The Beginning of Wright, a Company Town

The Beginning of Wright, a Company Town. . , "By mid-century most corporations wished to place themselves at arms length from the "company town" concept, in some cases it was neither possible nor desirable. A need existed. Many employees opposed being on the road for hours; they wanted to be housed reasonably close to their place of employment. Some corporations realized it still made economic sense to provide facilities near the mine or mill, especially in regions where winter blizzards often forced road closures. In their search for a solution they slowly came to the conclusion that short range involvement could be the answer. The company could act as a real estate developer. If they could purchase the land, plan the community, acquire the permits, build the town infrastructure, and then sell lots for houses and space for surfaces, then perhaps they could get the job done while avoiding the infamy of paternalism. (Righter, Robert W. (1985). The making of a town: Wright, Wyoming. Roberts Rinehart)." , "It would be appealing to say that while the other companies floundered and vacillated, Atlantic Richfield moved with a perfect purpose towards the creation of a new town, but such was not the case for well over a year. The Synthetic Crude Division leaders talked, both formally and informally, about their problem. They were gearing up to construct and operate massive mines and plants, employing hundreds, if not thousands, of employees in isolated regions of western Colorado and northern Wyoming. They did not want the adverse publicity that house trailers strewn across the countryside might bring, nor could they tolerate incompetent, transient employees. They wanted to attract the best worker they could, and that required an effort somewhat foreign to executives trained in mining and engineering (Righter, Robert W. (1985). The making of a town: Wright, Wyoming. Roberts Rinehart)."