Hot Springs County, Wyoming

24 topographic sheets cover 11 settlements here, and 12 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

12 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

Wyoming within the United States

Hot Springs County within Wyoming

What the record shows

101 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
12 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 8 buildings, 2 sites and 2 structures.
2 of the 12 listings were added during the 1970s.
The Geographic Names Information System records 11 populated places in this county; 11 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Property	Type	Listed	Reference
535 Broadway	building	1984	84003668
Bates Battlefield	site	1974	74002286
CQA Four Mile Bridge	structure	1985	85000423
Callaghan Apartments	building	1993	93000231
EFP Bridge over Owl Creek	structure	1985	85000424
Alex Halone House	building	1994	93001473
Alex Halone House	building	1994	93001473
Kirby Jail and Town Hall	building	2011	11000875
Malta Lodge #17	building	1984	84003668
Malta Lodge No. 17 AF&AM	building	2021	100007161
US Post Office-Thermopolis Main	building	1987	87000784
Woodruff Cabin Site	site	1970	70000671

Wildfire, 1992 to 2020

304 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 304 of them, burning about 94,824 acres. 158 started naturally and 2 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause	Fires
Natural	158
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	84
Power generation/transmission/distribution	16
Fireworks	14
Debris and open burning	13
Equipment and vehicle use	9
Railroad operations and maintenance	7
Arson/incendiarism	2
Recreation and ceremony	1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
25 August 1996	Natural	48,844 acres	Worland Field Office	EBLACK MTN
27 July 2000	Natural	13,666 acres	Worland Field Office	MIDDLE ENOS
22 September 2007	Debris and open burning	3,978 acres	Worland Field Office	COPPER MTN
9 July 2000	Natural	3,840 acres	Wind River Agency	MUDDYCRK
18 August 2001	Natural	2,974 acres	Worland Field Office	RENNER DRA
13 September 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	2,104 acres	Worland Field Office	BLACK MOUNTAIN
12 September 2018	Equipment and vehicle use	2,047 acres	Hotsprings County	RED HOLE
9 September 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	2,000 acres	Worland Field Office	BLACK MOUNTAIN

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1965 to 2025

60 of 129 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 129 reports for this county, causing 1 death, 1 injury and about $2,698,000 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event	Reports
Hail	65
Thunderstorm Wind	35
Funnel Cloud	12
Flash Flood	8
Tornado	6
Wildfire	3

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 2000	Wildfire	Thermopolis	1 killed, 1 hurt	no account filed
May 2015	Flash Flood	Thermopolis	$1,500,000	Very heavy rain fell in southern Hot Springs County. This triggered numerous mud and rock slides, some tumbling several hundred feet or more to the bottom of the Wind River Canyon. State Highway 789 through the canyon was covered with mud, rock, and debris in several locations between mileposts 120 and 123. One Wyoming Department of Transportation employee was briefly trapped in his front-end loader as he tried to clear away small slides at the onset of the event. The massive amount of debris on the highway resulted in the closure of the road from Sunday afternoon, May 24, until Wednesday morning, May 27. Additional slides on the west side of the Wind River Canyon destroyed several sections of railroad track that resulted in a halt of train traffic for several days.
July 2019	Hail	Anchor Reservoir	$1,000,000	A storm developed over the Lee of the Absarokas and quickly became severe as it moved eastward into Hot Springs County. On a long path there were numerous reports of golf ball sized hail, with a maximum size of over two inches in diameter at Hot Springs State Park, just east of Thermopolis, Wyoming. There were numerous reports of damaged siding as well as broken windows on cars and buildings along the hail path.
July 2009	Flash Flood	Hamilton Dome	$75,000	Heavy rain from a severe thunderstorm produced widespread flash flooding northwest of Thermopolis. Radar estimated 30 to 40 minute rainfall amounts to be from 1.00 to 1.75 inches. The flash flooding was primarily concentrated along state highways 120 and 170 near Owl Creek. Areas hardest hit along highway 120 extended from mile markers five to nine. Six homes were evacuated in this four mile stretch and at least two of the homes were flooded. One resident estimated water depth to be three to six feet, which damaged outbuildings, a well house, and a cistern. Some hay fields were reported to be waist deep in water.
September 2024	Tornado (EF0)	Thermopolis	$50,000	A brief landspout tornado touched down in downtown Thermopolis, near the intersection of US Hwy 20 and WY Hwy 120. Maximum winds were estimated between 65 to 75 mph as it caused damage to sheet metal roofing and car windows.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Lucerne	$25,000	Damage to a barn and several outbuildings from a strong thunderstorm wind gust at a ranch between Thermopolis and Kirby WY. Estimated wind gust of 50 to 60 mph based on damage. Damage estimated to have occurred around 426 PM MDT June 4 2023 based on radar. Nearest surface observation was a personal weather sensor 4 miles away, which showed a gust to 22 mph at the 445 pm reporting time, but storm did not directly affect this sensor location. Sheds, items, and debris were blown east to west generally with no indication of distinct rotation. Outbuildings had openings to the east, making them especially susceptible to easterly wind gusts. Little to no damage to nearby farms or trees, as the downdraft was from a small storm, leading to very localized damage, likely from an individual downdraft.
June 1985	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
June 2015	Hail	East Thermopolis	$20,000	Two inch diameter hail fell in the Wind River Canyon knocking out windows in vehicles traveling State Highway 789.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	$3,000	Microburst winds of 50 to 60 mph uprooted a 50-foot Cottonwood tree and blew a one-foot diameter branch about 50 feet in Hot Springs State Park. The wind was also responsible for moving a metal shed across a street near the Hot Springs County fairgrounds.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Grass Creek	-	The Grass Creek RAWS site had a wind gust of 66 mph.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	-	A 63 mph wind gust was reported on Boysen Peak.
July 2025	Hail	Thermopolis	-	The public reported penny to quarter size hail in north end of Wind River Canyon.
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	-	Wind gusts as high as 60 mph were reported around Thermopolis. At Hot Springs State Park, large tree branches were downed.
June 2023	Hail	Grass Creek	-	A picture of ping pong ball size hail at the Gooseberry Creek Rest Area was posted to Facebook.
June 2022	Funnel Cloud	Thermopolis Arpt	-	A reporter for a local newspaper sent a picture of a funnel cloud over the Owl Creek Mountains to the southwest of Thermopolis, WY.
May 2019	Hail	Thermopolis	-	A trained spotter reported penny size hail in Thermopolis.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis Arpt	-	A trained spotter reported a 67 mph when a high based shower collapsed over the spotters house.
July 2019	Hail	Thermopolis Arpt	-	There were numerous reports of quarter to ping pong ball sized hail from west of Thermopolis to Thermopolis to Hot Springs State Park in Hot Springs County, Wyoming.
July 2019	Hail	Thermopolis Arpt	-	Trained spotters reported penny sized hail from Thermopolis to 5 miles SE of Thermopolis, Wyoming.
July 2019	Flash Flood	Grass Creek	-	Flash flooding occurred with washouts on BLM road 1304 off of State Route 120 to the south of Meeteetse, Wyoming.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	-	An outflow boundary moved through Thermopolis, Wyoming and brought a 61 mph wind gust to the fire station just south of downtown Thermopolis.
July 2018	Hail	Thermopolis	-	Trained spotters reported up to quarter size hail around Thermopolis.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Dickie	-	A wind gust of 64 mph was recorded at the Grass Creek RAWS site.
May 2018	Funnel Cloud	East Thermopolis	-	Several trained spotters reported a funnel cloud to the east-southeast of Thermopolis over the Owl Creek Range.
June 2018	Funnel Cloud	Meeteetse	-	A trained spotter reported a funnel cloud 8 miles SE of Meeteetse.
June 2018	Hail	Grass Creek	-	A video showing nickel size hail was posted on Facebook along WY 431 near the Hot Springs / Washakie County line.
June 2018	Funnel Cloud	Hamilton Dome	-	Trained spotters reported a funnel cloud northwest of Thermopolis.
June 2018	Hail	Grass Creek	-	A trained spotter reported south-southeast of Meeteetse.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Kirby	-	A weather station in Kirby reported a wind gust of 63 mph.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Hamilton Dome	-	Two power poles were snapped three to four feet off the ground and a large cottonwood tree was toppled along State Highway 170 west of the junction with State Highway 120 northwest of Thermopolis. The thunderstorm outflow winds were measured at 63 mph at the Hot Springs County Airport and 74 mph at a mesonet station in Thermopolis.
August 2016	Hail	Thermopolis	-	Hail up to the size of nickels was reported in Thermopolis. Most of the hail was pea-sized and it accumulated up to an inch deep in some places.
May 2015	Flash Flood	Thermopolis	-	Heavy rain caused flooding near the town of Thermopolis. South of Thermopolis, Buffalo Creek overflowed its banks and flooded nearby low lying areas. A mobile home community experienced flooding in East Thermopolis as small creeks and streams were inundated with water.
June 2015	Hail	Rairden	-	Quarter sized hail fell near Missouri Flat Road west-northwest of Thermopolis.
June 2015	Hail	Kirby	-	Pea to nickel sized hail fell just west of Kirby.
July 2015	Hail	Grass Creek	-	Trained spotters reported quarter to golf ball sized hail just east of State Highway 120 near the Gooseberry Creek Rest Stop.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	-	Several wind gusts over 58 mph were recorded at Thermopolis with a peak speed of 67 mph. The gusts were the result of weak convection and a strong pressure gradient ahead of an approaching cold front.
June 2015	Hail	Grass Creek	-	The Hot Springs County Emergency Manager reported nickel sized hail along State Highway 431 just east of State Highway 120 toward Gooseberry Creek.
September 2014	Hail	Thermopolis	-	A long-track thunderstorm produced penny sized hail in Thermopolis.
June 2014	Tornado (EF0)	Dickie	-	A rancher north of Anchor Reservoir observed a brief tornado near Putney Flat in the Owl Creek drainage. The tornado remained over open country and did no damage.
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Dickie	-	An 80 mph wind gust was measured at the Grass Creek Divide RAWS in the foothills of the southern Absaroka Range.
June 2014	Hail	Hamilton Dome	-	Nickel sized hail was reported at a ranch along Sand Draw Road.
June 2014	Funnel Cloud	Hamilton Dome	-	Worland Fire Department personnel reported a funnel cloud in Hot Springs County that was about three-quarters of the way to the ground.
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Kirby	-	The Hot Springs County emergency manager reported a 60 mph wind gust at Kirby.
July 2013	Hail	Kirby	-	Penny to nickel sized hail was reported in Kirby.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	-	A thunderstorm formed over the Wind River Basin and moved north over the Owl Creek Mountains producing a 63 mph wind gust at an automated station on Boysen Peak.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	-	A thunderstorm formed over the Wind River Basin and moved north over the Owl Creek Mountains producing a wind gust of 62 mph at an automated station on the west side of Thermopolis.
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis Arpt	-	An individual with an automated wind sensor reported a thunderstorm wind gust of 72 mph.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	-	A strong thunderstorm produced wind gusts to 69 mph at an observation site atop Boysen Peak.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis	-	A strong thunderstorm produced a 59 mph wind gust at an automated weather station on Boysen Peak.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Dickie	-	A thunderstorm moved across the southern Absaroka Range and sent strong outflow wind southeast across the western Owl Creek Mountains. A remote weather station recorded a peak wind gust of 64 mph.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Thermopolis Arpt	-	A 73 mph wind gust was reported in association with a thunderstorm eight miles west of Thermopolis. The gust was recorded at a residence with an automated weather station.
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Dickie	-	A strong thunderstorm moved off the Absaroka Range and produced a severe wind gust of 60 mph at the Grass Creek Divide RAWS site.
August 2011	Hail	Lucerne	-	A thunderstorm moved through central Hot Springs County producing quarter sized hail.
July 2011	Hail	Grass Creek	-	A strong thunderstorm moved across the southern Absaroka mountains producing quarter sized hail at a residence in the Grass Creek drainage south of Meeteetse.
August 2011	Hail	Lucerne	-	A trained spotter reported one inch diameter hail for several minutes.
August 2010	Hail	Crosby	-	Ping pong ball sized hail fell just east of State Highway 789 near Lucerne.
August 2010	Hail	Hamilton Dome	-	The Hot Springs County emergency manager reported penny sized hail along State Highway 120 approximately 23 miles northwest of Thermopolis.
July 2009	Hail	East Thermopolis	-	Quarter sized hail fell at a ranch near Buffalo Creek Road in eastern Hot Springs County.
July 2009	Hail	Thermopolis	-	Penny sized hail was reported west of Thermopolis near Missouri Flat Road.
August 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Grass Creek	-	Estimated wind gusts of 60 mph broke several three inch diameter limbs from Cottonwood trees at a ranch along Gooseberry Creek. Also, dime sized hail accumulated to a depth of two to three inches at the ranch.

Mines and quarries

34 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 34 workings inside this county. 5 still produce and 29 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity	Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction	14
Uranium	5
Copper	3
Tungsten	2
Titanium	2
Zirconium, Thorium	2
Iron	2
Dolomite	2
Sulfur	1
Titanium-Heavy Minerals	1
Zirconium, Thorium, Iron	1
Titanium, Metal, Zirconium, Thorium, Iron	1
Gold, Silver	1
Bentonite	1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Brutch Sulphur Deposit	Sulfur	Producer	Sulfur
Cottonwood Creek	Titanium-Heavy Minerals, Zirconium, Thorium, Iron	Occurrence	1956
Lucerne Mine	Bentonite	Producer
N-Vam Mine and Mile	Calcium	Past Producer
Unknown	Copper, Gold, Silver	Occurrence
Waugh	Titanium, Metal, Zirconium, Thorium, Iron	Occurrence
Willow Creek Deposit	Gold, Silver, Copper	Occurrence	Copper, Gold, Silver
Copper Mountain Deposits	Tungsten	Occurrence	Scheelite
Durner and Keys Deposit	Tungsten	Occurrence	Scheelite
Grass Creek Deposit, southern segment	Titanium, Zirconium, Thorium, Iron	Unknown	Magnetite, Ilmenite, Anatase, Monazite, Rutile, Zircon
Grass Creek Deposits, northern segment	Titanium, Zirconium, Thorium, Iron	Unknown	Magnetite, Ilmenite, Anatase, Monazite, Rutile, Zircon
Unknown	Dolomite	Occurrence
Unknown	Dolomite	Occurrence
Mc Gowan - Le Clair Group	Copper	Occurrence
Mtn View Liberty & Orebin Claims	Copper	Occurrence
Anomaly 5	Uranium	Occurrence
Dubois Uranium Claims	Uranium	Occurrence
Grass Creek Basin	Uranium	Unknown
Unknown	Uranium	Occurrence
Unknown	Uranium	Past Producer
Andreen Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Brewer Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Brown Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Cottonwood #1	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Cottonwood #2	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Government	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Harvey	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Kelley	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Kirby Borrow Area	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Owl Creek Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Park Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Shafer	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Talovich	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Wilson Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every populated place in the county

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

East Thermopolis

Thermopolis East census division · 82443 · On Warm Springs Creek · Thermopolis quadrangle

8 sheets, 1955 to 1981
Embar

Thermopolis West census division · 82443 · Embar quadrangle

7 sheets, 1955 to 1981
Grass Creek

Thermopolis West census division · 82443 · Grass Creek quadrangle

12 sheets, 1913 to 1985
Hamilton Dome

Thermopolis West census division · 82443 · Hamilton Dome quadrangle

12 sheets, 1913 to 1985
Kirby

Thermopolis West census division · 82430 · Near Coal Draw · Kirby quadrangle

10 sheets, 1945 to 1985
Lucerne

Thermopolis West census division · 82443 · On Kirby Creek · Thermopolis quadrangle

8 sheets, 1955 to 1981
Minnesela

Thermopolis West census division · 82443 · On Red Canyon Creek · Wedding of the Waters quadrangle

8 sheets, 1955 to 1981
Nickelson Place

Thermopolis East census division · 82443 · On Antelope Creek · Devil Slide quadrangle

8 sheets, 1955 to 1981
Owl Creek

Thermopolis West census division · 82443 · Hamilton Dome quadrangle

12 sheets, 1913 to 1985
Red Lane

Thermopolis West census division · 82443 · In Red Lane Gulch · Thermopolis quadrangle

8 sheets, 1955 to 1981
Thermopolis

Thermopolis West census division · 82443 · On Warm Springs Creek · Thermopolis quadrangle

8 sheets, 1955 to 1981

Provenance

Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.