Derives its name from the rock formation, rising several hundred feet. The Pony Express Station is still in use south of the highway. (WPA) The coals of the Almond coal group are of poorer quality than those of the Rock Springs coal group and as they occur close to the abundant supply of high-grade coal mined at Rock Springs they have not been much exploited. The only place where they have been mined is Point of Rocks, formerly called Almond. (Guidebook of the Western United States)
Other Names:
Almond
County:
Sweetwater
Feature Category:
Manmade Features
Stories:
I lived in Thayer Junction in 1935. We lived in "half" of a RR house. The section foreman and his family lived in the north end and we lived in the south end. It was painted RR yellow. One bedroom, a kitchen, and a little sitting room. I slept in the sitting room on a cot. The foreman was Japanese (Tagutis) and had a small son my age. We were almost 5 years old. He and I played along the RR tracks. We traded in Rock Springs. Rock Springs had several Japanese store owners. Mom bought our greens and veggies at the Japanese market. The filling station at Point of Rocks had a bear pit. The men were playing baseball one Sunday afternoon and the ONLY ball ended up in the bear pit. The women whipped up some flapjacks and syrup; the threw them in one corner and while the bears were eating the flapjacks, one of the men snuck down into the pit and retrieved the baseball; the game went on. This is part of the Red Desert; man did it get cold in the winter time. (As told by Fred Barber, January 24, 2008)
More Reading:
Wyoming Recreation Commission. Development plans for Granger Stage Station, Point of Rocks Stage Station, and Piedmont charcoal kilns, 1975.
