{"id":8965,"date":"2023-10-11T09:55:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T09:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=8965"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:49:24","slug":"niobrara-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/niobrara-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Niobrara County, Wyoming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Niobrara County is a county in Wyoming, United States, in the state&rsquo;s east-central corner<br \/>\nalong the Nebraska and South Dakota lines. It had a population of 2,467 at the 2020 census, an<br \/>\nestimated 2,341 by 2025, and covers 2,628 square miles (6,810 km2) centred near 43&deg;03&prime;N 104&deg;28&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Lusk is the county seat and the county&rsquo;s only city; its postal code is 82225. The county<br \/>\nholds 1 city, 2 incorporated towns and 7 smaller communities, and it runs on Mountain Time. Its<br \/>\nFIPS code is 56027.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Niobrara County<\/h2>\n<p>Niobrara County has 10 named places on record: 3 incorporated cities and towns, 1 census<br \/>\ndesignated place and 6 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. Wyoming<br \/>\nhas no civil townships, so places are grouped by county alone. CDP stands for census designated<br \/>\nplace; Unincorp. covers ranch crossroads and rural post-office communities with no formal<br \/>\nboundary.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Lusk<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>1,541<\/td>\n<td>82225<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Manville<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>92<\/td>\n<td>82227<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Van Tassell<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>82242<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lance Creek<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>43<\/td>\n<td>82222<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Keeline<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Riverview<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kirtley<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Redbird<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>West Lance Creek<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Whitman<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Van Tassell holds the distinction of being the least populous incorporated town in Wyoming, the<br \/>\ncountry&rsquo;s least populous state &mdash; and Niobrara County is Wyoming&rsquo;s own<br \/>\nleast-populous county. West Lance Creek sits a few miles from Lance Creek proper and is a<br \/>\nseparate GNIS-listed place, not a duplicate entry.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>82225 &mdash; Lusk (the county&rsquo;s main post office and only ZIP shared with no other<br \/>\ntown)<\/li>\n<li>82227 &mdash; Manville<\/li>\n<li>82242 &mdash; Van Tassell<\/li>\n<li>82222 &mdash; Lance Creek<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keeline, Riverview, Kirtley, Redbird, West Lance Creek and Whitman have no ZIP code of their<br \/>\nown; mail there is delivered under the nearest town&rsquo;s code, since none of the six has ever<br \/>\nsupported its own post office long enough to keep a dedicated ZIP.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Niobrara County sits on Wyoming&rsquo;s High Plains, a broad shortgrass tableland cut by the<br \/>\nNiobrara River and Lance, Old Woman and Cheyenne creeks. Of its 2,628 square miles, 2,626 are<br \/>\nland and about 1.9 are water, roughly 0.07 percent &mdash; among the driest surface-water ratios<br \/>\nof any Wyoming county. A slice of Thunder Basin National Grassland, federal shortgrass rangeland<br \/>\nmanaged for grazing and wildlife, reaches into the county&rsquo;s northwest corner.<\/p>\n<p>Nebraska and South Dakota border the county directly to the east. Inside Wyoming, Weston County<br \/>\nlies to the north, Converse County to the west, Platte County to the southwest and Goshen County<br \/>\nto the south. <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/weston-county\/\">Weston County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/converse-county\/\">Converse County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/platte-county\/\">Platte County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/goshen-county\/\">Goshen County<\/a> all border Niobrara<br \/>\ndirectly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Niobrara County had a population of 2,467 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 2,341 residents, a decline typical of Wyoming&rsquo;s sparsest ranching counties.<br \/>\nLusk and Manville are the two largest communities, with Lusk alone holding well over half the<br \/>\ncounty&rsquo;s population. Median age runs high at 45.5 years. Population density works out to<br \/>\nless than 1 person per square mile of land, among the lowest of any US county outside Alaska.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Ranching and agriculture anchor the county&rsquo;s economy, with cattle and hay operations<br \/>\ncovering most of its private land. Oil and gas exploration around Lance Creek, tied to the Lance<br \/>\nFormation that gives the community its name, has drawn geologists and paleontologists to the<br \/>\narea for its Late Cretaceous fossil beds. Lusk hosts Niobrara County High School, the Stagecoach<br \/>\nMuseum and a Wyoming Game and Fish office serving the surrounding grasslands. The county&rsquo;s<br \/>\nbest-known annual event is the Legend of Rawhide, an outdoor pageant staged in Lusk each July<br \/>\nthat dramatizes a pioneer-era legend, performed largely by local volunteers.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Wyoming&rsquo;s legislature created Niobrara County on 21 February 1911, carving it out of<br \/>\nConverse County, and the county organized in 1913. It takes its name from the Niobrara River,<br \/>\nwhich rises near Lusk and flows east into Nebraska. Frank S. Lusk founded the town of Lusk in<br \/>\nJuly 1886 after the Wyoming Central Railway reached the site that year, replacing the old<br \/>\nCheyenne-to-Deadwood stagecoach route. Manville and Van Tassell both trace to post offices<br \/>\nestablished in the 1880s and 1910 respectively, each named for early area cattlemen.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>US Routes 18, 20 and 85 intersect in downtown Lusk; Wyoming Highway 273 runs along the<br \/>\ncounty&rsquo;s western edge. No interstate crosses Niobrara County.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Douglas &mdash; about 55 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Newcastle &mdash; about 60 miles north<\/li>\n<li>Torrington &mdash; about 50 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Rapid City, South Dakota &mdash; about 100 miles northeast<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lusk Municipal Airport, three miles east of downtown, handles general aviation. The nearest<br \/>\ncommercial service is Casper-Natrona County International Airport, roughly 90 miles northwest.<br \/>\nUnion Pacific freight trains still run through Lusk, but no Amtrak route serves Wyoming.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Niobrara County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits on Wyoming&rsquo;s High Plains along the Nebraska and South Dakota lines, bordered inside<br \/>\nWyoming by Weston, Converse, Platte and Goshen counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Niobrara County?<\/strong><br \/>\n2,467 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 2,341 by 2025 &mdash; the least populous county<br \/>\nin Wyoming.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Niobrara County?<\/strong><br \/>\n2,628 square miles (6,810 km2), of which 2,626 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Niobrara County?<\/strong><br \/>\nLusk, founded in 1886, is the county seat and its only incorporated city.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Niobrara County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThree incorporated places &mdash; Lusk, Manville and Van Tassell &mdash; plus the Lance Creek<br \/>\nCDP and six unincorporated communities: Keeline, Riverview, Kirtley, Redbird, West Lance Creek<br \/>\nand Whitman.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Niobrara County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n82225 for Lusk, 82227 for Manville, 82242 for Van Tassell and 82222 for Lance Creek.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Niobrara County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nBeing Wyoming&rsquo;s least populous county, the Legend of Rawhide pageant staged in Lusk each<br \/>\nJuly, and the fossil-rich Lance Formation exposed near Lance Creek.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/wyoming\/\">Towns and villages in Wyoming<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Niobrara County is a county in Wyoming, United States, in the state&rsquo;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&deg;03&prime;N 104&deg;28&prime;W. Lusk is the county seat and the county&rsquo;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Niobrara County, Wyoming","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 10 towns and communities in Niobrara County, Wyoming - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Lusk history and the Legend of Rawhide.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-8965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-wyoming","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8965"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9546,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8965\/revisions\/9546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}