It’s Halloween week and we’re going around the state to see some ghost towns.

Along Highway 20 in Niobrara County, you may see what appears to be a random cornerstone proclaiming the building it once belonged to as “Jireh College.” This is what remains of the town of Jireh and Wyoming’s first Junior College.

According to the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, in the early 1900s, homesteaders from the Christian Church of Dayton, Ohio moved to the area and organized a religious agricultural colony and college. The two year liberal arts college also provided the only high school education for kids in the area. It operated from 1909 through 1920 and at one point had 62 students.

The town of Jireh grew around the college. At its peak, there were around 100 residents and it had general stores, a hotel, a newspaper, and a telephone company, among other businesses. The founders prohibited intoxicating liquors, cigarettes, gambling, and prostitution within the town limits. The church withdrew its support from the dwindling town and by 1925, most buildings in Jireh were either destroyed or had been sold to area residents. A few basic services remained but they eventually withered away, too. The post office was discontinued in 1943.