Diamonds from Coal

Carbon County offers a lot of different looks for visitors.

Rawlins is a stopping point for many tourists on their way to Yellowstone in the summer. It has the Old State Pen that has recorded 14,000 visitors in a year. Many hotels abound, making the town a resting point along the I-80 corridor for travelers.

The number of visitors decreased in late spring and early summer most likely due to the closure of Yellowstone.

In 2021 lodging tax received was $45,712 versus this year at $30,126. Although this year took a hit, it is still better than 2020's collection of $13,113 during the highpoint of the pandemic protocols.

Carbon County fared well, collecting $32,416 this year compared to $27,277 last year. Saratoga also saw increased collections this year from the year before. This year the lodging tax collected was $4,024. In 2021, it was $3,176.

Hanna is a town that has no motels and for years did not have any lodging tax collection. The money currently being collected is coming from recreational vehicles (RVs) which have contributed more money this past month than Medicine Bow and Elk Mountain.

The town of Hanna is being rediscovered. The coal mining museum has exhibits featuring railroad and ranching artifacts. The largest building in town, the Hanna Recreation Center, was built by Arch, a coal mining company. 

In 1982, the town was in a boom cycle. Arch decided that in order to attract miners from all over the country, a first class Recreation Center was needed. They put in two racquetball courts, a huge gym, a weight room and a pool that is close to olympic size. The pool only has six lanes for competitions versus the required eight.

On July 12, a film crew came to northern Carbon County at the behest of Hermann Global, a strategic tourism marketing company based in Wyoming. The company highlights places that are not very well known to national and international visitors on their online platform, Visit USA Parks.

This content platform is designed to increase awareness for small and mid-size destinations along USA national park road trip routes.

HermannGlobal was hired by the Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) to come to the north county to discover what it had to offer and showcase to their Visit USA Parks visitors.

"We have partnered with CCVC for a handful of years now to create exciting and inspirational content about different pockets of Carbon County as a destination," Casey Adams coordinator from HermannGlobal said. "This trip we have come to check out northern Carbon County and show off some of the gems people are definitely missing when they fly on by on I 80. We expose travelers to cool experiences and help the area benefit from the influx of more visitors."

The group consisted of Adams, a cameraman and two talent (actors). 

After going to Turpin Reservoir, in the morning, the four came to Hanna. They visited the Hanna Basin Museum first.

The camera followed the actors as they toured the old Community Hall, the main building for exhibits. All four became fascinated with the different artifacts that came from turn-of-the-century coal mining. They learned about the tragic mining disasters that occurred in 1903 and 1908 which killed over 230 men combined.

The leather cap which had a small kerosine kettle lamp on top astounded all. There are pictures of the miners with the lit kettles which made them realize how hard and dangerous mining was when the West was being opened up by the railroad and coal mining.

The group went into the Miner's Cottage and the actors were filmed going throughout the home that has a feeling of a home would in Hanna during the 1930s.

After leaving the Hanna Basin Museum, the group went over to the Hanna Recreation Center. They visited Veterans Park and saw a train engine which has a wind blower in the front of the engine to keep the snow clear. There are only a few of these left in the country.

The group from HermannGlobal was surprised to see a howitzer and some footage of the military equipment was shot.

When all went into the recreation center, none were prepared for its size and what it offered. They listened to how coal built the center and were invited to see the massive coal burning furnaces which once heated the building and pool. 

The tour gave them perspective in regards to how essential coal was to the town when Hanna was one of the largest coal producing municipalities in the country.

"It has really been cool to see all the different historic elements of this area that are tucked away from most travelers," Sydney Rassmussen, one of the talents, said.  "You can see the community really cares about its history. Going through the museum and seeing all the artifacts that have come totally from this area makes me excited to learn more about a culture I really just didn't know."

S. Rassmussen also liked the high desert around Hanna. "When you slow down, when driving through the area, you realize there is so much happening that you would have missed if you just went 80 miles per hour down the highway," she  said. "I see the Hanna Recreation Center being an oasis for travelers coming from the Midwest, the West Coast or the East Coast driving along I-80 being in the car with their families. Having a place they can access where they can swim, stretch their legs and get exercise. It just seems like the center is a whole package just asking people to come seek that reprieve from a long day on the road."

Wolf Johnson, who was the other talent, agreed with S. Rassmussen about how much touring the northern part of the county gave him a new perspective.

"I go to college in Laramie and have driven by the exit of Elk Mountain and through Carbon County for years now," Johnson said. "To have finally come and stopped, and checked out this area of the county, has completely changed what I thought I knew. Coming through this part has taught me a lot about history. It has taught me that not only does coal under pressure turn into a diamond, but a community under the pressure of history turns out to be a gem. Hanna is so interesting with its mining history and all the diversity of the people who have lived here over the years."

The Hanna Recreation Center impressed Johnson. "I am not just saying this because I am in Carbon County; this is probably the best Recreation Center for the price, that I have ever been," he said. "I know for a fact I am coming back here and bringing peopl. This community and what it offers is what you want to show friends. My friends and I always go to Saratoga and now I can't wait to bring them to the north of Carbon County."

Wyoming filmmaker Kirk Rassmussen, husband of Sydney, found Hanna interesting. "I have never heard of Hanna and I live down the road in Lander," he said. "I find myself thinking about the dollhouse that was in the museum because it reminded me of things you can see on the outside, but once you open it up, you find out things are more intricate than just taking what you see on the outside."

K. Rasmussen found the Hanna landscape and town refreshing from what is usually considered Wyoming country. "We are so inundated with the imagery of mountains, moose and the classic idea of what Wyoming or the West is, but honestly, looking from the parking lot of the Rec Center over to Elk Mountain and seeing the stark beauty that has this uniqueness that is not what is normally on a postcard. You can see absolutely everything around you," he said. "I think there is value to this that people overlook. There is a huge difference between desolation and vast beauty."

To the locals of northern Carbon County, most know exactly what K. Rassmussen is talking about.