Little America

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Little America

The Little America is a hotel and place of interest 9 miles West of Green River on Interstate 80 in Western Wyoming.

The founding myth of Little America is that the original owner of Little America was caught in a Wyoming blizzard outside Green River. During the blizzard, he decided to build a guesthouse on the site so others wouldn't suffer his fate.

The founder named the hotel Little America after the exploration base built by Richard Byrd on the Ross Ice Sheet off Antartica. Little America chose the penguin as a symbol of standing against the elements.

This firt stop had 12 guest rooms, 2 gas pumps, and a 24 seat café.

By October 1952, the Little America hotel and restaurant was struggling. It was purchased by a young entrepreneur named Earl Holding. Mr. Holding worked tirelessly to make Little America a stop for transcontintental travelers. The hotel expanded to Cheyenne in 1965.

In 1967, Earl Holding purchased and reopened an oil refinery in Casper to provide fuel for his truck stops. In 1976, Mr. Holding purchased the Sinclair Oil assets from ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Corporation).

Anyway, while there are many stories of massive oil giants buying gas stations, Little America's story is one of truck stop buying a large oil firm.

As for the original Little America (Byrd's exploration base in Antartica area), It floated away in 1987 when iceberg B9 calved away.

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Context: Towns