Ames Monument, National Historic Landmark monument in Albany County, Wyoming.
The Ames Monument is a structure in Albany County, Wyoming, that stands as a stone pyramid over the prairie and is built from large granite blocks. The four sides form an even pyramid rising about 60 feet high with a wide base of about 60 feet on each side.
The pyramid was built between 1880 and 1882 as a memorial to the brothers Oakes and Oliver Ames, who provided funds for building the first transcontinental railroad. Until 1918 it marked the highest point along the entire route before Union Pacific moved its track further south.
The name honors the Ames brothers, whose portraits appear on two sides in massive stone medallions carved into the rough granite. The reliefs show their faces in profile, reminding visitors how private financiers made the railroad construction possible.
The memorial sits about 2 miles south of Interstate 80 along Monument Road, accessible by a gravel road through open land. The drive there leads through flat terrain, and the access can become difficult in bad weather.
The Union Pacific route once ran just about 300 feet from the memorial, so travelers could see it from the train. When the railroad company moved the tracks, the pyramid was left alone in the prairie, far from any settlement.
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