Articles / Deals / Itineraries
Category:
Cities
Population: 15
Elevation: 3740
Region: Northeast
Chamber of Commerce
Aladdin, Wyoming is a small community located along state highway 24 in the extreme northeast corner of the state. The Aladdin General Store is the largest and most prominent of a total of fifteen buildings that make up the town along both sides of the highway. The Aladdin Store and Post Office is significant for its association with the settlement and economic development of the town of Aladdin. It is also a rare and well-preserved example of late 19th century vernacular mercantile architecture, and one of five 19th century mercantiles left in the state which represent the settlement and economic development period.
Records show that the property now known as the town of Aladdin was originally patented by Amos Robinson on November 12, 1894. Robinson built the store in 1896 as the Wyoming Mercantile. At Robinson's death in 1896 the court transferred title to Mahlon S. Kemmerer. Kemmerer became the first president of the Wyoming and Missouri Valley Railroad, a line which extended about 18 miles from Aladdin to Belle Fourche, South Dakota. A map of Aladdin, prepared by the Sanborn Map Co. in 1923 states that all of the properties on the map, including the Wyoming and Missouri Valley Railroad were owned by the Wyoming Mercantile. The railroad continued operation through 1927. The hauling of coal, mining props, and supplies contributed to the economy of the railroad and the town.
Through the years the Aladdin Store and Post Office has housed a general store, a bar, a post office, a barber shop, a telephone office, and served as a depot, freight station, and gas station. The store at Aladdin has always been the heart of the community and its center of activity; it continues to be such today.
In the earliest years of the Wyoming and Missouri Valley Railroad, the train didn't go all the way to the Aladdin Store. It stopped at the "Y" where the cars turned around. This was about 1/2 mile east of the store. In 1901-1902, the line was extended.
Aladdin's business base is ranching and timber. Over the years, Aladdin General Store has proven to be quite a popular place for anyone en route to Devils Tower. They just can't pass by without resting a bit and enjoying refreshment and kickin' back on the front porch. The coal land around and in Aladdin was surveyed April 13, 1882 - April 22, 1882. There had been 2000 tons of coal mined but none marketed. There were three companies claiming coal land in Township 54. The longest tunnel was 600 feet long, five feet wide and six feet high. You can still take an interpretive walk around this old Coal Tipple, just a mile from Aladdin General Store.