South Pass City is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Fremont 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. It is located south of the intersection of highways 28 and 131. A former station on the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

, it became a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

after later gold mines were closed. The entire community is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The closest town is

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

History

South Pass City developed rapidly as a stage and telegraph station on the

during the 1850s. The site of the first settlement in the area was about south of present-day South Pass City, at what is today known as Burnt Ranch. Burnt Ranch was located where the Emigrant Trails crossed the Sweetwater River for the last time and ascended toward the South Pass. In August 1861, 25-year-old Samuel Clemens (later Mark Twain) passed through South Pass City via stagecoach with his brother Orion, newly appointed as Secretary of Nevada Territory. Mark Twain later wrote about the experience in Roughing It, first published in 1872: "... we hove in sight of South Pass City. The hotelkeeper, the postmaster, the blacksmith, the mayor, the constable, the city marshal and the principal citizen and property holder, all came out and greeted us cheerily, and we gave him good day. He gave us a little Indian news, and a little Rocky Mountain news, and we gave him some Plains information in return. He then retired to his lonely grandeur and we climbed on up among the bristling peaks and the ragged clouds. South Pass City consisted of four log cabins, one of which was unfinished, and the gentleman with all those offices and titles was the chiefest of the ten citizens of the place. Think of hotelkeeper, postmaster, blacksmith, mayor, constable, city marshal and principal citizen all condensed into one person and crammed into one skin. ellow passengerBemis said he was 'a perfect Allen's revolver of dignities.' he Allen was a small revolver notorious for sometimes firing all six chambers at once, according to Mark Twain.And he said that if he were to die as postmaster, or as blacksmith, or as postmaster and blacksmith both, the people might stand it; but if he were to die all over, it would be a frightful loss to the community." In 1867, gold was discovered in the vicinity, and a year later

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. ...

began on what would become the Carissa mine. Prospectors and adventurers quickly arrived and founded South Pass City. Within a year, the community's population had swelled to about 2,000. William H. Bright, a saloon owner who was elected to the Wyoming Territorial Legislature and served as President of the Territorial Council, introduced a

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

bill, which passed. When the Women's Suffrage Act was signed into law by Territorial Governor John A. Campbell on December 10, 1869, Wyoming became the first jurisdiction in the United States to grant women the right to vote, a right which was not granted women nationally until 1920. Esther Hobart Morris became the first female justice of the peace in the United States in 1870. She began her tenure as justice in South Pass City on February 14, 1870, serving a term of nearly 9 months. The

Sweetwater County Sweetwater County is a County (United States), county in southwestern Wyoming, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 42,272, making it the List of counties in Wyoming, fourth-most populous county in Wyoming. Its ...

Board of County Commissioners appointed Morris as justice of the peace after the previous justice, R.S. Barr, resigned in protest of

Wyoming Territory The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital. The ...

's passage of the

amendment in December 1869. Within a decade, the city's population shrank dramatically, as the large gold deposits that had been hoped for failed to materialize. By the mid-1870s South Pass City's population was reduced to about 100 people but apparently grew to 180 by 1901. Over the next century the population of South Pass City declined even further. Many of the city's homes, mercantile stores, hotels and saloons fell into disrepair. A few businesses continued to operate in South Pass City, with the last of the pioneer families finally moving out in 1949.

South Pass City State Historic Site

By the end of the 20th century, steps were being taken to renew the community, and to develop it as an historic site for destination tourism. The community in the early 21st century consists of two areas: South Pass City, in which a handful of residents live, and South Pass City State Historic Site, which preserves more than 30 historic structures dating from the city's heyday in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1970, the community was added to the

. The town has been extensively documented by the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

(HABS) in drawings and in photographs, by HABS photographer Jack Boucher. In 2003, the Wyoming State Legislature purchased the Carissa Mine and added the property to the South Pass City State Historic Site. The Carissa Mine was the main economic engine for South Pass City for many years. Wyoming State Parks partnered with the Abandoned Mine Lands division of the Department of Environmental Quality to remediate mine hazards and stabilize buildings. Additional support from the Wyoming State Legislature and organizations like the Friends of South Pass City have raised funds for restoration and exhibition of the mine. Today the mine buildings can be toured with demonstrations of historic mining and milling equipment.

Highways

The road west out of South Pass City intersects with west of town; Wyo. 28 intersects with thirty-five miles north of that intersection.

Climate

Popular culture

In ''The Outlaw Trail: A Journey Through Time'',

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...

devoted a chapter to South Pass City.

Gallery

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References

External links

South Pass City Historic Site
Friends of South Pass
South Pass City State Historic Site
Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails
South Pass City
Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
City of Gold: The Story of South Pass City
Documentary produced by Wyoming PBS
South Pass City
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog of the Library of Congress {{authority control 1867 establishments in Dakota Territory Ghost towns in Wyoming Historic American Buildings Survey in Wyoming Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Mining communities in Wyoming Mining museums in the United States Museums in Fremont County, Wyoming Open-air museums in Wyoming Populated places established in 1867 Unincorporated communities in Fremont County, Wyoming Unincorporated communities in Wyoming Wyoming state historic sites National Register of Historic Places in Fremont County, Wyoming Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming IUCN Category III