When it comes to interesting facts about the 50 states, one of Wyoming’s default trivia tidbits is that the state only has two sets of escalators, and both are in Casper. There's one at the main branch of the Hilltop National Bank and a second one at the downtown branch of First Interstate Bank. They work in both directions, offering traditional ascent and descent, carrying people to whatever level they’re trying to reach. A full tour of all Wyoming’s escalators — including rides up and down and the travel time between them — takes all of 10 minutes. What’s more interesting than the fact that the state only has two escalators is their age. The first working escalator in the U.S. was installed alongside the Old Iron Pier at Coney Island in New York in 1896. In Casper, the First Interstate Bank building was built in 1958, while the Hilltop Bank opened in December 1979. The escalators were part of the original design of both buildings, which means there hasn’t been a new escalator in Wyoming in the last 46 years. As for why there aren’t more escalators in Wyoming, Ronald Yount, Project Manager for Plan One Architects in Cody, says it boils down to low population. “Wyoming doesn’t have a lot of high-occupancy buildings, and it doesn’t have a lot of multi-story buildings,” said Yount. Wyoming’s population today stands at 590,169. Compare that with California’s 39.6 million people and it makes perfect sense that Wyoming doesn’t need more than two escalators.
