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Reliance School and GymnasiumReliance School and Gymnasium · Photo: Realwyo · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Reliance

Reliance’s post office opened in 1910, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Reliance was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listings are the Reliance School and Gymnasium and the Reliance Tipple. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1908 on.

1910first post office
2on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Reliance’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Reliance began

When was Reliance founded?

1910

The Reliance post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 622116 years
Founding year: the first Reliance post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Reliance’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19083 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1968. Watch Reliance change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1914–1946.
★ What stands out · On the map

Reliance on the map, 1908 to 1968

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Reliance. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Reliance on the 1908 USGS mapReliance on the 1910 USGS mapReliance on the 1968 USGS map1908Rock Springs sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Reliance.

By decade

Reliance, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s12 items
Store in1914Store inBedroom in home of Ben Baker, miner, living in company housing project. Union Pacific Coal Company, Reliance Mine... - …1946Bedroom in home of Ben Baker, miner, living in compan…Box car made into home for miner. This is part of company housing project. Union Pacific Coal Company, Reliance Mine...…1946Box car made into home for miner. This is part of com…Changing shifts. Morning shift is being brought up on cars from underground. Miners of the afternoon shift are... - NAR…1946Changing shifts. Morning shift is being brought up on…Child of miner swinging on box car home of company housing project. Union Pacific Coal Company, Reliance Mine... - NARA…1946Child of miner swinging on box car home of company ho…Children of miner living in company housing project. Note the homemade baby buggy made of a powder box. Union Pacific..…1946Children of miner living in company housing project. …J. M. Hawkins (left) former pharmacists mate in the U.S. Navy and Wm. Smith, former Marine, read notice on the... - NAR…1946J. M. Hawkins (left) former pharmacists mate in the U…J. M. Hawkins, Former Pharmacist's Mate in the U.S. Navy and William Smith, Former Marine, Read Notice on the Bulletin …1946J. M. Hawkins, Former Pharmacist's Mate in the U.S. N…Living room in home of Ben Baker, miner, living in company housing project. Union Pacific Coal Company, Reliance... - N…1946Living room in home of Ben Baker, miner, living in co…Miners Changing Clothes in Wash and Change House1946Miners Changing Clothes in Wash and Change HouseMiners changing clothes in wash and change house. Union Pacific Coal Company, Reliance Mine, Reliance, Sweetwater Count…1946Miners changing clothes in wash and change house. Uni…Miners from the morning shift walk to the mine office from shuttle cars at end of their shift. Union Pacific Coal... - …1946Miners from the morning shift walk to the mine office…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story so far

Reliance, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Reliance yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Reliance is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 714 at the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 714 to 622 (-13%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Reliance, 1908 to 1946

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1910Post officeThe Reliance post office opens
  4. 1914In the archiveStore in
  5. 1946In the archiveBedroom in home of Ben Baker, miner, living in company housing project. Union Pacific Coa…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Store in
Retake this viewStore in, 1914

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Reliance’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Reliance

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Reliance School and Gymnasium
Reliance School and GymnasiumReliance Tipple
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Collegiate Gothic1
Industrial1
Reliance School and GymnasiumCollegiate Gothic
Reliance TippleIndustrial

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Reliance

Nobody well known was born in Reliance itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Paul GosarAmerican politician · b. 1958
Mickey DanielsAmerican actor · b. 1914
Edward D. CrippaAmerican politician · b. 1899
Teno RoncalioAmerican politician · b. 1916
Boyd DowlerAmerican football player · b. 1937
Curt GowdyAmerican sportscaster · b. 1919
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Reliance’s post office has been open since 1910.

Gone or out of use
Reliance Number Eleven MinemineReliance Number Five MinemineReliance Number One A MinemineReliance Number One B MinemineReliance Number Seven MinemineReliance Pit Number Three AmineReliance Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Reliance’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStore in: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Reliance’s history

What year was Reliance founded?

The Reliance post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Reliance?

Two places: the Reliance School and Gymnasium (listed 1988) and the Reliance Tipple (1991).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.