Casper’s Old Yellowstone District used to be the life of the party in the 1950s.

First, it was a thriving business district that catered to travelers on their way to Yellowstone National Park. Then it was also home to a huge Amoco refinery that brought workers into Casper’s downtown.

Lastly, it had a railway that made the entire area an important logistics hub for many warehouse and distribution centers.

Shifting traffic patterns started the decline of the area, moving tourists and their dollars to areas along Interstate 25. New hotels along the interstate soon eclipsed Casper’s grand downtown hotels, leaving them to fall into disrepair and neglect, slowly but surely.

In 1991, the Amoco refinery shut down, dealing another blow to a distressed area, and by 1995, the railway that had bee

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