Description

“Wyoming’s Upper Green River Valley was settled by homesteading cattle and sheep ranchers. Distances between the homesteads were significant, and travel was challenging on the unimproved wagon roads. Small communities offering a post office, store, and school were vital to the land-locked ranchers. In the Valley’s 140-year history, approximately thirty-seven small communities existed throughout this vast area. Cora was one of these communities.

Cora has survived to the present and stands as the oldest remaining unincorporated community in Sublette County. It has survived through a move, literally, buildings and all, the Great Depression, the transition to motorized travel, two world wars, economic competition from other towns, and two attempts to close the post office by the United States Postal Service. It has survived because there has always been a dedicated property caretaker – and because there has always been a community.

In 2017, the Cora Townsite was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This was made possible by the Sublette County Historic Preservation Board who asked local historian, Ann Chambers Noble, to write the nomination. Much of that history is presented in this publication. This is about Cora, and more. It’s a great story of a typical small, rural, Wyoming community that has survived for 130 years.”
– Clint Gilchrist

President, Sublette County Historic Preservation Board “Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April, 2017 the Cora Townsite was the center for economic and civic activity for the surrounding area. More importantly it was the center for people to come together and share stories and hardships, to talk about news and current events, and to help look after one another. The story of the Cora Townsite is seen in numerous communities across the rural West.”
-Brian Beadles
Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer
Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office

Ann Chambers Noble lives in Cora with her husband, a great grandson of James M. Noble. They raised their four daughters on parts of the original family homesteads. Ann received a B.A. in history from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and an M.A. in history from the University of Utah. She is the author of several books about Wyoming history. Ann is on the Wyoming State Review Board for the National Register of Historic Places.