Green River, WY
Green River: Trona Capital of the World (That's right, trona)
Green River (pop. 12,800) is home to four trona mines and a baking soda manufacturing firm.
“It was really important to have these mines. They provided employment,” says Duke Yowell, a lifelong resident and retired railroad employee. Yowell says the mines opened about the same time the railroad downsized in the late 1940s, and coal mines were laying off employees as railroad locomotives were converted to diesel engines, reducing coal demand.
“They (still) provide a lot of people’s livelihood,” Yowell says.
Wyoming’s Green River Basin supplies 90 percent of the United States’ demand for natural trona, which is refined to soda ash, says Ruth Lauritzen, who compiled industry data for the Sweetwater County Historical Museum. Trona is used in making glass, laundry detergent, toothpaste, and baking soda.
The trona mines northwest of town are among the area’s largest employers, providing jobs for more than 2,800 people.
Green River first served as a stagecoach station on the Central Overland Express stage line. The town then became a major division point for the Union Pacific Railroad in the late 1860s as the transcontinental railroad tracked West.
A town ordinance prohibiting salesmen from soliciting door-to-door traces its history to the early years when railroad employees worked odd hours and needed daytime sleep. The railroad is still a major employer.
But trona rules. It was discovered accidentally in the late 1930s. A United States Geological Survey scientist studying a sample oil core drilled in the area found the mineral. Trona can be found in Africa, Turkey, China, and Mexico, but Sweetwater County is one of the few sites where the mineral is commercially mined, Lauritzen says.
Prior to mining that began in Sweetwater County in 1948, all United States soda ash had been synthetically produced, she adds.
The Green River mineral beds are so vast they contain about 100 billion tons and could serve the world’s needs for another 2,000 years, Lauritzen says.
That’s why Sweetwater County was awarded the designation “Trona Capital of the World” by former Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan in 1989.
Although the town is in an area considered desert, the Green River that divides the town in half means there is enough water for plenty of trees and people.
The downtown area includes a mix of modern and historic architecture on Flaming Gorge Way, where the older business section is located. History buffs will delight in landmarks such as The Brewery, a bar located in the historic 1898 building which housed Wyoming’s first brewery.
Tourism is a growing industry in the town, which also is known as the “Gateway to Flaming Gorge.”
“Many fly fishermen come to fish the Green River both in town and upstream. Many fishermen also come to fish the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area, both on the lakeshores and in boats,’’ says Gay Collar of the Green River Chamber of Commerce.
Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area, named for the vivid red rocks encircling the reservoir south of town, is a favorite spot for fishing, hiking, and other sports.
Spectacular scenic rock formations throughout the Green River area serve as physical reminders of geological history dating back millions of years to the river basin’s existence as a land-locked lake. The flamboyant views beckon photographers like Cleve Holloway, a retired geologist who conducts summer viewing tours throughout the area.
“The best things are the beautiful sunrises and sunsets,’’ Holloway says.
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