Mayor's Office

Mayor's Office

On behalf of the City Council, Department Heads, staff, and I, welcome to the City of Rock Springs. Since Archibald and Duncan Blair opened our first coal mine in 1868, our community has been one of producers. In 1888, the year the Wyoming Territorial Assembly first requested Congress admit Wyoming into our Union, Rock Springs became the sixth incorporated city in the Wyoming Territory. We have grown from those early days to become the fifth largest city in Wyoming.

Flowing out of the rocks near the Overland Trail swing station – our namesake, the “rock spring,” was disrupted by mining early on. Those mining operations formed the foundation our town stands on today and were essential to the success of the Union Pacific Railroad in uniting the coasts of our Nation. It’s no exaggeration to claim that without the hard-working citizens of Rock Springs, the Transcontinental Railroad and the Union Pacific itself would not have succeeded.

The economic opportunity presented by our mines and agriculture created a community of immigrants, earning us our title of “Rock Springs: Home of 56 Nationalities, Host to All.” For the past 100 years, we have been celebrating that rich cultural heritage through a festival now known as International Days – a multiday celebration and sharing of the cultures who, together, create our vibrant community. The grit, opportunity, and innovation present in our early days continues today through both the descendants of those original immigrants and by new families who see our remarkable community and make it their home.

Rock Springs is proud to be the home of Western Wyoming Community College (ranked 7th best in our Nation and home to an exceptional wrestling program), the Sweetwater County Events Complex (hosting Wyoming’s Big Show, Horse Racing, Auto Racing, BMX Racing, RV shows, Rodeos, and the National High School Finals Rodeo events), nationally ranked bike trails, a vibrant historic downtown (including the Broadway Theater and Community Fine Arts Center, which bring us a wide range of cultural events), a Junior Hockey team (the Prospectors), a strong Chamber of Commerce, and many others. We have an active and engaged school district with broad opportunities for students. We are served by two hospitals to meet the needs of our residents and the surrounding communities. If you enjoy hiking, biking, camping, fishing, hunting, boating, snow machining, or riding ATVs, we have vast open spaces where all those pursuits are minutes away. From the Flaming Gorge Reservoir (with a surface area of over 65 square miles) to the Killpecker Sand Dunes (one of the largest active sand dune regions in the world), our varied and beautiful landscape has something for every taste.

While we are rightfully proud of our history, our resources, and our people, we stay true to the spirit of grit and innovation that our original residents used to build our community. We are a high-energy community rooted in the past and focused on remaining a thriving business and industry hub. We continue to support industrial businesses related to coal, trona, oil, natural gas, wind and solar energy, and carbon capture, as well as agriculture, tourism, and service businesses. We are focused on progress, innovation, and growth to continue adding to the storied history of success and community we have in Rock Springs.

Our location on the intersection of Interstate 80 and US Highway 191 along with our rail and air access makes us an ideal location for industry, manufacturing, commodity extraction, and technology sectors. We are poised for significant growth and invite you to be a part of our hometown today, and for generations to come. Together we will continue to build and support a community everyone can be proud to call home.

The City of Rock Springs, our staff, Department Heads, the City Council, and I are committed to serving the public and promoting development at the highest possible level. We strive to ensure public safety, quality of life, business growth, and healthy neighborhoods are the norm. The City of Rock Springs is proud to serve and support everyone, whether you are a visitor, a new resident, or in your sixth generation of calling Rock Springs home.

Warmest regards,

Mayor

Max Mickelson, Mayor

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