A history of Gillette,
since 1892
Postcards, papers and photographs of Gillette from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Before its founding, Gillette started as Donkey Town, named after Donkey Creek. The settlement moved and was called Rocky Pile, after Rocky Draw.
Gillette was founded in 1891 with the coming of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and incorporated on January 6, 1892, less than two years after Wyoming became a state. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad changed the name of the terminus to Gillette, after Edward Gillette, a surveyor for the company.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Gillette’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewPost Card - Gillette, WY - Depot …, c. 1907: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Gillette
See all 15 →
Gillette, decade by decade
CommonsPost Card - Gillette, WY - Depot at Right (back)c. 1907 · postcard
CommonsPost Card - Gillette, WY - Depot at Right (front)c. 1907 · postcard
CommonsPostcard - Big Game is Plentiful Near Gillette, Wyoming (ba…c. 1907 · postcard
CommonsPostcard - Big Game is Plentiful Near Gillette, Wyoming (fr…c. 1907 · postcard
CommonsPostcard - Main St. Gillette, Wyo. (back)1907–1915 · postcard
CommonsPostcard - Main St. Gillette, Wyo. (front)1907–1915 · postcard1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Post Card - Gillette, WY - Depot at Right (back) (c. 1907) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.