CHARLES H. ANDERSON.

CHARLES H. ANDERSON.
Charles H. Anderson, whose business enterprise has concentrated upon the conduct of an opera house at Rawlins. where he presents to his fellow townsmen many first-class attractions, was born in Norway, October 25, 1869, but from the age of sixteen years has been a resident of the city in which he still makes his home. On arriving in Wyoming he secured employment with the Union Pacific Railway Company, with which he was connected for five or six years. He then became interested in mercantile pursuits and for a period of about ten years was in the wholesale beer and retail liquor trade, in connection with which he also conducted a retail ice business, building up a trade of large and gratifying proportions that brought to him a very substantial measure of success. About 1912 he built the Rawlins Opera House, which is a thoroughly modern and up-to-date theater in which he presents many attractive shows, together with moving pictures. The theater is thoroughly modern in construction and equipment and has a seating capacity of six hundred. Mr. Anderson has ever exercised the utmost care in regard to the standard of attractions here presented and has given to the citizens of Rawlins the opportunity to hear and see many of the most prominent theatrical people of the country. In addition to the management of the opera house he is a stockholder in a number of important commercial and business enterprises and industries in the state and is regarded as one of the wide-awake, alert and energetic business men. In 1896 Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Christine Smith, of Rawlins, a native of Germany, and they became the parents of three children: Margaret, who attended the Rawlins high school and later a school in Portland, Oregon; Mildred, who also went to high school and subsequently graduated from a business college in Portland, Oregon; and Christine, who is now a high school pupil. In February, 1903, the mother of these daughters passed away and subsequently Mr. Anderson married Miss Laura Smith, a sister of his first wife. Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are prominent in social circles and he has taken a laudable part in public affairs and has had not a little to do with shaping thought and action that has to do with the progress and upbuilding of the state. In 1907 he was elected to the office of mayor and by reelection was continued in that position for three successive terms. He then retired from the office as he had entered it—with the confidence and goodwill of all concerned—and after an interval of a few years he was again chosen chief executive of the city, to which he has ever given a public-spirited and beneficial administration, characterized by needed reforms and improvements. That his efforts are appreciated by his fellow citizens is evident from the fact that on April 9, 1918, he was again elected mayor of Rawlins, receiving two hundred and seventy-four votes out of a total of three hundred cast. During his residence here of a third of a century he has always done his part in helping movements that were to benefit the city. He has closely studied Rawlins and her opportunities when in office and has exercised his official prerogatives to the benefit of the city in many ways. He was also chosen to represent his district in the eleventh and twelfth sessions of the general assembly of Wyoming and was connected with much constructive legislation, closely investigating every question which came up for settlement and lending his active and earnest support to every movement which he believed would benefit the commonwealth. His associates in a business way commend him for his enterprise and his business integrity; his colleagues in the state legislature name him as a public-spirited citizen whose devotion to the general good is unquestioned; and those who meet him in social relations entertain for him the warmest friendship by reason of his genuine personal worth. Several years ago Mr. Anderson purchased the original townsite on which Rawlins, then Rawlins Springs, was located. In this connection it is interesting to here set forth how the naming of the place came about, as it occurred in a rather unusual way. On the 10th of October, 1867, a little cavalcade wended its way across the plains and reached the site of the present city of Rawlins. The party comprised, among others, General Dodge, head of the Union Pacific road, then building; General Rawlins of the Western Division of the United States army; and John Wallace, master of transportation for the Union Pacific, with a company of United States regulars as an escort and an army ambulance as a travel train. They were traveling westward over the proposed line of the Union Pacific and camped near a cold, clear spring. These gentlemen, General Dodge in particular, were seeking a suitable division point and location for railroad shops. This spring of fresh water so impressed General Dodge, as it was the first they had seen in many days, that he exclaimed to Mr. Wallace: “This is the ideal spot for a division point, so what will we name this point?” Mr. Wallace suggested the name of Rawlins Springs, in honor of General Rawlins. The suggestion was heeded and by that name the district was known until the government experienced confusion in mail matters, when the word Springs was dropped from Rawlins. The property owned by Mr. Anderson includes the former residence of Judge Merrell, one of the pioneers of this section of the state, and this home, now occupied by Mr. Anderson, is one of the landmarks of Rawlins.

Charles H. Anderson, whose business enterprise has concentrated upon the conduct of an opera house at Rawlins. where he presents to his fellow townsmen many first-class attractions, was born in Norway, October 25, 1869, but from the age of sixteen years has been a resident of the city in which he still makes his home. On arriving in Wyoming he secured employment with the Union Pacific Railway Company, with which he was connected for five or six years. He then became interested in mercantile pursuits and for a period of about ten years was in the wholesale beer and retail liquor trade, in connection with which he also conducted a retail ice business, building up a trade of large and gratifying proportions that brought to him a very substantial measure of success. About 1912 he built the Rawlins Opera House, which is a thoroughly modern and up-to-date theater in which he presents many attractive shows, together with moving pictures. The theater is thoroughly modern in construction and equipment and has a seating capacity of six hundred. Mr. Anderson has ever exercised the utmost care in regard to the standard of attractions here presented and has given to the citizens of Rawlins the opportunity to hear and see many of the most prominent theatrical people of the country. In addition to the management of the opera house he is a stockholder in a number of important commercial and business enterprises and industries in the state and is regarded as one of the wide-awake, alert and energetic business men.
In 1896 Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Christine Smith, of Rawlins, a native of Germany, and they became the parents of three children: Margaret, who attended the Rawlins high school and later a school in Portland, Oregon; Mildred, who also went to high school and subsequently graduated from a business college in Portland, Oregon; and Christine, who is now a high school pupil. In February, 1903, the mother of these daughters passed away and subsequently Mr. Anderson married Miss Laura Smith, a sister of his first wife. Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are prominent in social circles and he has taken a laudable part in public affairs and has had not a little to do with shaping thought and action that has to do with the progress and upbuilding of the state. In 1907 he was elected to the office of mayor and by reelection was continued in that position for three successive terms. He then retired from the office as he had entered it—with the confidence and goodwill of all concerned—and after an interval of a few years he was again chosen chief executive of the city, to which he has ever given a public-spirited and beneficial administration, characterized by needed reforms and improvements. That his efforts are appreciated by his fellow citizens is evident from the fact that on April 9, 1918, he was again elected mayor of Rawlins, receiving two hundred and seventy-four votes out of a total of three hundred cast.
During his residence here of a third of a century he has always done his part in helping movements that were to benefit the city. He has closely studied Rawlins and her opportunities when in office and has exercised his official prerogatives to the benefit of the city in many ways. He was also chosen to represent his district in the eleventh and twelfth sessions of the general assembly of Wyoming and was connected with much constructive legislation, closely investigating every question which came up for settlement and lending his active and earnest support to every movement which he believed would benefit the commonwealth. His associates in a business way commend him for his enterprise and his business integrity; his colleagues in the state legislature name him as a public-spirited citizen whose devotion to the general good is unquestioned; and those who meet him in social relations entertain for him the warmest friendship by reason of his genuine personal worth.
Several years ago Mr. Anderson purchased the original townsite on which Rawlins, then Rawlins Springs, was located. In this connection it is interesting to here set forth how the naming of the place came about, as it occurred in a rather unusual way.
On the 10th of October, 1867, a little cavalcade wended its way across the plains and reached the site of the present city of Rawlins. The party comprised, among others, General Dodge, head of the Union Pacific road, then building; General Rawlins of the Western Division of the United States army; and John Wallace, master of transportation for the Union Pacific, with a company of United States regulars as an escort and an army ambulance as a travel train. They were traveling westward over the proposed line of the Union Pacific and camped near a cold, clear spring. These gentlemen, General Dodge in particular, were seeking a suitable division point and location for railroad shops. This spring of fresh water so impressed General Dodge, as it was the first they had seen in many days, that he exclaimed to Mr. Wallace: “This is the ideal spot for a division point, so what will we name this point?” Mr. Wallace suggested the name of Rawlins Springs, in honor of General Rawlins. The suggestion was heeded and by that name the district was known until the government experienced confusion in mail matters, when the word Springs was dropped from Rawlins.
The property owned by Mr. Anderson includes the former residence of Judge Merrell, one of the pioneers of this section of the state, and this home, now occupied by Mr. Anderson, is one of the landmarks of Rawlins.