Fourth and Birch Sts., Glenrock, Wyoming. County/parish: Converse.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places January 21, 2005. NRIS 04001548.
1 contributing building.Commerce Block is a commercial building in Glenrock, Wyoming, built in 1917 during the Wyoming oil boom of the early 20th century. The nearby Big Muddy oil field brought prosperity to Glenrock, stimulating the growth of the town's commercial district. The building was built for the Glenrock Investment Company, a consortium of local investors, by Edward R. Reavill. The building housed the Glenrock State Bank until 1934. Other businesses in the building included a bar, a billiard parlor and a drug store. The Empress Theater took a two-story space in the east wing of the block. By the late 1920s the oil boom had ended and the theater passed through several owners, closing intermittently. In 1939 it was renamed the Wyoma Theater and had a prominent marquee.
The second floor of the block was occupied by a variety of professional offices and Commerce Hall, a community meeting room. A fire in 1978 damaged the building, leaving it almost vacant into the early 21st century.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/73730292