Campbell County Rockpile Museum
A portion of the CB&Q Railroad exhibition at the Rockpile Museum
The Campbell County Rockpile Museum in Gillette, Wyoming was founded in 1974 on a very simple principle; the first board called for a museum “to house and preserve articles of historic and archaeologic significance, not only for the present generation, but for future ones.” That is what the Rockpile Museum has done for the past 49 years and will continue to do for the next half century. Today the museum’s mission remains the same. Collect, preserve, and educate while telling the story of the Powder River Basin. The first part of our mission is to collect. The Rockpile Museum houses an extensive collection of three-dimensional objects, photos, documents, and books. The second part of our mission is to preserve. For us, this means not only the preservation of our collections, but the preservation of this region’s history as well. The third part of our mission is to educate. This is the task we spend most of our time and financial resources on. We educate the public through exhibitions, interpretive programs, lectures, publications, social media, online content, tours, and so many other ways. The exhibition program at the Rockpile Museum features semi-permanent exhibits, large temporary in-house creations, small case exhibits, poster exhibits, traveling exhibits, and pop-up exhibits. New displays are constantly in the works and we strive to make sure there is something new for guests each and every time they visit. In addition to all of these great exhibits, the museum staff and volunteers implement a wide variety of educational programs each year. Our two full-time educators work hard to provide opportunities for every guest from pre-schoolers to senior citizens and everyone in-between. We have ongoing regular programs for school groups, families, and senior citizens. Visit the Rockpile Museum at 900 W. 2nd Street in Gillette, Wyoming.