Lander

Lander, Wyoming
—  City  —
Downtown Lander, 2008
Location of Lander, Wyoming
Coordinates: 42°49′59″N 108°43′57″W / 42.83306°N 108.7325°W / 42.83306; -108.7325
Country	United States
State	Wyoming
County	Fremont
Area
- Total	4.4 sq mi (11.4 km2)
- Land	4.4 sq mi (11.4 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	5,358 ft (1,633 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	6,867
- Density	1,554.0/sq mi (600.0/km2)
Time zone	Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
- Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	82520
Area code(s)	307
FIPS code	56-44760[1]
GNIS feature ID	1609112[2]

Lander is a city in and the county seat of Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. Named for transcontinental explorer Frederick W. Lander, it is the county seat of Fremont County.^[3] Lander is located in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River. A tourism center with several dude ranches nearby, Lander is located just south of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The population was 6,867 at the 2000 census.

Since 1998, Lander and Fremont County have been represented in the Wyoming State Senate by the economist Cale Case, a Republican known for his interest in individual freedom and limited government.

History

On October 1, 1906, Lander became the westward terminus of the "Cowboy Line" of the Chicago and North Western Railway, thus originating the slogan "where rails end and trails begin." Originally intended to be a transcontinental mainline to Coos Bay, Oregon or Eureka, California, the line never went further west, and service to Lander was abandoned in 1972. ^[4]

Economy

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Suburban Lander

Present day Lander is home to numerous State and Federal government offices, including the U.S. Forest Service (Washakie Ranger District, Shoshone National Forest), the Bureau of Land Management (Lander Field Office), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a field office of the FBI, as well as the Wyoming Life Resource Center^[5] and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. One of the country's major bronze foundries, Eagle Bronze, is located in Lander, as is the International Headquarters of the National Outdoor Leadership School and other environment and land-related non profit organizations including offices of the Wyoming Outdoor Council, the Wyoming office of The Nature Conservancy, the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, and Wyoming Catholic College.

In addition to the public sector and a traditional agriculture and grazing economy, the economy of Lander and the region are supported by substantial tourism. Located at the foot of the Wind River Mountains, Lander serves as a point of departure for camping, hunting, fishing, wilderness travel, climbing, and mountaineering. In addition to the wilderness climbing and mountaineering opportunities in the Wind River Range, rock climbing areas close to town (most prominently, Sinks Canyon and "Wild Iris," located at Limestone Mountain) attract significant numbers of rock climbers to Lander.

The town is one of the headquarters of Asthmatic Kitty Records, founded by Sufjan Stevens.

Geography and climate

Lander is located at 42°49′59″N 108°43′57″W / 42.83306°N 108.7325°W / 42.83306; -108.7325 (42.833035, -108.732633)^[6].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 6,867 people, 2,794 households, and 1,824 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,554.0 people per square mile (599.9/km²). There were 3,036 housing units at an average density of 687.0/sq mi (265.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.81% White, 0.15% African American, 5.99% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.70% from other races, and 2.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.48% of the population.

There were 2,794 households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,397, and the median income for a family was $41,958. Males had a median income of $30,602 versus $20,916 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,389. About 9.9% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.3% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

In 2007, Wyoming Catholic College, a four-year, coeducational, private college was founded in Lander. The college was only the second four-year brick and mortar institution of higher education ever in Wyoming. It was designed to give students a general liberal arts education via a Great Books curriculum, while allowing them to develop morally and spiritually in a small Catholic community. It uses an Outdoor Adventure Program to take students into the nearby Wind River Mountains to teach leadership, decision-making skills, and to ignite their imaginations. The college received its Apostolic Blessing in 2005 from Most Reverend David L. Ricken, DD, JCL, the Bishop of Cheyenne. At present, Wyoming Catholic College is actively pursuing accreditation through The American Academy for Liberal Education.^[8]

Lander Valley High School is the main high school. It is located just west of Main Street after the demolition of the historic high school. Despite attempts to preserve the school the land was sold and is now a business complex. Pathfinder is the alternative high school.

Area attractions

Sinks Canyon State Park, near Lander

• Sinks Canyon State Park
• Shoshone National Forest
• Wind River Mountains
• Red Desert (Wyoming)

References

External links

• Lander, Wyoming is at coordinates 42°49′59″N 108°43′57″W / 42.833035°N 108.732633°W / 42.833035; -108.732633 (Lander, Wyoming)Coordinates: 42°49′59″N 108°43′57″W / 42.833035°N 108.732633°W / 42.833035; -108.732633 (Lander, Wyoming)

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