Two Albany County ranches honored for century of operation

Two Albany County ranches were honored by the Wyoming Centennial Farm & Ranch Program for reaching 100 years of ownership and operation within the same families. The designation recognizes more than age alone: it marks ranches that have stayed in production through changing markets, weather, and ownership pressure.

The state program honors families who have owned and operated the same farm or ranch for 100 years or more. It partners each year during the week of the Wyoming State Fair with the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. A 2024 Wyoming Livestock Roundup report said seven farms and ranches were honored that year, while a 2020 Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office release said 15 Wyoming families were recognized as Centennial Farm & Ranch honorees that year.

For Albany County, the recognition fits a landscape where ranching still shapes life west of Laramie and in outlying areas such as Centennial Valley and the Laramie Plains. The Albany County Historical Society says the CattleWomen of Albany County publish ranch histories in brochures that accompany yearly ranch tours, and archived tour materials include a 65th annual ranch tour in 2016 as well as a 1951 historical tour of old time ranches of the Laramie Plains. The county’s ranch history archive also includes an article on the Buckeye Ranch in Centennial Valley.

That history is matched by active land stewardship. The Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust said it conserved the 6,650-acre Croonberg Ranch west of Laramie, a reminder that large working ranches are still part of the county’s open-space and agricultural base. In a place where ranch land helps support local businesses, property taxes, and the broader identity of Albany County, century-old operations carry practical weight well beyond family pride.

Wyoming’s program also sits within a wider Western tradition. Colorado, Oklahoma, Montana and Oregon all have centennial farm and ranch programs, reflecting a regional effort to document family agriculture before succession, development pressure or economic change breaks the chain. In Albany County, the honor lands not just on the past, but on the continuing work required to keep ranching alive.