Rock Springs Coal Welcome Sign
1929-1997

On June 6, 1929, the Rock Springs Coal “Welcome” sign was lit. The Union Pacific Coal Company Employees’ Magazine reported it spanned the Lincoln Highway and was approximately 100 feet from the main line of the Union Pacific Railroad. It was reportedly the largest, arch neon sign erected in the Rocky Mountain West and “afforded convenient visibility from the passenger and Pullman car windows.” It was the first sign erected to advertise the product of an industry – COAL – upon which citizens of the area depended for their livelihood.

When the Lincoln Highway was relocated, the sign was moved nearer the log cabin Chamber of Commerce building on Bridger Avenue where it remained until Western Wyoming Community College refurbished it, changed the colors, and erected it over the entryway to the College. After that it was dismantled, and nearly destroyed, until 1994 when the Rock Springs Historical Museum Board, with assisted funding from the Wyoming Centennial Committee, restored the sign to its earlier grandeur and returned it near its original site at Railroad Park.

On September 7, 1997, the sign was rededicated by former Governor Mike Sullivan who reminded the community that “Welcome” is still a very large part of Rock Springs and Sweetwater County; and the “trend of progress” begun in 1928, when the idea for the sign originated, carries on today in welcoming progress and industry to the area.

The sign is located at Main Street and C Street in Rock Springs, Wyoming.