By 1892, the town had become a staid community and Banker Ivinson a wealthy man. That year he and his wife, Jane, built a handsome Victorian mansion on the block originally purchased from the Union Pacific Railroad. The home was built for the then princely sum of $40,000. The house had central heating, electric lights and running water, as well as the most elegant appointments of any house in town.

Jane Ivinson designed the interior of the house. She selected the variety of hardwoods used to enhance the mansion’s rooms, and in 1892 and 1893, she visited Chicago to select furnishings, hardware and fixtures, including doorknobs, lighting fixtures, the bathroom appointments, and stained-glass windows.

By 1921, Ivinson had been a widower for six years, and he deeded his home to the Episcopal Missionary District of Wyoming. The mansion became the Jane Ivinson Memorial Hall, used as a church-run boarding house originally for teen-age girls who lived on ranches and had trouble getting to town to attend high school. Because of vastly improved transportation methods, the girls school closed in 1958.

The splendid old home stood empty for over a decade when the non-profit Laramie Plains Museum Association spearheaded a drive for funds which netted $74,450—a remarkable achievement in the Laramie Plains and surrounding area which totals about 5,000 square miles with a population under 30,000.

A Federal Historic Preservation Grant enabled the Association to buy the Ivinson property for $100,000, and the Laramie Plains Museum opened its doors in its new historic location in 1973. In 1992, a yearlong celebration of the centennial of the Ivinson Mansion was observed with special events and programming.

Nearly eighty years after its completion, the Ivinson Mansion and grounds were enrolled on the National Register of Historic Places because of the building’s distinctive architecture and the Ivinsons’ contribution to pioneer Wyoming.

The beautiful Ivinson Mansion interior is a fitting background for a wide variety of artifacts attractively arranged throughout its many restored, Victorian-era rooms. The large collection includes historic items used in the Laramie Plains area as well as those items, which aid in interpreting the area’s rich history.

Among the many items you’ll se are intricately hand-carved furniture made at the Wyoming Territorial Prison; lovely textiles, which present a fascinating history of fashion; a well-outfitted kitchen displaying century-old appliances; a formal dining room filled with elegant dishes; a restored drawing room, opulent with its fine appointments; an extensive photo collection and archives; memorabilia from early Laramie history—political, social, cultural and economic; a room filled with toys of yesteryear—much to the delight of visitors of all ages; a cowboy line cabin, extensive saddle collection, many ranching implements, and artifacts which tell the story of the area’s sheep industry; and a one-room schoolhouse still used by area teachers to the delight of their students.

The museum is open year round. Call for hours. An admission fee is charged.

Reprinted from museum brochure.