Cheyenne’s First Permanent Structure: The Whitehead Building

When Cheyenne was established in 1867, the bustling town was essentially a collection of tents housing workers and merchants who had come to the area following the Union Pacific Railroad.

It probably won't surprise you to learn that the city's first permanent building was a gun shop.

The Whitehead Building was erected in the summer of 1867 on the corner of 16th Street and Eddy Avenue, just across from where the Dineen Building currently sits at Lincolnway and Pioneer Avenue (the corner is now occupied by a parking garage).

The wooden structure was built by the Freund brothers, Franz and George, who had followed the railroad to Cheyenne from North Platte, Nebraska, and Julesburg, Colorado.

The Freund Brothers' Wyoming Armory was the first of several shops they would open in towns from Laramie to Salt Lake City. They also owned a store on Blake Street in Denver, near the present day location of Coors Field.

While their business expanded quickly, Cheyenne remained home base for their empire until 1880. They even patented their own rifle, known as the "Wyoming Saddle Rifle" .