Ames Pyramid, Wyoming

In the southeast corner of the state, commemorating the railroad era, is the Ames Pyramid, a sixty foot tall stone block monolith. It was constructed in 1882 to commemorate Union Pacific railroad businessmen/politicians/brothers Oakes and Oliver Ames, as well as to restore the reputation of Union Pacific, which was tarnished when the Ames brothers were found to have been involved in several financial scandals related to the building of the railroad almost a decade prior. The tracks that ran by the monument (built at what was once the highest elevation on the transcontinental railroad) were later relocated to the south, leaving this monument, designed by the well-known Boston architect H. H. Richardson, standing alone.

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