Sorted by date Results 1 - 7 of 7
Founded in 1967, the Sweetwater County Historical Museum is celebrating its fiftieth birthday in 2017. To commemorate their golden jubilee, the museum has created a special exhibit highlighting its history, its role in the community, and the people who have made it a special place for community pride and preservation. In the 1960s, Sweetwater County was bustling with an atmosphere of progressivism. The stately old courthouse that had been built in 1875 after the county seat was moved from South Pass City to Green River was proclaimed to be in...
Green River may not be in the “path of totality” for the 2017 total solar eclipse. Ninety-nine years ago, however, Green River became the temporary home of the world’s leading astronomers who came here for the best view of the 1918 total solar eclipse. During that eclipse, both Rock Springs and Green River were in the exact path of the eclipse, which was visible here June 8 at 5:17 p.m. Months earlier, various railroads began advertising eclipse excursions and the newspapers were touting the eclipse as a once-in-a-lifetime, not-t...
As many people saw (or heard), the Union Pacific’s “Living Legend” 844 steam engine barreled into downtown Green River town once again last Wednesday. Although the 844 has made many appearances in Green River over the years, it always draws a crowd. If you didn’t get a good look at it while it overnighted in Rock Springs or stopped in Green River, you’ll have a chance to see it on its return trip Thursday at approximately 1:30 p.m. Even if you missed seeing it, chances are you heard its famously resounding horn as it announced its arrival....
Happy Donkey Days! Each Christmas, businesses scramble to find ways to get shoppers through the doors with coupons, prizes, and special offers. In 1957, the Green River Chamber of Commerce tried a special kind of contest to help bring shoppers to the bustling shopping scene of downtown Green River. Donkey Days was a several weeks-long event where Green River stores featured “their holiday goods and favorable prices…to bring home to Green River people the variety of merchandise…to be found in these stores. It culminated just before Chris...
Each time a business closes downtown, people tend to reminisce about all the good times they had there. This is especially true for restaurants because these tend to be places where people linger long after the meals are finished, while they socialize and make connections. Restaurants are where we have memorable special events like birthday parties and wedding receptions. Like an extension of the dinner table where family comes together, restaurants serve not only food but also community links....
An auction took place at the historic Gilligan Ranch in Boulder, a few months ago. It featured many artifacts belonging to the Gilligans and their relatives, who were prominent citizens in early Green River and the surrounding areas. Luckily for the Sweetwater County Museum, a very generous donor, Jonita Sommers of the historic Sommers Homestead, was in attendance and determined to acquire the medical supplies of Dr. John Gilligan in order to donate them to the museum. The items that she...
One hundred and 10 years ago, in 1904, there began a call to action by the citizens of Green River for a bigger, better passenger station (depot) building-one that would accurately represent the size and success of Green River. "It has been the misfortune of Green River to have a few 'knockers' who could see no future for the town; and who have prophesied the final abandonment of the place," the Wyoming Star reported in January of 1904. It was not a lack of industry that was killing Green River,...
