A post office called Medicine Bow has been in operation since 1869. The community was named after the Medicine Bow River. Dippy, a well-known dinosaur skeleton, was found in a quarry nearby in 1898-99. The Virginian Hotel is a historic hotel located in Medicine Bow. It was built in 1911 by August Grimm. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Geography
Medicine Bow is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all of it land.
Demographics
As of 2000 the median income for a household in the town was $33,750, and the median income for a family was $35,156. Males had a median income of $41,250 versus $20,536 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,420. About 10.3% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under the age of eighteen and 17.5% of those sixty five or over
As of the census of 2010, there were 284 people, 125 households, and 81 families residing in the town. The population density was. There were 182 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the town was 95.1% White, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 3.9% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.7% of the population. There were 125 households of which 20.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% were married couplesliving together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.2% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.79. The median age in the town was 49.3 years. 20.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.1% were from 25 to 44; 29.9% were from 45 to 64; and 25.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 53.5% male and 46.5% female.
Economy
In December 2007, plans were announced for construction of a large coal gasification plant to be built southwest of town. The plant was expected to start construction in 2014. In 2014, DKRW Advanced Fuels terminated their contract with Sinopec, the Chinese firm that would have built the plant. In 2015, there were plans to downscale the plant, and in 2016 the project was put on indefinite hold, partly due to the low cost of crude oil in the US.
