Natrona

Formed March 9, 1888 (10^th county)

Natrona County (79,955), Casper (59,090)

The masonry Art Deco facility was erected in 1941.  It is located at the intersection of Center and B streets.  United States Highway 20 Business is one block to the south of the location.  Goodrich & Krusmark are the architects.  A Hall of Justice was built and connected in 1977 and a County Justice Center converted a hotel in 2010.  A statue of Lady Justice is inside.  There was a 1908 version previously also in Casper, the only county seat.  The county was established on March 9, 1888 from Carbon County as the 10^th county.  Natrona County is name is Spanish for “soda” for the soda deposits.  The county seat was named for Lieutenant Caspar Collins. 

Natrona County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Two District Court Judges and Three Circuit Court Judges serve Natrona County.  Natrona County is in central Wyoming.  Cheyenne, Wyoming is southeast and Billings, Montana is northwest of the county.  The county center is 19.8 miles West of Casper nearer Vista West.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Johnson, Converse, Albany, Carbon, Fremont, and Washakie counties. 

The area of the county is 5340 square miles.  It is 5 out of 23 in the state.  It ranks 2 out of 23 in population in the state.  It has a density of 15.0 persons per square mile making it 2 out of 23 in the state.  Natrona County has 86.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 25 comes into the county from the north, Johnson County, and goes east, Converse County.  United States Highways 20/26 cross east to west from Converse County to Fremont County.  United States Highway 87 is joined with Interstate Highway 25 from Johnson to Converse counties.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Casper is located in the southeast quarter of the county.  Casper is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 73.9% of the county population.  The county is pronounced NA-TROE-NA.  This county is in the Casper Metropolitan Statistical Area.