| Torrington, D.K. | |||
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| — Federal capital city and federal district — | |||
| District of Kennedy | |||
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| Nickname(s): "New Washington,"; "The Federal City"; "Our Nation's Capital" | |||
| Motto: With Liberty and Justice for All | |||
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| Founder | W.G. Curtis | ||
| Named for | Torrington, CT | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Mike Varney | ||
| Time zone | Mountain | ||
Overview[]
Torrington, D.K. (District of Kennedy) is the capital city of the United States of America since 1991, de facto at first, then by law once the restored United States dropped its "provisional" label in 2008. It is geographically located within eastern Wyoming, and was therefore formerly known as Torrington, Wyoming. Politically, it is now located within a federal district called the District of Kennedy, similar to how Washington had been located within the District of Columbia. Because of this, Torrington is often referred to as Torrington DK. In terms of population, the World Census and Reclamation Bureau considers it the fastest-growing city in North America as of the 2010's (with Newport, OR being the second-fastest).
Older residents who lived in Torrington before Doomsday have marveled at the fact that what was once a sleepy little town on a sparsely-populated prairie has now risen to become the busy, monument-dotted capital city of the new USA that one visitor dubbed "the most exciting city in North America" in 2020.
A map highlighting the routes of the various pioneer trails that passed through Torrington, which is just southeast of Fort Laramie.
Pre-Doomsday[]
Torrington, Wyoming was founded by pioneer W. G. Curtis along the historic Mormon Trail, and near the California and Oregon Trails. It is situated along the North Platte River. Curtis named his new town after his hometown of Torrington, Connecticut (which was itself named after the town of Torrington, Devon in southern England).
The settlement began during the pioneer era with W.G. Curtis's farm, located roughly three miles west of present day downtown Torrington. Curtis established a small post office for his family on this farmland in 1889, calling the post office station Torrington.
A historic marker just west of Henry, Nebraska, marking the point where the historic Oregon Trail entered Wyoming territory, not far from Torrington. The sign was located directly at the Nebraska-Wyoming border. Today, the sign is at the border between the State of Nebraska and the modern District of Kennedy.
Gradually, more settlers started trickling into the area, and the town was incorporated in 1908. As of the 1910 US Census, Torrington was still an extremely tiny settlement, with a population of only 155 permanent residents.
One of the major employers in the area from those early days until the present has been the Holly Sugar Factory. Work ceased for a period after Doomsday before resuming to help maintain the local resource supply.
Another major point of interest left over from the pioneer days was the Union Pacific train station, which had played a role in the settlement of the Wild West.
By the mid-to-late 20th century, Torrington, Wyoming was still a small, modest town that wouldn't look out of place in a Western movie. The region's economy was mostly agricultural, with sugar-processing at the Holly Sugar Factory serving as another important employer.
As of the 1980 US Census, Torrington was listed as having a population of 5,441 residents. This would still be the town's approximate population on September 25, 1983, when events would suddenly change the whole world...and literally everything about Torrington's existence.
Doomsday[]
Across 80 miles of prairie from Torrington lay vast fields of silos for Minuteman ICBMs, anchored by Warren Air Force Base near the city of Cheyenne. These fields were targets of the highest priority for the Soviet Union when nuclear war broke out. Within an hour, an apocalyptic barrage of missiles came raining down on the plains.
Torrington and its surroundings were far enough away to not get any direct blast damage, but they were at serious risk of windborne fallout and wildfires. There were no natural barriers to protect it. The national guard stationed at Guernsey, Wyoming, took charge of the region. In the ensuing days, they did what they could to manage the westward evacuation of civilian, but in general this period was characterized by panic and social breakdown as people fled haphazardly. A few months later, nearby Fort Laramie was designated a forward base for Wyoming's defense forces to monitor the blast zone and continue to get people out.
The Lakotah War[]
The entire Great Plains region was under threat from fallout and firestorms during the coming weeks. However, Torrington and its immediate surroundings got lucky: the vicissitudes of wind and weather left it relatively safe and free of radioactive contamination. For this reason the town was never fully abandoned.Many Torringtonians, after emerging from their makeshift cellars, never carried out plans to leave. Others who fled returned home in the mid-80s. A number of survivors from Cheyenne also found themselves here, as did people from surrounding areas that were worse affected. It became the principal surviving settlement of Wyoming's southeast.
As tensions rose with the Lakotah separatists, Torrington became a valuable forward base. With the outbreak of the Lakotah War in 1988, it became a key regional command. It gained prominence when General Ray Hunkins made it the headquarters of his new Continental Army, drawing officers and troops from Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. Hunkins' periodic dispatches from Torrington made him synonymous with the town by war's end. It became the natural place for a regional hub.
A New America, and a New Torrington[]
The Provisional United States of America[]
In 1991, a convention was called of representatives from the five surviving state governments to create a new provisional United States. The delegates agreed to reestablish a national government with a slightly-altered version of the existing Constitution. Torrington was chosen as the site of this convention due to its wartime prominence and central location.
After the convention, a temporary government took the first steps toward reestablishing the American federal government. Elections in 1992 brought a new President and Congress to power. They also met in Torrington and voted to remain there - and thus the tiny town would forever be a household name, synonymous with the restored United States of America.
Capital District[]
A map of eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska, with Wyoming's Goshen County highlighted in red. Within Goshen County, the newly-created federal District of Kennedy (where Torrington is located) is highlighted in blue. The land in the District of Kennedy is no longer part of Goshen County, and is governed by the Torrington City Council. As it is a federal district, the US Congress holds supreme authority, and may at its discretion overturn laws passed by the City Council.
After Torrington was declared the official capital city of the provisional United States, the nature of the city began to change. One immediate change was that Congress declared that Torrington, like Washington DC before it, would exist within its own federal district, separate from the rest of Wyoming. The federal district was given a much larger size than Torrington's then-current city limits in anticipation of future growth. In the process, Goshen County lost a large chunk of its territory to the new federal district. Reportedly, some Goshen County officials grumbled about this, but most were willing to support the change; after all, the loss of a chunk of its territory to the capital district would likely be offset by the increased commerce that the US capital city would attract to the entire region.
While Washington had been in the District of Columbia, Torrington would be located in the District of Kennedy. The District of Kennedy name was chosen in a vote by Torrington residents after being proposed by a local schoolteacher to honor President John F. Kennedy for his role in averting what could have been an earlier Doomsday in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. "Let us hope and pray that his example will inspire future leaders to work just as hard to prevent Doomsday from ever happening again," declared the teacher in the speech where he proposed the name.
The Torrington city flag was patterned after the flag of Washington DC. The difference is that the bottom field of the Torrington version is colored blue. The blue was added to tell the story of the city and the nation rising from the tears that were shed on and after Doomsday, ascending to someday recapture the glory of Washington DC and pre-Doomsday America. The blue field also makes the flag reflect the American national colors of red, white, and blue. The flag was designed by art students from Torrington High School.
The Torrington Town Council voted in 2008 (during the year-long centennial celebration of the town's incorporation) to create a flag for the city. It had not had one before (although Goshen County had had a county flag), but now that Torrington was the national capital city (and no longer part of Goshen County), it was felt that it deserved a city flag. The design that was chosen was a patterned after the flag of Washington DC (which was itself based on George Washington's family crest), but with the bottom field colored blue (unlike the white in the original DC flag) both to represent the city and the nation rising up from the tears that were shed after Doomsday and also to give the flag a red, white, and blue palette to match the national colors of the United States of America.
The Torrington city crest, again based on that of Washington DC (and therefore indirectly from George Washington's family crest), with the bottom field blue instead of white.
The flag was approved overwhelmingly in a vote by Torrington residents, and soon afterwards the first physical Torrington flag was raised at the Town Hall by the students who had designed it.
As representatives from around the provisional USA increasingly set up shop in town with their staff members, along with the military leadership, new buildings began to be constructed. And as more government officials began coming and going in Torrington, more merchants began setting up shop in town as well.
The Elk Mountains of Colorado, source of the marble used for construction of the original Lincoln Memorial. The new Colorado had joined the new USA, putting the mountains and their resources at the disposal of Torrington.
By 2008, the population of Torrington had doubled from its 1991 levels. Around this time, many Federal officials (and the Torrington Town Council) began proposing the idea of building grander headquarters for the new American government. Mining in the Rockies had once again begun, and officials discussed the possibility of trying to recreate some of the monuments of Washington DC in Torrington. One major boon to this proposal was the fact that the reconstituted US state of Colorado controlled the Elk Mountain range, where the original Yule Marble that had been used for the Lincoln Memorial had been quarried. The Torrington Town Council was particularly eager to encourage the idea of buildign new monuments, as they hoped a New National Mall would encourage the fledgling tourism industry as transportation became easier. The proposal passed, much to the delight of miners in Colorado, and planning soon began.
Initial plans were to build a replica White House and Washington Monument, with plans to eventually construct a new Lincoln Memorial further down the line. Architects mostly worked from old encyclopedia articles, photographs, and postcards of the original structures. Although they were able to accurately replicate the exteriors, photos of the interiors of the White House were much more limited (aside from the famous Oval Office and the more famous reception areas), and architects took much more artistic license with many of the interior rooms.
The new White House was mostly finished by the time of Mike Simpson's 2013 inauguration as President. Construction was still ongoing, but it was deemed safe for habitation, and Simpson was eager to invoke the symbolism of moving into a new White House on his Inauguration Day. After being sworn in, President Simpson and his entourage made a ceremonial procession through the streets of Torrington, eventually arriving at the new White House. Simpson's inauguration also marked the first time the newly-designed 11-star flag was flown on public buildings.
Inauguration Day 2013: After being sworn in as President, Mike Simpson and his entourage made a ceremonial procession through Torrington, finally arriving at the new White House, still undergoing the last stages of construction. The new Washington Monument (also still under construction at the time) can be seen in the background.
The last stages of construction were still ongoing during President Simpson's first year in office, and the First Family and staff often had to deal with clutter, noise, and a rather large amount of dust. Nevertheless, President Simpson cheerfully noted the similarity to the opening of the original White House, when President John Adams had moved in as that structure was still finishing construction, and that Adams and his family and staff had dealt with similar conditions.
As the New National Mall was planned and constructed, designers had eagerly taken another step at recreating the original National Mall: planting cherry tree saplings throughout Torrington. The cherry saplings and seeds were transported in from the area in and around Salem, Oregon, which had been known as "the Cherry City" since before Doomsday, as it had been a regional center for growing the trees. As the cherry trees grew, they evoked the beauty of the original capital city.
The New Washington Monument in the final phases of construction. One of the many cherry trees that had been planted in Torrington to recreate the look of the original National Mall can also be seen in the photo.
The new Washington Monument was completed in early summer 2014. It can be seen for miles and miles around. Since then, it has frequently hosted tours for travelers to the region. The new White House is also often opened for tours as well, though typically with an armed escort.
The creation of the fledgling New National Mall has led to the rise of a tourism industry, just as the Torrington Town Council had hoped, and an infusion of new cash into the region. This has encouraged local officials to continue to expand the New National Mall. To aid these efforts, local high school students have often volunteered their time and labor to help build the monuments faster, in exchange for credits towards their graduations.
The unveiling of the Ronald Reagan Memorial. Reagan is remembered in Torrington for laying the groundwork for the reborn USA through activating his Continuity of Government plan
One addition to the New National Mall that isn't a copy of a pre-Doomsday structure is the Ronald Reagan Memorial, unveiled in 2011, honoring the man who was President of the United States on Doomsday and who is credited for saving the federal administration. As survivors of his administration had helped to found the PUSA, it is said sometimes that Reagan from beyond the grave built the city into what it is today.
Another new feature is the Doomsday Memorial, which would be completed in 2020. Made from black marble carved into the shape of a missile, the Doomsday Memorial features the names of every American city and town known to have been hit by a Soviet missile strike on Doomsday.
Each year, the Doomsday Memorial is the site of the Doomsday Memorial Ceremony. The annual memorial ceremony is usually led by the President, the Mayor of Torrington, and an interfaith collection of religious leaders (usually gathered from the Torrington region). A US Military band is generally on hand to solemnly play "Taps" during the ceremony. Also on the anniversary of Doomsday, all American flags are lowered to fly at half mast by the order of the President, a tradition which is also seen in many other countries on this day, in honor of all those who lost their lives on Doomsday and in the desperate years of struggle afterwards.
In 2015, construction began on the New Lincoln Memorial. Once again, architects and engineers used old encyclopedia articles, photographs, and postcards of the original Lincoln Memorial to help them replicate the design, as they had during the construction of the new White House and Washington Monument.
Construction of the New Lincoln Memorial, as seen in 2018.
The planners of the New National Mall Project strategically chose a location for the new Lincoln Memorial so that it was roughly the same distance from the New Washington Monument that the original monuments were from each other.
Designers also planned to put a reflecting pool between the two monuments, again echoing the design of the original National Mall. As with the previous structures, the construction companies enlisted the labor of local high school students who worked alongside the professional construction workers in exchange for academic credit.
The final touches of construction were completed in early summer 2019. The New Lincoln Memorial was officially opened to the public at a special ceremony of the 4th of July that summer. Since opening, the site has become a frequent gathering site for supporters of the American Spring to hold rallies cheering on the idea of welcoming American survivor states across the continent back into the United States. This is due to the historical significance of Abraham Lincoln being honored for saving the Union in the days of the Civil War. Thus, supporters of the American Spring have naturally rallied to the New Lincoln Memorial to voice their support for reunifying the entire Union once more. The Memorial has also become the site for other patriotic celebrations and ceremonies, such as for Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, and re-naturalization swearing in ceremonies for repatriated Americans from other survivor states.
As more residents move to Torrington, the city's boundaries continue to expand as new housing is built, along with new venues for food, new schools, and new stores. As the tourism industry continues to grow, there are now stores that specifically cater to tourists as well. Local Torrington residents with woodworking skills have often taking to handcarving and selling miniature wooden replicas of the monuments of the New National Mall.
Straddling the border between the federal District of Kennedy and the State of Wyoming is the George Bush National Cemetery (formerly Torrington National Cemetery), which has been designated as a successor to the pre-Doomsday Arlington National Cemetery. It was rededicated in honor of President George Bush after his 2018 passing; Bush's final request had been to be buried on American soil, and his body was transported from Australia to Torrington for a state funeral and burial, at which point the Cemetery was renamed in his honor. The body of former First Lady Barbara Bush was simultaneously transported from her original resting place in Australia to be re-interred alongside her husband. George Bush National Cemetery would three years later also become the final resting place for George Shultz, the former Secretary of State to Presidents Reagan and Bush.
As more residents move in, and more travelers pass through, the importance of sports has been growing as well.
Sports[]
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Torrington, DK is represented in the United States Baseball League by the Torrington Tornadoes.
There are also local school and amateur teams for baseball, basketball, football, and hockey.
Transportation and other amenities[]
A photo taken of autumn in Torrington, showing a typical scene of the streets in modern America. Some people travel by horse-drawn carriage, some by bicycle, as seen in the photo. Certain government officials (especially in Torrington) will occasionally use refurbished classic cars for special occasions. As more petroleum sources become available again, and biofuels emerge, cars are very gradually starting to become more common, esp. among the wealthy.
Torrington was already located along several pre-Doomsday Wyoming state and US highway routes. In the decades since Doomsday, travelers still use these routes, albeit often on horseback or by wagon. Since the foundation of the new US government in Torrington, government officials sometimes use classic cars for special occasions (since they didn't rely on electronic parts that would've been neutralized by the EMPs of Doomsday). Car use across North America has been mostly restricted to elite government officials. However, as of the late 2010s, as the USA has tapped more sources of oil and natural gas, availability of occasional car use has started to spread to wealthy merchants and businessmen.
Trains, however, have become a widely-used form of transportation among the common man. Many in the region were already enthusiasts of the history of trains in the Wild West, and 1800's-style steam engines have become a booming industry.
The former Union Pacific train depot in south Torrington, now named the Ray Hunkins Torrington Station, in honor of the first President of the reconstituted United States.
As the new United States has grown larger and more prosperous, Torrington's status has risen in turn. As a result, several railroad lines have been constructed to and from the capital city. The largest railroad station in the city is the former South Torrington Union Pacific Depot, renamed the Ray Hunkins Torrington Station in 2015, in honor of the President who first served the reborn US government.
One major railroad route is the Torrington-Newport line, stretching from the Ray Hunkins Station in Torrington to Newport, Oregon, the nation's first major port on the Pacific Ocean. Stops along the line include:
- Torrington
- Casper, WY
- Idaho Falls, ID
- Salmon, ID
- Salem, OR
- Newport, OR
Reagan National Airport, formerly known as Torrington Municipal Airport. It is used almost entirely by the most elite government and military officials, as civilian flights are not yet feasible on any large scale.
The city also had a small airport called Torrington Municipal Airport. Starting in 2010, this airport has been expanded. In a ceremony that year on July 4, the President was on hand to officially rename it Reagan National Airport, in honor of President Reagan.
Though small, Reagan National Airport plays an important role, as US government officials are among the few who are able to use aircraft for the most part, though it is hoped that biofuels will make air travel more accessible to the masses again someday in the future.
One of Torrington's now-iconic pedal pubs. Guests can enjoy a nice evening out having drinks and bar food while touring the city simultaneously. The pedal pubs have become a symbol of Torrington's cultural scene.
Besides these, Torrington became the first city in the new United States to see the rise of "pedal pubs," a mobile bar that can travel through the streets of town by having each guest pedal, sort of like a group bicycle. The Torrington pedal pubs became enormously popular, particularly with visitors to the city, and the idea started taking off in other American cities in the 2010s.
As "repats" (repatriated Americans from other territories) have settled in the new USA, particularly in Torrington, some have opened restaurants featuring the cuisines that have developed in other areas. This, along with the New National Mall, has helped make Torrington a major destination.
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