Cokeville is a town in Lincoln County,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, United States. The population was 502 at the 2020 census. The town is known for the Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis.

History

The Shoshone Indians were the first inhabitants of the area. The first Euro-American settler, Tilford Kutch, arrived in 1869. In 1873, he opened a trading post and ran a ferry across Smiths Fork. After the arrival of the railroad in 1882, the town grew, and was incorporated in 1910. The town was named for the coal found in the area. Following the railroad, sheep ranching became more popular, reaching its peak in 1918, when Cokeville was informally called the "Sheep Capital of the World". On May 16, 1986, former town marshal David Young and his wife Doris Young took 167 children and adults hostage during the Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis. The captives escaped after an improvised gasoline bomb exploded and both hostage takers died in a murder-suicide. 79 hostages were injured, many with serious burns.

Geography

Cokeville is located at (42.085, −110.956). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 535 people, 166 households, and 127 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 200 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% from other races, and 0.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population. There were 166 households, of which 45.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 23.5% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.22 and the average family size was 3.87. The median age in the town was 29.6 years. 41.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 4.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.1% were from 25 to 44; 21.7% were from 45 to 64; and 11% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 51.4% male and 48.6% female.

Education

Public education in the town of Cokeville is provided by Lincoln County School District #2. Zoned campuses include Cokeville Elementary School (grades K-6) and

Cokeville High School Cokeville may refer to: * Cokeville, Pennsylvania, a community in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania * Cokeville, Wyoming, a community in Lincoln County, Wyoming {{Disambiguation ...

(grades 7–12). Cokeville has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, a branch of the Lincoln County Library System.

Infrastructure

Transportation by air

Cokeville Municipal

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

(U06) is an operational municipal airport serving the Town of Cokeville and surrounding areas. It is south of Cokeville. The airport is located on CR 207, and can be accessible by WYO 231, and from east of

Laketown, Utah Laketown is a town in Rich County, Utah, United States. The population was 299 at the 2020 census. The town is named for nearby Bear Lake. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.0 square mi ...

, by Manhead Road. The airport is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, with an area of . It is owned by the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

of Cokeville.

Transportation by road

* WYO 231 is a spur of

US 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

, and is the " main street" of Cokeville. *

is the only thoroughfare of the town, and provides access to

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

and nearby

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. * WYO 232 branches to the east of

and serves a rural area northeast of Cokeville.

Notable people

* Minerva Teichert (1888–1976), Western and LDS artist

References

External links

{{Authority control Towns in Lincoln County, Wyoming Towns in Wyoming Populated places established in 1869 1869 establishments in Wyoming Territory