As
the primary source of revenue and jobs for the
state, the extractive industries have been a part
of the Wyoming landscape since coal mines were dug
in the late 1860s providing fuel for the steam engines
of the Union Pacific railroad. This oil refinery was
constructed in 1923 by the Producers and Refiners
Corporation, or Parco for short. In keeping with the
refinery's new owner, the name of the adjacent town
was formally changed from Parco to Sinclair in 1942.
