of Centennial is provided by [[Albany County School District Number 1|Albany County School District #1]].

Centennial has a [[public library]], a branch of the Albany County Public Library.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.lib-web.org/united-states/public-libraries/wyoming/ | title=Libraries in Wyoming | publisher=LibWeb | accessdate=13 June 2019}}</ref>

{{Wikivoyage|Centennial (Wyoming)}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Albany County, Wyoming}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Albany County, Wyoming]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Wyoming]]