Name: Point of Rocks
County: Sweetwater
Authority Name:
GNIS Entry
Longitude: 1084708W
Latitude: 414049N
Legal Description:
Elevation: 6503/1982
(ft/m)
Feature Type: Populated Place
Origin of Name:
Derives its name from the rock formation, rising several hundred feet. The Pony Express Station is still in use south of the highway.
Source: WPA
The coals of the Almond coal group are of poorer quality thans those of the Rock Springs coal group and as they occur close to the abundant supply of high-grade coal mined at Rock Springs they have not been much exploited. The only place where they have been mined is Point of Rocks, formerly called Almond.
Source: Guidebook of the Western United States
Other Names: Almond
Alternative Spellings:
History:
Point of Rocks Post Office was established in November, 1868 and discontinued in February, 1871. Almond Post Office was established in February, 1884 and changed to Point of Rocks Post Office in July, 1908.
Source: Wyoming Post Offices
Point of Rocks is a new postoffice in Sweetwater County on the Union Pacific Railroad.
Source: Wyoming State Business Directory, 1910-11
Almond is a station on the Union Pacific Railroad in Sweetwater County, 21 miles northeast from Rock Springs. Nearest railroad point to mining camps of South Pass, 70 miles; Atlantic City, 75 miles; Lewiston, 60 miles; and Miners' Delight, 80 miles. ... Railroad name of town is "Point of Rocks."
Source: Wyoming State Business Directory, 1910-11
Station on the Overland Route and Union Pacific Railroad. The light-colored sandstone ... makes prominent cliffs at the town of Point of Rocks. It is an important water-bearing sandstone and yields mineral waters. This sandstone is slightly conglomeratic, is irregular in texture and hardness, and has been eroded into many fantastic and curious forms. To some of the cavernous hollows in it have been given names, such as "Hermit's Grotto," "Cave of the Sands," and "Sancho's Bower." Three wells that have been drilled here to depths of a little more than 1,000 feet have obtained an abundant supply of water. The water is strongly charged with sulphureted hydrogen (H2S), which soon escapes or is oxidized on exposure to the air. From Rawlins to Green River, a distance of 134 miles, there is scarcely a place where water fit to drink can be found at the surface. The springs and the streams are alkaline, and water from the wells at Point of Rocks is hauled for domestic and railroad use over much of this distance.
Source: Guidebook of the Western United States
Stories:
I lived in Thayer Junction in 1935. We lived in "half" of a RR house. The section foreman and his family lived in the north end and we lived in the south end. It was painted RR yellow. One bedroom, a kitchen, and a little sitting room. I slept in the sitting room on a cot. The foreman was Japanese (Tagutis) and had a small son my age.We were almost 5 years old. He and I played along the RR tracks.
We traded in Rock Springs. Rock springs had several Japanese store owners. Mom bought our greens and veggies at the Japanese market. The filling station at Point of Rocks had a bear pit. The men were playing baseball one Sunday afternoon and the ONLY ball ended up in the bear pit. The women whipped up some flapjacks and syrup--the threw them in one corner and while the bears were eating the flapjacks, one of the men snuck down into the pit and retrieved the baseball--the game went on.
This is part of the Red Desert--man did it get cold in the winter time.
As told by Fred Barber
January 24, 2008
Maps:
1:24000 Quadrangle: Point of Rocks
Newspapers:
More Information:
Pictures: