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Wamsutter, Wyoming
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Wamsutter, Wyoming
![Wamsutter, Wyoming Wamsutter, Wyoming](../../../dimages/wyoming/places/sweetwater-county/wamsutter01v.gif)
Wamsutter has the distinction of being the largest settlement in the Great Divide Basin. This area is also known as the Red Desert. It's famous for continually being in a boom-and-bust cycle since the railroad built a section point here, beginning in 1868. Since then, the cycle has been fed by booms in desert sheep ranching, wild horse round-ups (specifically for the big pet food companies), uranium mining and now oil and natural gas.
When the railroads changed over to diesel locomotives, the Union Pacific pulled all their people and equipment out (the train depot was actually wiped out in a large train derailment - something that happens often in the Wamsutter area).
Sheep ranching fell off in the face of foreign competition and the development of synthetic fibers to replace wool. Federal laws shutting off the slaughterhouses ended the wild horse round-ups. The Three Mile Island disaster in Pennsylvania ended the uranium mining.
Oil and gas operations come and go, depending on the markets. All of this up and down has left a rather unsightly settlement... 98% of the housing in Wamsutter is mobile homes, or what's left of mobile homes. I last passed through Wamsutter on Labor Day in 2008. I stopped at a truck stop for fuel and asked the attendant "Is there anything more to Wamsutter than what I see?" His response: "What you see is more than there is..."
Latitude: 41.6708°N
Longitude: 107.9774°W
Founded: 1868; Incorporated: 1914
Elevation: 6,772'
Education:
High School or Higher: 75.8%
Bachelor's Degree or Higher: 10.7%
2011 Cost of Living Index for Wamsutter: 77.4
Median Resident Age: 33.3 Years
Estimated Median Household Income: $67,400
Estimated Median Home Value: $153,600
Population Density: 208 People per Square Mile
Major Industries:
Mining, Lodging & Food Services, Transportation Services, Educational Services, Construction, Waste Management Services, Finance & Insurance Services, Government
Unemployed (March 2011): 5.6%
Population Demographics: 2010
Total Population | 451 |
Males | 262 |
Females | 189 |
Population by Age | |
Under 18 | 116 |
18 & over | 335 |
20-24 | 21 |
25-34 | 64 |
35-49 | 110 |
50-64 | 104 |
65 & over | 27 |
Population by Ethnicity | |
Hispanic or Latino | 89 |
Non Hispanic or Latino | 362 |
Population by Race | |
White | 373 |
African-American | 3 |
Asian | 0 |
Native American | 13 |
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0 |
Other | 50 |
Two or more | 12 |
Superior - Sweetwater County
Flaming Gorge-Green River Basin Scenic Byway - Seedskadee NWR
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area