The Reliance School and Gymnasium embody the distinctive characteristics of type, period, and method of construction taking place in southwestern Wyoming coal mining communities during the 1920s and 1930s era. The school and gymnasium reflect the Union Pacific Coal Company's interest in providing the small town of Reliance with modern brick buildings and a proper education for the children. Plans for the Reliance School were drawn in the early part of 1923 by James L. Libby, a Union Pacific Railroad employee. Construction was completed in 1927. The Gymnasium was also designed by James L. Libby in 1931. The buildings are not elaborate in design, but an effort was made to incorporate some distinctive decorative elements such as the diamond patterned brickwork, crenellation, string course, and battlement motifs. The best materials available at that time were used in construction of the buildings. This reflects the desires of the Union Pacific Coal Company and the community of Reliance to establish a civilized, comfortable, social, and lasting town, in an area of isolation within a dry climate. The Reliance School and Gymnasium have been the center of education and recreation since they were constructed. They have been used for almost every social, political, and recreational event that takes place in Reliance. Among these events are school board and town council meetings, voting, town dances, and a variety of men's and women's club meetings.

The Reliance Tipple consists of two distinct features. The first is a tipple constructed from steel and concrete in 1936. The second is the site of the first wooden tipple dating from 1910 to 1936 consisting of a sandstone foundation and historical artifacts buried in an adjacent tailings pile. The small coal mining town of Reliance, located a few miles north of Rock Springs, Wyoming, was first established in 1910 when mine operations at No. 1 began in earnest. In 1911 Reliance No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 were opened. Construction of structures at Reliance was at an advanced stage in 1912. By that year, a tramline, tipple, warehouse, scales, hay barn, lumber yard, and granary were evident. Coal production totals at the Reliance mines rose steadily until the end of World War I. Then they began to decline. The Depression hit the Wyoming coal industry a decade before it hit the rest of the country, and this contributed to the decline of coal production at Reliance. Not until the mid-1930s did the mines at Reliance begin to recover. In 1936 a new mine, the No. 7, was opened just east of Reliance. The new steel and concrete tipple was also erected. The opening of the new mine coupled with the building of the Reliance Tipple led to increased production. By 1943, 1.4 million tons of coal were being produced at Reliance. By the end of World War II, however, coal production again began to decline. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the Union Pacific Railroad accelerated its ongoing program of scrapping steam locomotives and replacing them with more efficient diesel-electric locomotives. The loss of the largest consumer of coal resulted in the closure of the Reliance mines. Coal production continued to decline steadily until the mines were closed in 1955. The tipple was abandoned at that time.

The Rock Springs City Hall is significant because of its architectural importance to the heritage of Rock Springs and its association with the governmental functions of the town. While Rock Springs gained its present size and stature as a railroad and mining center, it had its beginnings as an Overland Stage outpost in 1861. A stage station was built near the springs that was to give the town its name. In 1866 Archibald and Duncan Blair established a trading post opposite the station. In 1868 the first coal mine was opened under the auspices of the Blair Brothers. 1869 also marked the year that the Union Pacific Railroad was built through Rock Springs and the town quickly became the central terminal for stock herds being shipped to market from Rocky Mountain cattle raising country. In 1888 Rock Springs was incorporated as a town. It was at this time that the town began to think about its needs for a structure to house its various governmental functions. In 1893 the citizens voted to fund the building of a city hall. Construction began in 1894 and by 1895 the governmental functions of the town were operating out of their new City Hall. The building is also significant because it is one of the last remaining examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture left in southwestern Wyoming.

Elks' Lodge #624 is located at the southeast corner of C and Second Streets near the central business district of Rock Springs. Many of the city's noteworthy governmental and commercial buildings are located on the south side of the city's commercial core near the lodge. Completed in 1924, the Elks' Lodge is one of the city's most significant architect-designed buildings. D. D. Spani, an architect who moved to Rock Springs from St. Louis in 1911, designed some of the city's architectural landmarks, including the Security State Bank Building, the former North Side State Bank, the former Rock Springs High School, and Roosevelt and Yellowstone Schools. Spani chose an Italian Renaissance style for the lodge to illustrate the important role the Elks, as a fraternal organization, played in the community. The building is a substantial three-story brick building with neoclassical features expressed in terra cotta ornamentation. There is no other building similar to this Elks' Lodge in Wyoming.

The Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius acted as a unifying force for the many Slavic immigrants who began entering the community of Rock Springs in the early part of the 20th century looking for jobs in the Union Pacific coal mines. These recent immigrants wanted a parish in which their unique cultures and customs would be accepted and adopted into parish life. In 1910 the bishop gave permission for a new parish to be created. However it wasn’t until 1925, with the completion of the church, that immigrants of Slavic descent were able to realize their dream of a church all their own. The church building was designed by local architect Daniel D. Spani.

The Slovenski Dom, or the Slovenian National Home, was built in 1913 to serve as a public hall and meeting place for several Slovenian-American fraternal lodges in Rock Springs. For more than 80 years, the Dom has served as the social and cultural heart of Rock Springs' Slovenian community, one of the largest ethnic groups in this town that was built on the labor of immigrant coal miners. The Slovenski Dom is also a symbol of the ethnic diversity that is the hallmark of Rock Spring's civic identity. The Slovenian immigrants, along with other ethnic groups, including the Finns, Croatians, and Tyroleans, formed local chapters of national fraternal lodges or benevolent societies. In 1912, representatives of the Slovenian lodges in Rock Springs met to form a corporation, Slovenski Dom, Inc., for the purpose of constructing a building for lodge meetings and other public events. The establishment of such buildings, known as ''Slovenian National Homes,'' which accommodated the activities of the lodges and helped maintain a sense of cultural identity, was widespread in Slovenian communities throughout the United States. Rock Springs' Slovenski Dom, in fact, was one of the earliest such buildings. A unique feature of the organization's by-laws is the stipulation that the Dom was always to be known by its Slovenian name -- Slovenski Dom -- rather than the English translation of Slovenian National Home. Although there were other Slovenski Doms in the Rocky Mountain region, this is the only one in Wyoming. What makes it of particular historic value is that it is still owned by the original organization and remains pretty much in its original condition.

The South Superior Union Hall, constructed in 1921, is a parallelogrammatic structure and may possibly be the only building in Wyoming with this distinctive configuration. Bituminous coal mining was a significant force in the economic development of Sweetwater County. As Union Pacific trains crossed southern Wyoming and Sweetwater County, coal was utilized as fuel for their engines. Initially Rock Springs was the leading coal producing area in the county but, as these coal mines were depleted, prospectors discovered coal twenty miles to the northeast near present day Superior. By 1906, Superior Coal Company operated five mines in the general vicinity of Superior and South Superior. Small company towns prospered in response to the needs of local miners; the towns of Superior and South Superior incorporated in 1911. As the number of miners in the area grew, the United Mine Workers started organizational activities in Wyoming. By 1908, the UMW was strongest in the southern Wyoming coal fields. In South Superior six UMW locals contributed to the construction fund for a substantial union hall in 1921. The hall acted as host for a variety of activities from political rallies to social gatherings and recreational events. In addition, the hall housed doctor and dentist offices. Important social, political and union events kept the building busy until the Union Pacific mines closed during the 1960s. As an integral part of South Superior's past, the union hall represents the importance that mining and unionism achieved during the town's earliest years

The Sweetwater (also known as Green River) Brewery is a structure constructed in 1900 of native sandstone. The structure was once part of a three building complex that consisted of the Office/Saloon, the Engine House, and the Brewhouse. The building is an interesting blend of architectural styles. The Brewery is significant for being one of the pioneer industries in Green River and the first brewery in Wyoming. Through the years Green River beer gained a nationwide reputation for its quality. The brewing business was operated by German immigrants beginning as early as 1872. The first operator was Adam Braun. In 1875 Otto Rauch took over the business, building a one-story wooden structure on Front Street (later Railroad Avenue). It was after Karl Spinner purchased the business in 1879 that the fine reputation for Green River beer became widespread. The period of development which produced this structure was begun in 1891 when Hugo Gaensslen purchased the brewery. Gaensslen, a native of Chicago, built the stone structure in 1900. It was patterned after the famous Chicago water tower.

The Taliaferro House is significant as one of the premier examples of an American Foursquare in Wyoming. The house was built in the period 1907-1912 by an Italian stonemason with sandstone quarried south of Rock Springs. The house is part of the small elite residential neighborhood of early 20th century Rock Springs that occupied an area south of the east/west railroad tracks which bisected the town. Its size and conspicuous location are symbols of the status and achievements of the first generation of influential businessmen/ranchers who rose to regional and statewide prominence in the Union Pacific railroad and coal town of Rock Springs. The house is an excellent example of a style of domestic architecture that evolved in post-Victorian America.

Augustine Kendall had the Taliaferro House built. He was president of the Sweetwater County Bank, Vice-President and Treasurer of the Rock Springs Lumber Company, and was involved in the Stock Growers Mercantile and sheep and cattle ranching in Sweetwater County. He also served as Mayor of Rock Springs 1904-1907, and was one of the original founders of the Rock Springs Grazing Association. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Seddon Taliaferro, Jr. purchased the home in 1914. After arriving in Wyoming in 1883, Mr. Taliaferro became Union Pacific agent for Green River, a job he held until he began his law practice in 1900 and moved to Rock Springs. In addition to a busy law practice, Taliaferro also organized and became president or managing director of three banks: the First National Bank of Green River, the First State Bank of Green River, and the First Bank of Superior, Wyoming. He was president of the Green River Mercantile Company, a profitable business that outfitted many of the numerous sheep and cattle ranches in the region including those he owned, the Green River Livestock Company and the Big Sandy Livestock Company. Taliaferro, along with Augustine Kendall, helped found the Rock Springs Grazing Association and became the chief legal counsel for the organization. Taliaferro served a term as the second mayor of Green River 1893-1896. The house has remained in the Taliaferro family since 1914.

The Finley Site is an early Holocene Paleoindian bison kill/processing area consisting of two main localities (Locality I and II) situated within a presently stabilized sand dune on the western edge of the Killpecker Dune Field in southwestern Wyoming. Surface finds of diagnostic Eden and Scottsbluff projectile points in 1940 by Orion M. Finley, and subsequent testing and excavation by the University Museum of Philadelphia, the Nebraska State Museum, and the University of Wyoming/Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist indicate that the site dates to the latter portion of the Paleoindian period (~ 9,000 B.P.), and is associated with the Cody Cultural Complex; a cultural group widespread throughout Wyoming and the Northwestern Plains, but also extending into adjacent regions (e.g. Great Plains, Southern Plains). The Finley site is the only known Paleoindian bison kill in Southwestern Wyoming.

The significance of the Finley site, 48SW5, lies in the fact that it was important in the formation of Early Man (Paleoindian) studies, thus making a significant contribution to the broad patterns of archaeological theory, and therefore qualifying the site for listing on the National Register under Criterion A. The period of significance (1940-1947) reflects the time period when the initial archaeological and geological work was carried out at the site, and the time period when information gathered at the Finley site was of primary significance to Early Man studies. The site is nominated at the state level of significance because Finley was significant in helping to define the regional cultural chronology. Finley is the type site of the Eden projectile point, and also the first site where Eden and Scottsbluff Type I and Type II projectile points were found together in direct association, thus demonstrating that the three styles were contemporaneous.

National Register form available upon request.

The Tolar site consists of 32 rock art panels extending for more than 150 meters along the south and southeast face of a large sandstone outcrop. It contains a distinctive collection of Protohistoric and Historic petroglyphs created by Native American groups inhabiting or traveling through southwestern Wyoming. The artistic styles and motifs are characteristic of Shoshone and Comanche, but may also be related to Arapaho, Ute, and Athapaskan speakers such as the Navajo. Cultural elements and symbolic structures present include the distinctive turtle motif, well-preserved representations of Plains Biographical Style horses and warriors, spirit bear symbolism, large-headed anthropomorphs, shield-bearing warriors, and rectangular bodied anthropomorphs.

National Register form available upon request.

The Green River Post Office, constructed in 1931-32, is significant from both architectural and local history standpoints. It represents a fine example of a distinct type of construction and also tells much about the development of the town of Green River. The building is a well preserved example of Neo-Classical architecture. The building and its floor plan is typical of any number of small town post offices constructed throughout the nation under the massive federal building programs of the Depression Era. It was the first federally constructed post office in the city of Green River and was an event that local citizens had worked for and anticipated for years.

The Wardell Court Residential Historic District comprises one block within the Wardell Addition plat of Rock Springs. The District contains twenty buildings, fourteen of which are considered to be contributing elements of the District. Buildings consist of single and multiple residential structures. The District is significant for its association with the development of the coal industry in Rock Springs in the early twentieth century, and the community's role in the development of planned residential neighborhoods and towns by the Union Pacific Coal Company. The Wardell Court residential neighborhood was designed and built by the Union Pacific Coal Company between 1920 and 1921 to house the company's high ranking officials. As such, Wardell Court was the culmination of a process of designing planned communities that was begun by the Union Pacific Coal Company in Rock Springs in 1874. While the Company designed residential neighborhoods and company towns for its workers and lower to middle level managers between 1874 and 1940, Wardell Court is unique in that it was designed to house the upper level managers including the coal company Vice President and General Manager, the General Superintendent, and department managers and mine foremen. Wardell Court's design consists of houses located around the perimeter of the block facing inward towards a central court. Wardell Court is dominated by Number 1 Wardell Court, a large two story bungalow which originally housed the coal company Vice President; and Number 7 Wardell Court which is a three story multiple residence for unmarried company clerks (who by the 1920s were predominately female). Most houses are five or six room craftsman style bungalows built to standard plans. All buildings within the court are built of hollow ceramic tiles covered with stucco. By the late 1930s the coal company began to sell the houses to their tenants. By the late 1940s all of the Wardell Court houses had been sold. Gradually the coal company officials either died or moved away and the houses came into the possession of owners not associated with the Union Pacific Coal Company. The well conceived Wardell Court Addition continues to serve as an elite residential area.