Teapot Rock | |
 Teapot Rock in 2017 | |
   | |
| Location | Natrona County, Wyoming,US |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Midwest, Wyoming |
| Coordinates | 43°14′0″N106°18′40″W / 43.23333°N 106.31111°W /43.23333; -106.31111 |
| Built | 1922 |
| NRHP reference No. | 74002028[1] |
| Added to NRHP | December 30, 1974 |
Teapot Rock, alsoTeapot Dome, is a distinctive sedimentaryrock formation and nearbyoil field inNatrona County, Wyoming, that became the focus of theTeapot Dome bribery scandal during the administration of PresidentWarren G. Harding. The site was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1974.[1]
The erodedsandstone formation stands about 75 feet (25 m) tall and is about 300 feet (90 m) in circumference. It is located a few hundred yards east ofWyoming Highway 259, about 19 miles (30 km) north ofCasper, Wyoming, in thePowder River Basin near Teapot Creek, a tributary of Salt Creek.[2]
The outline of the rock once resembled ateapot and gave its name to several man-made and natural features, including ageologic structural uplift known as the Teapot Dome, and an oil field about 6 miles (10 km) east.[1] Over time, the features that gave the formation its name have been eroded by windstorms; the "handle" disappeared in 1930 and the "spout" in 1962.[3]
In 1915, the Teapot Dome Oil Field was designated Naval Petroleum Reserve Number Three as part of a program to ensure that theU.S. Navy, which was converting tooil-fired boilers, would have sufficient fuel reserves in an emergency.[2][4] It was one of several fields in the area, the largest of which was theSalt Creek Oil Field. By comparison to the Salt Creek Field peak production of 35,301,608 barrels (5,612,507.2 m3) in 1923, the Teapot Dome field had about 64 wells, with a few producing more than 150 barrels per day (24 m3/d).[2]
In February 2015, the field was sold by theDepartment of Energy to a private firm.[5][6]
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