Located just 12 miles northeast of Rock Springs off of county road 18, lies what remains of the town of Dines.
Established in 1918, in hopes of outdoing the Union Pacific Coal Company, the Colony Coal Company out of Denver, Colorado opened the mine. The town received it’s name from one of Colony Coal Company owner Tyson Dines.
At one time the town of Dines was home to approximately 150 houses, a school, pool hall, post office, boarding house for single male miners, hotel, and company buildings.
The town of Dines was comprised of two portions, North Dines, and South Dines. The North part of town is where the boarding house, business section, and homes were located. The South side of Dines had several homes, and another boarding house. The School sat on the top of the hill that divided the two sides of the camp.
Although Dines was once advertised as a model city in Sweetwater County, it never really stood up to the name due to the mining conditions and housing that were in Dines in it’s early years.
The Colony Coal Company Tipple was at one time the Largest Coal Tipple in the Southwestern Mining District at the time.
A majority of the homes contained four bedrooms, and the residents were required to do any upkeep necessary. Colony Coal Company provided paint when needed. In the early years of the camp, rent in the town of Dines was anywhere from $10 to $15 per month. Before the town obtained permanent water lines, residents had to haul water from water wells around town.
The town of Dines was very active until the early 1950’s when the need for coal dropped. Colony Coal Company eventually began to disband the town and placed the buildings up for sale. The larger company buildings sold for around $1,500 dollars. Some of the smaller buildings sold for around $350 dollars. A majority of the houses were moved to Rock Springs and Kemmerer
