Shirley Basin

Shirley Basin is a former uranium-mining company town in Carbon County, Wyoming, situated roughly 40 miles south of Casper. It came into existence in the 1960s when Utah Mining, a subsidiary of Utah Construction Company, began extracting uranium in the area and built out the infrastructure a workforce needed, including a store and a school.

The town's decline was set in motion by the 1979 Three Mile Island accident, which caused uranium prices to fall sharply and forced mining companies to cut back operations. Within a few years, most residents had departed, leaving Shirley Basin as a ghost town.

Visitors today are arriving at a largely emptied settlement rather than a preserved historic site. The surrounding landscape is the main draw, and the experience suits those interested in industrial history, photography, or simply the quiet atmosphere of a place that was once a functioning community and is now largely gone.