Hanna Basin Museum and Cummings/Crawford Cottage (While Family Collection taken by Bob Leathers, 2015)
Hanna, Carbon County, Wyoming
The purpose of this website is to help others connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing historical information about Wyoming's Hanna Basin.
We invite you to explore how the Hanna Basin came to be and how it touched the lives of many.
Website provided by Bob Leathers for the Hanna Basin Museum
Created August 1, 2010
Website Contact information: HannaBasinMuseum@gmail.com (Attention: Bob)
Created August 1, 2010
Website Contact information: HannaBasinMuseum@gmail.com (Attention: Bob)
Victor Anderson
1930 - 2018
Victor may not be at the museum anymore, but he will be remembered by his many friends for a long time to come. He was a friend to everyone that knew him. For years, he and Nancy served as the backbone of the Hanna Basin Museum and they, together, will leave a lasting legacy for their knowledge and professionalism.
Early Hanna Basin Settlers: Anderson, Victor and Boberg, Gabriel
Victor and Nancy Anderson at the Carbon Cemetery (Image by Bob Leathers)
Hanna Basin Historical Society and Carbon Cemetery Association
Victor was a charter board member of the Hanna Basin Historical Society initially formed in 1982 to secure a place for the snowplow locomotive. The group, with his active participation, restored the Community Hall and the Miner's Cottage and accumulated a significant archive of Carbon, Hanna, and North Country. Until his final months, Victor was participating in the construction of the new building, planning for the museum's future, and seconding every motion during meetings.
In 2002, Richard and Jeannette Fisher, Bill and Palma Jack, and Victor with wife Nancy, reestablished the Carbon Cemetery Association. The goals were to restore the original landscape, conserve the monuments, and gather and share information about the inhabitants of the cemetery town of Carbon. Along the way Victor did his share of brush grubbing, visitor guiding, and advocating for preservation. All those who shared his commitment became his friends. (Hanna Basin Historical Society and Carbon Cemetery Association)
Help!
The Hanna Basin Museum Website is searching for pictures of the abandoned Nugget and Monolith open pit mines located near Hanna and Elmo, Wyoming.
The Nugget Coal Company operated near Elmo from 1936 until 1958. The Monolith Portland Midwest Coal Company operated near Elmo from 1937 until 1969. The two mines are important pieces of the Hanna and Elmo mining history. We can not locate a picture of either mine, please help by contacting Bob at HannaBasinMuseum@gmail.com.
The Nugget Coal Company operated near Elmo from 1936 until 1958. The Monolith Portland Midwest Coal Company operated near Elmo from 1937 until 1969. The two mines are important pieces of the Hanna and Elmo mining history. We can not locate a picture of either mine, please help by contacting Bob at HannaBasinMuseum@gmail.com.
Hanna Basin Museum Director: Sarah Jones
Hanna Basin Museum and Historical Society
P.O. Box 252
502 Front Street, Hanna WY 82327
(307) 325-6465
Summer Hours: Friday - Sunday 1:00 to 5:00 PM Winter Hours: Friday 1:00 to 5:00 PM
Summer hours start with Memorial Day and end with Labor Day.
Hanna Basin Museum and Historical Society
P.O. Box 252
502 Front Street, Hanna WY 82327
(307) 325-6465
Summer Hours: Friday - Sunday 1:00 to 5:00 PM Winter Hours: Friday 1:00 to 5:00 PM
Summer hours start with Memorial Day and end with Labor Day.
The Hanna - Elmo Fire Truck is Now at the Museum.
Stop by and see it.
Hanna - Elmo Fire Truck (Image by Bob Leathers)
The March 28, 1908 Explosion of Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 Mine in Hanna killed 59 miners.
Numbers That Matter
The Hanna Basin includes the Wyoming towns of Hanna and Elmo, which still exist, and the coal camps of Carbon, Sampo and Dana, which are now ghost towns.
The Hanna Basin mines produced over 220 million tons of coal. The coal, however, came at a tremendous human cost. A staggering 371 coal miners were killed in the Hanna Basin mines while in the process of mining the coal.
The Hanna Basin mines produced coal for 144 years. Coal production started at Carbon in 1868 and ended in Carbon in 1902, which amounted to 35 years of continuous production. Hanna started coal production in 1890 and ended in 2012, for 122 continuous years of production. Carbon and Hanna overlapped production for 13 years, from 1890 to 1902.
During those years:
The Hanna Basin mines produced over 220 million tons of coal. The coal, however, came at a tremendous human cost. A staggering 371 coal miners were killed in the Hanna Basin mines while in the process of mining the coal.
The Hanna Basin mines produced coal for 144 years. Coal production started at Carbon in 1868 and ended in Carbon in 1902, which amounted to 35 years of continuous production. Hanna started coal production in 1890 and ended in 2012, for 122 continuous years of production. Carbon and Hanna overlapped production for 13 years, from 1890 to 1902.
During those years:
- 43 coal mining companies operated over 50 individual mines in the Hanna Basin between 1868 and 2017.
- 220,032,841 tons of coal were produced between 1868 and 2012 in the Hanna Basin.
- 371 men were killed mining the coal.
(Information from The Hanna Miner: At the Bottom of the Mine)
Union Pacific Railroad Engine No. 844 in Hanna (Image by Bob Leathers)
- Our goal is to honor the history of the Hanna Basin by providing detailed and accurate information.
- We welcome comments, documented corrections and additions to the content on this website.
- We also welcome any pictures, documents or information from our readers that might be helpful in our telling the Hanna Basin story.
- Individuals wishing to use images from this website must first receive permission from the Hanna Basin Museum. Please use the Contact Us page to send requests, comments and information to the museum or send an email to HannaBasinMuseum@gmail.com (Attention: Bob)