Encampment Is A Tiny Wyoming Town Straight Out Of The Great American West

Thanks to the efforts of historians, conservationists, and dedicated volunteers, many of Wyoming's frontier towns have been saved from certain demise. While the most famous may be South Pass City, the tiny border town of Encampment is one spot that any history buff is sure to love.

Encampment is a tiny town on the Wyoming-Colorado border with a history as a mining community. In the late 1800s, Grand Encampment - as it was known - was the center of the copper mining and smelting world.

When the copper mines busted, most people fled, abandoning the town for a life either out west, or in the larger cities. Today, the town is home to about 450 people and is a picture of the American West.

You can get a glimpse of the town - and take a peek back in time - at the Grand Encampment Museum!

This indoor-outdoor interpretive center has preserved 15 buildings to show what life was like in the early days of mining towns.

The buildings here tell the tale of mining town life. The Palace Bakery and Ice Cream Shop were owned by the Koffman family, and there was a Royal Neighbors lodge above. The lodge became a sign lettering shop before it was donated to the museum.

Among other important buildings that are still standing are the Kuntzman building, which was an office with big bright windows, and is now a saloon. There's a blacksmith shop, a log cabin, and a home converted into a museum, too.

Grand Encampment is home to thousands of artifacts, too, including remnants from what was once the longest steam powered tramway in the world.

The most famous of the buildings in Grand Encampment is the double-decker outhouse! The top floor toilets were used in the winter, when the snow made it too difficult to access the lower stalls.

Check out everything that the Grand Encampment Museum has to show off by reading their website, here, and planning some time to visit!