Historic trona byway recognized

Sweetwater County will be home to a historic byway recognizing the area’s trona industry.

The Trona Trail Historic Mine Byway will get recognized May 30 during a dedication ceremony at 1p.m., at Centennial Park in Green River. The byway is the latest route included in the Historic Mine and Byway Program managed by the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office. The program started in 2005 with approval from the Wyoming Legislature.

The Sweetwater County Historical Museum approached the Wyoming Monuments and Markers Advisory Committee to create the trail in 2012. So far, three mining trails have been created. The Gold Flakes to Yellowcake Historic Mine Trail focusing on South Pass City, Atlantic City and the Gas Hills Region near Jeffery City. A second trail, the Black Gold Byway, is in Natrona County while the Black Diamond Trail is in Sheridan County.

“Trona has been extremely important to the economy and culture of Sweetwater County for nearly 80 years. Trona was first discovered in Sweetwater County in 1938 and the first commercial soda ash production began in 1948,” Brie Blasi, interim director of the historical museum said.

Blasi said the area’s mines contribute to about 30 percent of global trona production. The importance of trona to Sweetwater County resulted in former Wyoming Governor Mike Sullivan christening the area “Trona Capital of the World” in 1989.

“The Sweetwater County Museum is very happy to have partnered on this important historic mine byway with the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office,” Blasi said. “It will not only be informative to visitors but it also recognizes the important role that the people in this industry have played in Sweetwater County and the state.”

The trail starts and ends at either the Granger Stage Station or at a pullout area on U.S. Highway 530.

Aside from featuring the trona mines and the important ore they extract, the byway will host information about history and geology of the area, educating visitors about Lake Geosiute and how its deposits have shaped the area.