Lawrence Geissler was an 18-year-old cowboy when he arrived in Wyoming. By 38, he built the Atlantic City Mercantile in 1893 on land owned by a mining speculator who owned most of the land in Atlantic City. Geissler eventually bought the property from the man for five dollars.
For decades, this building served as the town's telephone exchange and post office. It closed after Geissler died in 1929. The building is built from adobe blocks covered with tin siding and has a false front on the south side.
The interior walls and ceilings are covered with tin. It stayed that way when Lyle F. Moerer reopened the building as a tavern in 1964, retaining the name and appearance of the store.
Today, it stands as the oldest surviving building in Atlantic City, with the exception of Hyde's Hall. It has a full basement, a gabled roof hidden by the false front, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It is still a bar and restaurant.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Kyle McLonely
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