There aren’t any casinos in this Atlantic City, Indian or otherwise. Nor is there any pricey oceanfront property. This is Atlantic City, Wyoming.
The good will ambassador I met when I first arrived in Wyoming last week (the “crazy old man” at the Welcome Center in Pine Bluffs) had told me about this place and based on what he said I was expecting a ghost town, like I had seen in western Nevada. When I had looked at the map before heading out to the Wyss campus yesterday I noticed that Atlantic City was further out Route 28 so I thought I’d take a drive out to check it out. My nephew Sam knew about it too and said “Oh no, not deserted. People still live there”.
I continued driving on Route 28 past Red Canyon and the road climbed to just over 8,000 feet in elevation (high enough that there was snow off the sides of the road in protected areas away from the sun’s rays). The temperature was 62 degrees, about 10 degrees below what it would be when I got back into town.
I drove about 2 1/2 miles down a well maintained dirt road (as was Red Canyon Road) and sure enough, found little Atlantic City.
I drove a little further into town and the signage told the story of when this was a gold mining town and had a brief boom period. The town “boasted of beer breweries and one of Wyoming Territory’s first public schools”. Those good times were short-lived, however, and despite two revival attempts with newer mining technology it never relived it’s glory days.
There was a brochure rack with a flyer about a self-guided walking tour of the town but I think I will see if Stephen and Jen (or Sam) have been here yet and maybe bring them with me when I come back another time.
As I was driving back to Route 28 I saw evidence of some kind of mining off to the left of the dirt road I was on:
As best I can tell from the maps, the snow covered mountain in the distance is probably Wind River Peak, elevation 13,192 and at the southern end of the Wind River range. The other nearby mountains on the map are below the apparent snow line.
johnboystravelblog 
The saloon is pretty cool! It looks to be in good shape, is there am actual business inside ? -kim
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I didn’t go up to look but it didn’t seem to be open. It might be the kind of place that is only open weekends. Not a lot of traffic in little AC.
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I am pretty sure it is modern construction and may serve some of the needs of the locals. I don’t think there are any other towns nearby, big or small.
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Sam here — the Mercantile is a popular restaurant destination! It’s the sort of place where they ask you to call a day before you arrive, so they can portion out how much food they need to ship into town on that day. I haven’t been, though I am told it’s the bee’s knees!
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