Talk:Point of Rocks, Wyoming

How do you go about getting (or keeping) a charter for a "town" of three people? Sounds like it's one house with two people and another with only one -- one or the other's younger brother or sister, perhaps? So "mom" and "dad" alternate as being mayor, or both vote for each other? Does this family somehow get state and/or federal funds as their own municipal government? Enquiring minds want to know!

Rlquall 15:53, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

This place isn't necessarily a chartered town (or even incorporated). The article just lists it as a CDP ("census-designated place"), which means that it probably isn't a village or town, legally, just an area that's been given a name and boundaries for Census purposes. -- Plutor 18:19, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Heh heh, three people, and I thought my village was small...how does this place even have it's own article? How's the property taxes, who's on the council? Do they have elections....and if they did was it a tie...? Good ol wyoming... TotallyTempo 20:21, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually there are more than just 3 people living here. For some reason the census only went to Ed and Rae Dell Varley's house and Maynard Arwood's house. These three people are the oldest people in Point of Rocks. We do not have a mayor, but we do have a fire truck and post office. The entire "town" is owned and operated by the Varley family. Populations flow between about 150 people in the winter to 200 or 300 in the summer.

Primary jobs are found at the coal mines and the coal fired power plant. For the past few years a natural gas boom as sprung up as well, and people flocked to the area. There is limited housing and most people stay in fifth wheel campers. Rock Springs is where we go to buy most the groceries and supplies we need.

There are only two actuall houses in Point of Rocks. One belongs to Roger Varley, and was built in 1999. The other was built by Ed Varley in the mid sixties. Other buildings include the original post office (no longer operational), a large barn (holding the bar, cafe, party room, and antique storage), the Conoco store (holding the main offices, store, and post office), the old conveniance store (now closed and used for storage), the Geezer Hut (a mini motel), a workshop, a storage barn, the Stagecoach Station, and a small grain silo. All other buildings are single or double wide trailers and camper trailers.

The town was oringinally a railroad section town with houses on both sides of the tracks. Once the interstate went through about half the town was removed to make way. Now the only used buildings are on the North side of the highway. The Stagecoach Station is on the South side of the tracks, and is the last remaining building over there. There were several more, but the railroad opted to remove them a few years ago because they were broken down and vandalized.

In the summertime we have about three months of growing season, and the main plant life consists of greasewood, sagebrush, and koshaweeds. Winters are windy and harsh with temperatures dropping to -20 easily. Summers can get warm, but nothing becomes exceptionally hot. Winds typically blow from the West, and are funneled through the small valley.

Activities for the area include riding motorcycles and four wheelers, mountain climbing, bon fires, wind surfing, swimming, ice skating, and star gazing. You can find out more about Point of Rocks by visiting the town itself.

Name history

Passing through Point of Rocks, I asked about the name. One of the locals told me that it was originally "Rock Point", but got renamed to "Point of Rocks" when names were regularized and there was already a "Rock Point". No idea if it's true, but perhaps somebody of a historical bent would like to dig in and see if they can find proof of that. -- William Pietri (talk) 13:52, 11 June 2024 (UTC)