Bosler

Overview

A town made by a land boom and a highway

Bosler stands on the open Laramie Plains about 18 miles northwest of Laramie, where US 30 and US 287 cross the Laramie River beside the Union Pacific. The land was the Bosler Ranch, a cattle operation run by Frank C. Bosler and John Coble; it was a home base for Tom Horn, and it broke up about 1904 after the partners quarreled over Coble's spending on Horn's murder defense. Sources disagree on which Bosler gave the town its name: Frank, owner of the Diamond Ranch, or the cattle baron James Williamson Bosler.

In 1908 Tallmadge and Buntin bought about 60,000 acres, ranch included, to sell as irrigated farms, and Bosler was platted in 1909. The promotion showed lush lettuce fields and left out the 7,000-foot altitude. The canals failed, the bonds went into default in 1912 and most settlers left. The Lincoln Highway saved the town: in 1924 it had 75 people, three general businesses and two schools, and in 1925 the road moved east of the tracks and the town moved with it. The 1940 census counted nearly 300.

Bosler served Highway 30 traffic into the 1960s. When Interstate 80 opened west of Laramie on October 4, 1970, that traffic went elsewhere. By 1981 the Christian Science Monitor found the town virtually deserted, and the consolidated school graduated its last class in 1983. In 2023 the Alliance for Historic Wyoming put the population at about 10.

Timeline

Ranch, boom town, highway stop

1. 1903A Rand McNally guide lists Bosler among the "unimportant stations" on the Union Pacific north of Laramie. The land around it is the Bosler Ranch, run by Frank C. Bosler and John Coble and liquidated about 1904 after the partners fell out.
2. 1908–1909Tallmadge and Buntin buy about 60,000 acres, the Bosler Ranch among them, for an irrigation and land scheme; the Laramie Republican calls it the largest real estate deal in Wyoming's history. Bosler is platted in 1909 as a cattle and railroad shipping town.
3. 1912The irrigation bonds are in default and most of the new settlers have left.
4. 1913–1914The Lincoln Highway comes through Bosler, then mostly west of the tracks, crossing the Laramie River on what Motor Age called very expensive bridges.
5. 1924The Lincoln Highway Association counts 75 people, three general businesses, an express office, a telephone and two public schools.
6. 1925The highway is moved just east of the tracks, and the businesses move with it to where they stand now.
7. 1937The Bosler school building goes up.
8. 1940The census shows nearly 300 people.
9. October 4, 1970Interstate 80 opens west of Laramie, taking the cross-country traffic away from US 30 through Bosler.
10. 1981The Christian Science Monitor finds the town virtually deserted and the school down to a handful of pupils.
11. 1983The Bosler Consolidated School graduates its last class.
12. 2023About 10 people live in Bosler, per a local photographer quoted by the Alliance for Historic Wyoming.

On the ground

Bosler from the highway

The landmark is the school, a two-story brick building of 1937 standing alone in the grass by the highway. The Christian Science Monitor reported in 1981 that it had 14 pupils, that its janitor said there was no water there and the few who lived in town hauled it, and that election-day voting machines were set up in its basement. A visitor driving through about May 30, 2020 photographed it abandoned. The Alliance for Historic Wyoming named Doc's Western Village and the school as the buildings travelers notice from Highway 30 in 2023. An undated directory listing adds Doc's store, a fallen post office and a couple of homes. The photos here, from September 2012 and April 2014, show the school with its windows gone, small houses and sheds along the highway and weathered wooden buildings by the road.

The historic maps below show the town shrinking. The 1954 Cheyenne sheet marks Bosler where US 30/287 meets Wyoming 34, beside the Laramie River and the Oasis Canal. The 1955 Bosler sheet shows a short row of buildings along the railroad and the highway. The 1982 Rock River sheet keeps the name at the same junction.

• The 1937 brick school, empty
• Doc's Western Village and store
• Small houses and sheds along US 30/287
• The Union Pacific line and the Laramie River crossing

Historic maps

Bosler on USGS maps, 1954–1982

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19541:250,00019551:24,00019821:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Bosler is on US 30/287 north of Laramie. Both routes below follow that highway into town; the old school and the buildings can be seen from it.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Bosler in photos

The empty brick school on the prairie, September 2012The school from farther off, with the plains beyond, September 2012Weathered wooden buildings by the highway, April 2014Small buildings across US 30/287, September 2012A small building beside the highway, September 2012The highway approaching Bosler across the grassland, September 2012

Visitor reports

Been to Bosler?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Bosler

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Wyoming index.

• McFadden23.1 mi W · Carbon
• Medicine Bow34.4 mi NW · Carbon
• Sherman34.4 mi SE · Albany
• Buford37.3 mi SE · Albany
• Jelm-Frank Smith Ranch Historic District39.4 mi SW · Albany
• Hecla39.6 mi SE · Laramie
• Carbon39.9 mi NW · Carbon
• Shirley Basin56.3 mi NW · Carbon

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Alliance for Historic Wyoming, "Bosler, Wyoming", October 25, 2023: platted 1909 as a cattle and railroad shipping town, the James Williamson Bosler name, the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and its 1925 move, nearly 300 in 1940, the I-80 bypass, about 10 residents per photographer Doc Thissen, Doc's Western Village and the school.
2. Wyoming Tales and Trails, "Lincoln Highway: Laramie to Bosler", read October 29, 2026: the 1903 Rand McNally listing, the Bosler Ranch, Bosler and Coble, Tom Horn, the 1904 liquidation, Tallmadge and Buntin and the 1909 Laramie Republican, the 1912 default, the 1914 bridges, the 1924 Lincoln Highway Association figures.
3. Phil Roberts, Wyoming Almanac tour notes, June 2008: named for Frank Bosler of the Diamond Ranch, the lettuce brochures and the altitude, service to Highway 30 travelers into the 1960s, I-80 west of Laramie opened October 4, 1970.
4. Andrew Gulliford, "Not enough for a real rootin' game", Christian Science Monitor, January 26, 1981: the 1937 school, its 14 pupils, the janitor on hauling water, voting in the basement, the town virtually deserted.
5. The Adventuring Heidi, "Adventuring in Wyoming: Como Bluff Fossil Cabin", June 9, 2020 (trip about May 30, 2020): the abandoned Bosler Consolidated School, last class in 1983, a handful of residents.
6. Wikipedia, "Bosler, Wyoming", retrieved October 29, 2026: location on US 30/287 and the Laramie River, coordinates.
7. Wikipedia, "List of ghost towns in Wyoming", retrieved October 29, 2026: Bosler listed, Albany County, 1900.
8. ghosttowns.com, "Bosler", read October 29, 2026: fact sheet, Doc's store, the fallen school and post office, road, best time and climate.
9. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited below each one. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 29, 2026. Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

• The empty brick school on the prairie, September 2012: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• The school from farther off, with the plains beyond, September 2012: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• Weathered wooden buildings by the highway, April 2014: Jeffrey Beall, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
• Small buildings across US 30/287, September 2012: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• A small building beside the highway, September 2012: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• The highway approaching Bosler across the grassland, September 2012: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Cheyenne 1954, 1:250,000; Bosler 1955, 1:24,000; Rock River 1982, 1:100,000.