Albany County Historical Society Holding Annual Banquet

The Albany County Historical Society invites the public to its annual banquet on Tuesday, March 10 at 6 p.m. at the Laramie Country Club with guest speaker William Loyer.

Tickets are $25 and include dinner, dessert and the program. A cash bar will be available. Call Elnora Frye at 307-761-1966 for more information or to make your reservations by March 3.

Bill Loyer married Carol Ludwig, of Ludwig Photography, whose family owned a ranch near Virginia Dale, 25 miles south of Laramie on US Highway 287 near the state line. The Loyers lived in the 1907 homestead house at Virginia Dale in the sparsely populated ranch community.

Built in 1862, the Virginia Dale Stage Station on the Overland Trail predates the Union Pacific Railroad and is one of the oldest buildings in the area.

William Loyer will detail the history of the area, the importance of the Overland Trail and preservation challenges at the Virginia Dale Stage Station.

The Albany County History Society was established in 1943 by Mrs. S.S. Wheeler, who saw a pressing need for a group to support the collection, classification and preservation of historical materials from early Wyoming and Albany County.

Monthly meetings are held at the Alice Hardie Stevens Center at the beautiful Laramie Plains Museum located at 603 Ivinson Ave. Meetings are the third Tuesday of each month (September-November and January-May). Various speakers present local history and new research about the great state of Wyoming.

To learn more about the Albany County Historical Society, visit their website or view their Facebook page.