South Pass City, Wyoming
Encyclopedia
South Pass City is an unincorporated community
in Fremont County, Wyoming
, United States
. It is located 2 miles south of the intersection of highways 28 and 131. The closest town is Atlantic City
. The entire community is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Burnt Ranch was located where the Emigrant Trail
s crossed the Sweetwater River
for the last time and ascended toward South Pass
.
In 1866 gold was discovered in the vicinity, and a year later prospecting
began on what would become the Carissa mine. Prospectors and adventurers quickly arrived and founded what is today known as South Pass City. Within a year the community's population had swelled to about 2,000. One of those who arrived in 1869 was Esther Hobart Morris
. In 1870 she was the first woman in the U.S. to serve as a Justice of the Peace
. In 1869, William H. Bright, a saloon owner and representative to the Wyoming Territorial Constitutional Convention, introduced a women's suffrage
clause into the territorial constitution. When the constitution was approved by Territorial Governor John A. Campbell in December 1869, Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to recognize a woman's right to vote.
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. Over the next century the population of South Pass City declined further and 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 on in 1949.
At the end of the 20th century steps were taken to renew the community and turn it into a historic site. As a result the community today 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 National Register of Historic Places.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Fremont County, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is located 2 miles south of the intersection of highways 28 and 131. The closest town is Atlantic City
Atlantic City, Wyoming
Atlantic City is a census-designated place in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 39 at the 2000 census. The community is a small mining settlement in a gulch near South Pass in southwestern Wyoming. It was founded as a mining camp following the 1867 gold rush in the region...
. The entire community is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
History
South Pass City sprang into existence as a stage and telegraph station on the Oregon Trail during the 1850s. The site of this first settlement was about 9 miles south of present-day South Pass City at what is today known as Burnt Ranch.Burnt Ranch was located where the Emigrant Trail
Emigrant Trail
The Emigrant Trails were the northern networks of overland wagon trails throughout the American West, used by emigrants from the eastern United States to settle lands west of the Interior Plains during the overland migrations of the mid-19th century...
s crossed the Sweetwater River
Sweetwater River (Wyoming)
The Sweetwater River is a tributary of the North Platte River, long, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Its waters eventually reach the Atlantic Ocean. The Sweetwater rises in southwestern Fremont County, at the continental divide near South Pass Wyoming, on the southern end of the Wind River Range...
for the last time and ascended toward South Pass
South Pass
South Pass is two mountain passes on the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Wyoming. The passes are located in a broad low region, 35 miles broad, between the Wind River Range to the north and the Oregon Buttes and Great Divide Basin to the south, in southwestern Fremont...
.
In 1866 gold was discovered in the vicinity, and a year later prospecting
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
began on what would become the Carissa mine. Prospectors and adventurers quickly arrived and founded what is today known as South Pass City. Within a year the community's population had swelled to about 2,000. One of those who arrived in 1869 was Esther Hobart Morris
Esther Hobart Morris
Esther Hobart Morris , a Tioga County, New York native, distinguished herself as the first female Justice of the Peace in the United States. A mother of three boys, she began her tenure as justice in South Pass City, Wyoming, on February 14, 1870, and served a term of less than nine months...
. In 1870 she was the first woman in the U.S. to serve as a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
. In 1869, William H. Bright, a saloon owner and representative to the Wyoming Territorial Constitutional Convention, introduced a women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
clause into the territorial constitution. When the constitution was approved by Territorial Governor John A. Campbell in December 1869, Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to recognize a woman's right to vote.
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. Over the next century the population of South Pass City declined further and 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 on in 1949.
At the end of the 20th century steps were taken to renew the community and turn it into a historic site. As a result the community today 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 National Register of Historic Places.
External links
- South Pass City Historic Site
- South Pass City State Historic Site, Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites
- South Pass City at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office