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Unless you’re a huge retail buff, there’s no reason to stop in Kemmerer, Wyoming. After finishing up at Fossil Butte National Monument, I drove through this tiny town to check out a small but interesting piece of American history.
JC Penney
The humble beginnings of one of the giants of retail, JC Penney, were in Kemmerer. On April 14, 1902, the very first JC Penney store opened on the town square. It’s still open for business and an important landmark in the town.
Not too far away is the JC Penney House. It was built in 1904 and is now a museum dedicated to James Cash Penney (1875-1971). It’s open daily until 4pm. Unfortunately, both the store and museum were closed when I drove by at around 5:30pm.
Town Square
The town square is an open grass field. There’s a visitor information center and memorial to pioneers who passed through the area “to win and hold the West”. Around the square are old buildings with some shops and a bank.
History
Kemmerer was founded in 1897 by Patrick Quealy, who was vice president of the Kemmerer Coal Company. The company and town were both named after Pennsylvania coal magnate Mahlon S. Kemmerer, Quealy’s financial backer.
3 Comments
We passed through Kemmerer on our way from Jackson to Salt Lake City. I didn’t know there was all this history attached to it.
My Yiayia was born in Kemmerer on September 27th, 1926. Her father went there to build the railroad along with many other Greeks. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for commenting! I’m sure that’s quite a story – growing up in the Midwest I rarely hear about the Greeks who labored on the railroads and in the mines out west.