Chugwater, WY

Chugwater is a town in Platte County, Wyoming, United States. The 2020 census counted 175 residents. The High Plains town is located 45 miles north of Cheyenne and 25 miles south of Wheatland. The Chugwater area, with its proximity to Fort Laramie, was visited by some of the earliest Western expeditions, including that of Stephen Watts Kearny in 1845, and cattle were first wintered in the valley as early as 1859. The Diamond Ranch, established near Chugwater in 1878 by George Rainsford, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 28, 1984. Unfortunately, it no longer functions as a guest ranch.

There is also a Charter school in Chugwater called Prairie View Community School. The through line in Chugwater is the way its history and present-day settings remain visible on the same map. Chugwater makes the most sense through those concrete details, with its history still visible in the settings people use today. In 1870, the Hayden Expedition passed through what they referred to as "the valley of the Chug". I-25 - north–south Interstate from New Mexico to Wyoming; runs north–south through Chugwater, concurrent with US 87. I-25 BL - Alternate Interstate Business Route through Chugwater.