Niobrara County, Wyoming

Niobrara County is a county in Wyoming, United States, in the state’s east-central corner
along the Nebraska and South Dakota lines. It had a population of 2,467 at the 2020 census, an
estimated 2,341 by 2025, and covers 2,628 square miles (6,810 km2) centred near 43°03′N 104°28′W.

Lusk is the county seat and the county’s only city; its postal code is 82225. The county
holds 1 city, 2 incorporated towns and 7 smaller communities, and it runs on Mountain Time. Its
FIPS code is 56027.

Towns & Villages in Niobrara County

Niobrara County has 10 named places on record: 3 incorporated cities and towns, 1 census
designated place and 6 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. Wyoming
has no civil townships, so places are grouped by county alone. CDP stands for census designated
place; Unincorp. covers ranch crossroads and rural post-office communities with no formal
boundary.

Van Tassell holds the distinction of being the least populous incorporated town in Wyoming, the
country’s least populous state — and Niobrara County is Wyoming’s own
least-populous county. West Lance Creek sits a few miles from Lance Creek proper and is a
separate GNIS-listed place, not a duplicate entry.

ZIP Codes

• 82225 — Lusk (the county’s main post office and only ZIP shared with no other
  town)
• 82227 — Manville
• 82242 — Van Tassell
• 82222 — Lance Creek

Keeline, Riverview, Kirtley, Redbird, West Lance Creek and Whitman have no ZIP code of their
own; mail there is delivered under the nearest town’s code, since none of the six has ever
supported its own post office long enough to keep a dedicated ZIP.

Geography

Niobrara County sits on Wyoming’s High Plains, a broad shortgrass tableland cut by the
Niobrara River and Lance, Old Woman and Cheyenne creeks. Of its 2,628 square miles, 2,626 are
land and about 1.9 are water, roughly 0.07 percent — among the driest surface-water ratios
of any Wyoming county. A slice of Thunder Basin National Grassland, federal shortgrass rangeland
managed for grazing and wildlife, reaches into the county’s northwest corner.

Nebraska and South Dakota border the county directly to the east. Inside Wyoming, Weston County
lies to the north, Converse County to the west, Platte County to the southwest and Goshen County
to the south. Weston County, Converse County, Platte County and Goshen County all border Niobrara
directly.

Demographics

Niobrara County had a population of 2,467 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 2,341 residents, a decline typical of Wyoming’s sparsest ranching counties.
Lusk and Manville are the two largest communities, with Lusk alone holding well over half the
county’s population. Median age runs high at 45.5 years. Population density works out to
less than 1 person per square mile of land, among the lowest of any US county outside Alaska.

Economy & Local Life

Ranching and agriculture anchor the county’s economy, with cattle and hay operations
covering most of its private land. Oil and gas exploration around Lance Creek, tied to the Lance
Formation that gives the community its name, has drawn geologists and paleontologists to the
area for its Late Cretaceous fossil beds. Lusk hosts Niobrara County High School, the Stagecoach
Museum and a Wyoming Game and Fish office serving the surrounding grasslands. The county’s
best-known annual event is the Legend of Rawhide, an outdoor pageant staged in Lusk each July
that dramatizes a pioneer-era legend, performed largely by local volunteers.

History

Wyoming’s legislature created Niobrara County on 21 February 1911, carving it out of
Converse County, and the county organized in 1913. It takes its name from the Niobrara River,
which rises near Lusk and flows east into Nebraska. Frank S. Lusk founded the town of Lusk in
July 1886 after the Wyoming Central Railway reached the site that year, replacing the old
Cheyenne-to-Deadwood stagecoach route. Manville and Van Tassell both trace to post offices
established in the 1880s and 1910 respectively, each named for early area cattlemen.

Getting There

US Routes 18, 20 and 85 intersect in downtown Lusk; Wyoming Highway 273 runs along the
county’s western edge. No interstate crosses Niobrara County.

• Douglas — about 55 miles west
• Newcastle — about 60 miles north
• Torrington — about 50 miles southeast
• Rapid City, South Dakota — about 100 miles northeast

Lusk Municipal Airport, three miles east of downtown, handles general aviation. The nearest
commercial service is Casper-Natrona County International Airport, roughly 90 miles northwest.
Union Pacific freight trains still run through Lusk, but no Amtrak route serves Wyoming.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Niobrara County located?
It sits on Wyoming’s High Plains along the Nebraska and South Dakota lines, bordered inside
Wyoming by Weston, Converse, Platte and Goshen counties.

What is the population of Niobrara County?
2,467 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 2,341 by 2025 — the least populous county
in Wyoming.

How big is Niobrara County?
2,628 square miles (6,810 km2), of which 2,626 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Niobrara County?
Lusk, founded in 1886, is the county seat and its only incorporated city.

How many towns are in Niobrara County?
Three incorporated places — Lusk, Manville and Van Tassell — plus the Lance Creek
CDP and six unincorporated communities: Keeline, Riverview, Kirtley, Redbird, West Lance Creek
and Whitman.

What ZIP codes does Niobrara County use?
82225 for Lusk, 82227 for Manville, 82242 for Van Tassell and 82222 for Lance Creek.

What is Niobrara County known for?
Being Wyoming’s least populous county, the Legend of Rawhide pageant staged in Lusk each
July, and the fossil-rich Lance Formation exposed near Lance Creek.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Wyoming.