Teapot Rock

The eroded sandstone formation stands about {{convert|75|ft|m|round=5}} tall and is about {{convert|300|ft|m|round=5}} in circumference. It is located a few hundred yards east of Wyoming Highway 259, about {{convert|19|mi|km|round=5}} north of Casper, Wyoming in the Powder River Basin near Teapot Creek, a tributary of Salt Creek.

File:Teapot Rock postcard.jpg

The outline of the rock once resembled a teapot and gave its name to several man-made and natural features, including a geologic structural uplift known as the Teapot Dome, and an oil field about {{convert|6|mi|km|round=5}} east. 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/18/us/site-of-earlier-scandal-frets-over-faded-luster.html|title=Site of Earlier Scandal Frets Over Faded Luster|date=September 18, 1998|website=The New York Times|authorlink=James Brooke (journalist)|first=James|last=Brooke}}

In 1915, the Teapot Dome Oil Field was designated Naval Petroleum Reserve Number Three as part of a program to ensure that the U.S. Navy, which was converting to oil-fired boilers, would have sufficient fuel reserves in an emergency.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=74002028}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Teapot Rock|last=Junge|first=Mark|date=June 1974|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2009-08-07}}{{cite web|url=http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/NationalRegister/Site.aspx?ID=297|title=Teapot Rock (Dome)|publisher=Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office|accessdate=2009-08-07}} It was one of several fields in the area, the largest of which was the Salt Creek Oil Field. By comparison to the Salt Creek Field peak production of {{convert|35301608|oilbbl|m3}} in 1923, the Teapot Dome field had about 64 wells, with a few producing more than {{convert|150|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}.

In February 2015, the field was sold by the Department of Energy to a private firm.{{cite web|url=http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/final-note/moving-teapot-dome-90-plus-years-later|title=Moving on from Teapot Dome, 90-plus years later|date=February 2, 2015|first=Kai|last=Ryssdal|authorlink=Kai Ryssdal|website=Marketplace}}{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/teapot-dome-wyoming-sell-114769.html|title=Government sells Teapot Dome – on the level, this time|date=January 30, 2015|first=Alex|last=Guillén|website=Politico}}

• List of individual rocks

{{reflist}}

{{Spoken Wikipedia|Teapot_Rock.ogg|date=2019-8-16}}

• {{Citation |url={{NRHP url|id=74002028|photos=y}} |type=photographs |contribution=Teapot Rock |publisher=National Park Service |title=NRHP database |format=PDF}}
• {{Citation |url=http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/NationalRegister/Site.aspx?ID=297 |title=Teapot Rock |publisher=Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office}}
• {{Citation |url=http://wiki.wyomingplaces.org/w/page/12716496/Teapot-Rock |type=wiki |title=Wyoming places |contribution=Teapot Rock}}
• Historic American Engineering Record documentation, filed under Midwest, Natrona County, WY:
• {{HAER |survey=WY-100 |id=wy0620 |title=Teapot Dome Oilfield |photos=6 |data=42 |cap=3 |link=no}}
• {{HAER |survey=WY-100-A |id=wy0621 |title=Teapot Dome Oilfield, Tank Ring No. 2016 |photos=3 |data=14 |cap=2 |link=no}}
• {{HAER |survey=WY-100-B |id=wy0622 |title=Teapot Dome Oilfield, Mammoth Camp Sewer Facility |photos=4 |data=15 |cap=2 |link=no}}

{{NRHP in Natrona County, Wyoming}}

Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Wyoming

Category:Landforms of Natrona County, Wyoming

Category:Rock formations of Wyoming

Category:Teapot Dome scandal

Category:Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Natrona County, Wyoming

Category:Naval Petroleum Reserve

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