The 24-Hour Town

The 24-Hour Town. Trona Trail Historic Mine Byway. For the first 100 years of its history, Green River's population fluctuated between 2,000 and 4,000 people. Townspeople lived north of the Green River, staggered on both the north and south sides of the railroad tracks. In the 1970s, an increase in trona mining and processing resulted in new residential development south of the river. Trona miners worked then, as they do now, around the clock on several different shifts. , Side-bar on the right , The Trona Community , As nearby coal mines closed in the 1940s and 1950s, Westvaco (now FMC) began to hire coal miners at the experimental trona mine in Green River. By 1980, Green River's population had tripled. Trona companies helped to solve the resulting housing crisis. Texasgulf (now FMC Granger) spent $20 million building 235 houses, 142 apartments, a playground and a park, lighted tennis courts, and a Little League baseball field. Texasbgulf later offered their employees and the general public the chance to buy the homes. Other companies built entire neighborhoods along curvilinear streets south of the river and provided help with community development. , Side-bar on the left , Green River Ordinance , What happens when door-to-door salesmen wake shift workers? There are many unhappy people! To combat the problem, Green River passed an ordinance in 1931 that prohibited door-to-door solicitation. Following Green River's lead, many cities adopted their own ordinances. While the ordinance was revoked in 2013 after challenges by door-to-door sales companies, it helped shift workers to rest well for several decades.