Standard Oil Bulk Depot, Along Burlington Northern Railroad near Burlington Avenue, Cody, Park County, WY

Significance: Built in the 1920s, when automobile travel and petroleum distribution were in their formative stages in Wyoming, the Standard Oil Company Bulk Depot forms a nexus among the historical themes of transportation, energy and commerce. The facility has functioned for more than seventy years as an intermediate stage between oil refining and gas consumption, which makes it locally significant among the state's oil-related properties. It is additionally distinguished as one of the oldest and best-preserved of the industrial sites that developed in the railyards north of Cody. The Depot is organized spatially as a series of small-scale frame shed aligned immediately south of a side track of the Burlington Northern Railroad. Positioned between the concrete pedestals for elevated fuel tanks (which have been removed), each freestanding shed is fronted with a timber loading dock. Each also has a rear loading dock facing the railroad, illustrating the depot's role as a conduit of bulk oil products from supplier to consumer. The complex is starkly utilitarian, without a hint of aesthetic landscaping or architectural site planning. In this it is typical of industrial construction throughout Wyoming.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N301
Survey number: HABS WY-149