Navy Saloon - 426 South Main Street

The first bank in town, Sweetwater Country Bank, opened here in 1887. Senior bank employees in Laramie turned down the “opportunity” of opening a bank in Rock Springs after visiting and reporting that Chinese miners were, “too numerous and white men too few.”

Young Augustine Kendall took the opportunity, however, and leased this building. It had previously housed a butcher shop and was, “permeated with the ineradicable odor of the four legged variety of stock.” After a year, Kendall moved to better facilities down the block. The Navy Saloon was here in the early 1900’s. In the mid 1920’s, the building was bricked and a third story added, becoming the Yellowstone Hotel. The Plaza Hotel was here in the 1930’s with a Montgomery Ward store on the first floor.