Gebo

Gebo is a ghost town in Hot Springs County, Wyoming, that is now empty and shows only remnants of a former coal mining settlement. The site consists of a few remaining stone structures, scattered rusted equipment, and a maintained cemetery with readable gravestones that mark approximately 32 years of settlement between 1906 and 1938.

Gebo was founded in 1907 and grew as a coal mining town, with the first coal car loaded in August of that year marking its economic significance. The town peaked around 1929 with about 1200 residents but lost its economic foundation after the mines closed in 1938, and was eventually demolished in 1971 by federal authorities.

The name Gebo comes from Samuel W. Gebo, founder of the Owl Creek Coal Company and a Canadian businessman who arrived to start mining operations. The town once housed about 16 different nationalities including Greeks, Finns, Scots, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, and Turks, who worked together in the mines and shared customs and daily life despite their different backgrounds.

Visiting Gebo requires driving about 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of Thermopolis on dirt roads marked with numerous bullet holes in the signs, so a vehicle with good ground clearance is recommended. The cemetery is fenced and protected, but the ruins are partially collapsed and require caution when exploring the site.

Residents of Gebo faced extreme conditions: mines shut down in summer due to heat, and people fled to the hills for camping and fishing as relief. Epidemics like the 1918 influenza and 1920 diphtheria decimated the population, and visitors today still leave coins on gravestones, with quarters symbolizing close ties and pennies representing distant connections.