Learning Local History Is As Easy As A-B-C at Fort Caspar Museum

Fort Caspar Museum announced that from now until Nov. 6, 2021, they are presenting a new exhibit that focuses on the vast history of Casper, using the ABC’s as a guide.

“The A, B, C;’s of Casper History” is an exhibit that displays items taken from the history of Casper itself. A wide array of the people, places, and things that make Casper great will be on display, showcasing rarely seen objects from the museum’s own collection. This exhibit is designed to teach kids and adults alike interesting facts about Casper through an alphabet of objects.

The exhibit was organized by the staff of Fort Caspar, and it utilizes all 26 letters of the alphabet as a starting point to tell their story.

“A piece from the collection that begins with each letter is highlighted, but the objects selected may not showcase the history that first comes to mind,” a press release from Fort Caspar noted. “For example: ‘V’ is represented by a vase once owned by former NCHS teacher Kathleen Hemry, and ‘J’ is for J.C. Penney and features an original Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps uniform shirt purchased at Casper’s old downtown J.C. Penney store in 1958.”

For those interested in the history of Casper and its evolution throughout the years, this is the perfect chance to visit, or revisit, some of the things that made Casper great.

“This is just a fun walkthrough of Casper’s history and some of the objects that rarely see the light of day,” said Michelle Bahe, the Curator of Collections for Fort Caspar. “We haven’t put a lot of these items on exhibit for a long time, possibly never. It’s been a really fun exhibit to put together. People who grew up here, people who live here – some of them are going to recognize these things and remember them as things from their childhood or things that their parents have told them about.”

A lot of thought has gone into this exhibit. A lot of thought goes into all of the exhibits on display at Fort Caspar. Bahe stated that they pick their exhibit topics in April or May and then spend the summer gathering all of the pieces.

“Then, come September or October, we actually pick out the artifacts and take them out of storage, clean them up if they need it, and complete whatever additional research that needs to be done,” she said.

The exhibit will stay up over the next year and it is sure to rekindle some nostalgia for those who have lived in Casper for a long time.

“It’s just a fun snapshot of different people and places in Casper and I enjoyed putting it together very much,” Bahe remarked.

The museum’s current winter hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with a special hour from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. reserved for at-risk individuals. Winter admission fees are just $2 for adults and $1.50 for youth (ages 13-18) and seniors (ages 62 and over). Admission for children 12 years and under, as well as FCMA members, is free.

For more information on this exhibit, or any exhibit, visit fortcasparmuseum.com or call 307-235-8462.