Wyoming’s history is filled with stories from the Oregon Trail and Bozeman Trail as Americans made their way across the country seeking their fortune and land. Along the way, many little towns popped up and prospered for a few years before being abandoned when the mines dried up, or conditions got too hostile. One such town is South Pass City, and today it lies abandoned at the foot of the Windy River Range.
South Pass City is a true ghost town located in Fremont County.
Flickr / Graham Styles
The town was once a booming gold mining town and a stop on the Oregon Trail.
Flickr / m01229 The population swelled to 2,000, and one of the newcomers was Esther Hobart Morris, who convinced a Wyoming representative to add a women’s suffrage clause into the territory’s constitution. It passed, and in 1869, Wyoming became the first place in America where women could legally vote.When the local gold mines dried up, Wyomingites abandoned the town and moved either farther along the Oregon Trail, or settled in the wild of Wyoming. By the late 1800s, the town was nearly empty, and in 1949, the last Pioneer family left town.
Today, the town’s abandoned buildings have been preserved, and the entire city is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Flickr / Don Barrett Just a few history buffs have moved back into town to help maintain and preserve the historic location.
All throughout the ghost town, you’ll find reminders of Wyoming’s pioneer past.
Google Local / Alessandro Puorro
The town was once home to a saloon, blacksmith shop, stores, a telegraph office and more to support the local community as well as the travelers that came through South Pass City.
Flickr / m01229
Today, the South Pass Mercantile is one of the only former shops still standing, and it’s worth a visit!
Flickr / Don Barrett
The next closest town, Atlantic City, is also a ghost town, though there are a few families still living here.
Flickr / m01229
It’s worth a short drive from South Pass to Atlantic City to visit the Atlantic City Mercantile, where the area’s mining history is preserved in a museum.
Flickr / Don Barrett
You can also visit the Hamilton City or “Miner’s Delight”, which is a sister city of both South Pass and Atlantic.
Flickr / Bureau of Land Management This ghost town has been preserved by the Bureau of Land Management and is open to visitors as well!
For directions to all three cities, click here!
Flickr / Graham Styles
Flickr / m01229
The population swelled to 2,000, and one of the newcomers was Esther Hobart Morris, who convinced a Wyoming representative to add a women’s suffrage clause into the territory’s constitution. It passed, and in 1869, Wyoming became the first place in America where women could legally vote.When the local gold mines dried up, Wyomingites abandoned the town and moved either farther along the Oregon Trail, or settled in the wild of Wyoming. By the late 1800s, the town was nearly empty, and in 1949, the last Pioneer family left town.
Flickr / Don Barrett
Just a few history buffs have moved back into town to help maintain and preserve the historic location.
Google Local / Alessandro Puorro
Flickr / Bureau of Land Management
This ghost town has been preserved by the Bureau of Land Management and is open to visitors as well!
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