WLM
the manager of leasing and
operations for Texas Company
of Houston, a rapidly expanding
oil company, when he left to
form PARCO. The company
incorporated with a capital stock
of $20 million, and “…within
a decade doubled its assets,”
Kendrick writes.
Kistler immediately looked to
Wyoming’s oil resources as his
young company grew. With the
quest for a Wyoming oil field
came the need for a place to
house its employees. PARCO
looked to the Carbon County
area, and originally planned to
locate its employees in Rawlins.
With the town’s proximity to
the Ferris, Salt
Creek and Lost
Soldier oil fields,
the community
seemed a natural
location; however,
the townspeople’s
protests created
a need for Plan
B. PARCO’s
planners moved
the community
six miles east, at
the intersection
of two major
transcontinental
transportation
routes – the Union
Pacific Railroad
and the Lincoln
Highway. Thus
Parco found its
home in the early
| design
1920s.
The formation of a company town
designed to house its employees was
not a unique concept for the time.
Nineteenth century western company
towns were commonplace, and often,
cheaply constructed communities that
failed to provide a comfortable home
for employees. Kistler and his planners
sought to buck that concept with the
development of Parco. In Kendrick’s
article, he points out that a well-built
community, while more expensive, had
tactical advantages for the company.
The comfort of its employees would
help boost company morale and
productivity; it supported a positive
public image for the company; and,
as Kendrick writes, it would “…negate
much of the antipathy directed toward
oil companies resulting from the Teapot
Dome scandal.”
Kistler hired architects and brothers
Fisher & Fisher of Denver, who set
to work professionally designing a
Spanish Colonial-inspired community.
A central community gathering point
contained the Parco Hotel, a theater,
shops, cafes, fire department, post office
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