Sweetwater Museum Links

Research

A black and white photo of boy in a suit posing in front of a early 20th century car occupied by two people. The car is parked in front of a house near the base of Castle Rock in Green River, Wyoming.

RESEARCH REQUESTS

If you wish to conduct research or otherwise visit our collections we request that you schedule your visit in advance. Our Curator requires time and scheduling to pull objects and set up research opportunities. We generally request a full week in advance of your visit to ensure we have the available staff time and space for your visit. Thank you for your cooperation.

You can reach our Curator by using our Contact Us page and selecting "Research Request," or calling us at 307-872-6435.

One of our specialized community services is assistance with family and local historical research. Our comprehensive library includes books, photographs, oral histories, census records, local directories and more. In order that we may better serve you, please contact us before your visit to allow us time to find materials relevant to your research.

We also offer free vintage firearm research. Our staff will research your firearm and provide a writeup of any information we find. See our history/news section for some of our latest research. Please contact the museum at 307-872-6435 if you would like to take advantage of this research service.

The museum has a research library available to patrons at any time during our regular business hours. It contains some photographs, books (including many out-of-print titles), family and subject research files, an obituary index, transcriptions of oral histories, historic building surveys, local newspapers on microfilm, census records, and other resources. All items must be used on-site; the museum does not check out any materials in the research library.

The museum also houses extensive archives of historic photographs, records, documents, and publications. As the primary repository for materials recounting the past of Sweetwater County, the museum serves as a valuable resource for authors, researchers, and other scholars of history.

Photographs and documents in archives are available to researchers by appointment only. These materials require special procedures and must be supervised by the curator or director. Please contact the curator if you have questions or would like to make an appointment.

There are fees associated with digital or printed reproductions of photos and documents in the museum's collections. Please see our Reproduction Fee Schedule for pricing.

Online Collection Database (COMING SOON!)

We are pleased to make available to the public information from our collections database. We are in the process of converting our database so that the public can view it online. If you are interested in volunteering to assist us with this process please contact us.

https://sweetwatermuseum.pastperfectonline.com

Online Finding Aids

We are pleased to make available to the public indexes to several of our archival collections. You may review these before submitting a research request to expedite the process or you can look through them just for fun! Please contact our curator with any questions about these resources. These indexes do not represent all holdings of the museum.

Sweetwater County Marriage Index (originals available from the Sweetwater County Clerk's office)

Bounty Record Index

UPCC Injury Report Ledger Index

About Us

A statue in front of the museum honors explorer Major John Wesley Powell, who began his famous expedition at Expedition Island in Green River. Welcome to the Sweetwater County Historical Museum!
Established in 1967, the museum is housed in a renovated 1931 post office building and contains a collection of several thousand artifacts, a large historical photograph collection, and local history research material.

Discover the rich cultural heritage of southwestern Wyoming at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum. Explore the stories of Native Americans, explorers, fur trappers, travelers of overland trails, railroad workers, coal miners, cowboys, sheepherders, homesteaders, business people, trona miners and oil and gas workers.

Sweetwater County's history began long before written records. In prehistoric times the landscape was swampy and inhabited by great dinosaurs. Thousands of years later Native Americans, mostly Shoshone and Ute, claimed the land. The first white men moving through the area with regularity were the mountain men. The first Rocky Mountain Rendezvous was held in 1825 in Sweetwater County, as was a later gathering in 1834 that is said to have been the largest rendezvous ever.

Several major emigrant trails passed through the county including the Oregon, California, Mormon, Overland, and Cherokee Trails, as well as the Pony Express Trail, 1861 transcontinental telegraph line and Ben Holladay's Central Overland Express stage line. Vitally important to the history of the county was the coming of the transcontinental railroad in 1868. This was instrumental in the creation and development of Sweetwater County's two major population centers, Green River and Rock Springs. Green River was the major railroad town due to the nearness of a water supply, while Rock Springs became the coal mining center of the county.

Check out our latest newsletter to stay up to date with everything happening at the Museum!

Follow us on your favorite social media:

MISSION

Connecting people to the story of Sweetwater County by preserving and presenting its natural and cultural history.

VISION

Achieve strategic growth to become a premier center for education and culture in Sweetwater County and Wyoming.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Sweetwater County Historical Museum is to preserve and present the story of Sweetwater County from its early beginnings to the present, to serve as a depository for historical items and records, and to serve as an educational and informational center for the public.

Staff

Executive Director: Dave Mead

Curator: Amanda Benson

Exhibits: K. Brown

Public Engagement Coordinator: Vacant

Museum Services Specialist: Dick Blust

Board of Directors

The museum is governed by a 5 member board appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. Each member serves a 3 year term which can be renewed once. If you are interested in serving on the museum board or another county board, you can fill out an application here.

The Board meets the third Wednesday of every month at 5:30 PM. Please visit our Calendar of Events for more information regarding the next meeting.

Budd Allen, Chair

Steve Boyd, Vice Chair

Mark Kott, Treasurer

Randy Walker, member at large

Pete Costigan, member at large

Historical Research

Museum Exhibits

Community Outreach