Rock Springs Historical Museum

FACT: The museum itself was built in 1894 and first used as the City Hall. The building is the museum’s largest artifact.

Rock Springs was incorporated in 1888 and the town was proud of the fact that no Union Pacific Railroad money was used for the construction of the building. The building housed city offices and the city jail until 1982 when the current City Hall was completed.

Rock Springs came into existence largely thanks to the mining industry. At one time there were as many as ten mines located in the downtown area alone. At first, the labor force for the mines of Rock Springs consisted of miners from Kentucky and Pennsylvania, mainly since they had experience in underground mining operations. However, the workload soon exceeded the labor force and recruiters were sent to Europe to find more help. Promised a much better life, miners and their families immigrated to Rock Springs making it one of the most diverse ethnic melting
pots west of the Mississippi. Today, Rock Springs proudly declares itself, “Home of 56 Nationalities.”

The town quickly became one of the nation’s leaders in coal production. However, this distinction did not come without a price. In 1888, after a long labor dispute, Chinese miners were killed or driven out and Chinatown was burned. As a result, Federal troops were sent in to occupy the town. Rock Springs became one of the few towns after the Civil War to have military troops stationed there in order to protect the immigrants from local citizens.

Rock Springs has been home to the famous and infamous. One of the more infamous characters living in Rock Springs was Robert Leroy Parker, more commonly known as the outlaw Butch Cassidy. Butch acquired his nickname after working in a local butcher shop. After being accused of a robbery he didn’t commit, Butch went back to his criminal ways. The outlaw Calamity Jane is
also reputed to have had a dugout on what is now M Street.

The Rock Springs Historical Museum is proud of the town’s past and the perseverance it took to carve a life out of the unforgiving landscape. The museum houses many different exhibits on life in a western coal town. Make sure to include the museum on your visit to Rock Springs. The museum staff is happy to answer questions about the area and assist with other points of interest, such as the self-guided walking tour of the historic downtown.