e-ReferenceDesk's College and 50 State Learning Resource Guide

Find Online Colleges

Find Campus Colleges

Wyoming State...

Wyoming

Choose a County

Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Crook, Fremont, Goshen, Hot Springs, Johnson, Laramie, Lincoln, Natrona, Niobrara, Park, Platte, Sheridan, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton, Uinta, Washakie, Weston

Wyoming Counties

Click Image to Enlarge

Wyoming Counties

There are 23 Counties in the state of Wyoming. There were originally five Counties in the Wyoming Territory: Laramie and Carter, established in 1867; Carbon and Albany established in 1868; and Uinta, an annexed portion of Utah and Idaho, extending from Montana (including Yellowstone Park) to the Wyoming-Utah boundary. On July 10, 1890, Wyoming was admitted to the Union with thirteen counties.

Platte County, Wyoming

Platte County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Wheatland
Year Organized: 1911
Square Miles: 2,111

Court House:

P.O. Box 728
County Courthouse
Wheatland, WY 82201-0728

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Takes its name from the North Platte River. Platte from the French "plate", meaning "dull" or "shallow", a term singularly applicable to this stream.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

In 1911, Platte County was created from a portion of Laramie County, which joins it to the south. Platte County takes its name from the North Platte River

Wheatland

Wheatland, the county seat and largest town in Platte County, provides easy access to scenic and recreational areas. Set amid farms and ranches that are irrigated by the largest privately owned irrigation system in the Country, the town has a nine-hole public golf course, city parks with a free camping area, a swimming pool and tennis courts, Laramie Peak Museum, library, bowling alley, movie theater and fairgrounds. Before a modern water system was developed in Wheatland, water was brought to each home by ditches which ran down each street from Canal No. 2 to irrigate lawns and gardens and to furnish water for homes. Wheatland still has many remains of the In-town irrigation system that made all the old trees in Wheatland. Wheatland was incorporated in 1905, and because the county seat of Platte County in 1911.

The town of Chugwater is one of the older settlements in Platte County. The first building at this site was erected in the fall of 1867 after the government road had been opened through this section. The town takes its name from Chugwater Creek, on which it is situated.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,111 square miles (5,467 km²), of which, 2,085 square miles (5,400 km²) of it is land and 26 square miles (67 km²) of it (1.23%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Niobrara County (northeast)
Goshen County (east)
Laramie County (south)
Albany County (west)
Converse County (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Chugwater	town	Incorporated Area
- Glendo	town	Incorporated Area
- Guernsey	town	Incorporated Area
- Hartville	town	Incorporated Area
- Wheatland (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."