BlockBefore

Rock Springs, Wyoming

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1908 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Rock Springs North census division. It lies in ZIP code area 82901. It stands on Killpecker Creek. The Survey maps it on the Rock Springs quadrangle. 23,526 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,388 feet above sea level.

Rock Springs within Sweetwater County

On record in Rock Springs

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 12 records

Population over time

3 figures

Rock Springs grew from 40 to 23,526 between 1870 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
187040
201023,036
202023,526+490 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

148 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 148 fires within 5 miles of Rock Springs between 1992 and 2020, burning about 183 acres in total. 14 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined60
Fireworks39
Natural14
Misuse of fire by a minor8
Equipment and vehicle use6
Recreation and ceremony6
Smoking4
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Firearms and explosives use2
Debris and open burning2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresRock Springs Field OfficePIPELINE
3 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSweetwater CountySPRINGS
26 September 2020Smokingunder an acreSweetwater CountyBELT LOOP
25 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSweetwater CountyCOLLEGE FIRE
24 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresRock Springs Field OfficeHORSE CORRAL
21 September 2017Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresSweetwater CountyMADISON DRIVE FIRE
21 September 1996Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreRock Springs Field OfficeWHITE MOUN
17 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSweetwater CountyI-80 MM107

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sweetwater County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Rock Springs: 5 past producers, 1 plant, 1 producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Phosphorus-Phosphates. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Rock Springs Phos-Acid Plant (Facility)Phosphorus-PhosphatesPlant1986
Rock Springs Phosphoric Acid PlantPhosphorus-PhosphatesProducer1987
State Highway Department Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
State Highway DeptSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
State Highway DeptSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
State Highway DeptSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
State Highway DeptSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Sweetwater County

Storms near this place

1 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rock Springs in 1 storm report in 1994: 1 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 1994Thunderstorm WindRock Springs-A peak wind of 59 knots (68 mph) was clocked at the Rock Springs Airport.

Every storm recorded in Sweetwater County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Blairtown1.8 miles13
Quealy3.5 miles13
Clearview Acres3.9 miles8
North Rock Springs5.1 miles9
Reliance5.6 miles11
Arrowhead Springs6.1 miles13
Purple Sage6.9 miles8
Kanda8.0 miles8

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Rock SpringsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q378071The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1593588. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.