2026 Preserve Wyoming Awards Honor Historic Preservation Efforts Across the State
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- Category: News
- Published: Wednesday, 07 October 2026 15:57
CASPER, Wyo. – Oct. 7, 2026 – The Preserve Wyoming Award recognizes individuals, businesses, and organizations that have made significant contributions to historic preservation in Wyoming. Three Preserve Wyoming Awards were presented in 2026 to Thomas Tisthammer, founder of Wattle and Daub Contractors; Mary Kelley, founder of the Gillette Historic Preservation Commission; and GROWYo, LLC, for restoring the historic Tomahawk Hotel in Green River.
Thomas Tisthammer was nominated by Andrea Graham, the Wyoming Frontier Prison, the Arapaho Ranch Field Station, and Old School Heritage Solutions. The nomination recognized his decades of work and commitment to preserving Wyoming’s historic buildings and cultural landscapes. He has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to historic preservation through meticulous restoration work and thoughtful adaptive reuse of historic structures.
Tisthammer founded Wattle and Daub Contractors in Torrington, Wyoming, in 1978. The company’s project management and construction activities focus exclusively on historic building preservation, restoration, and construction. Tisthammer has worked on numerous projects throughout Wyoming, including the Wyoming Frontier Prison, Arapaho Ranch Field Station, Fort Caspar, Wyoming State Capitol, and Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site.
Mary Kelley was nominated by the Gillette Historic Preservation Commission and Campbell County Rockpile Museum. Kelley has driven historic preservation efforts in Gillette and Campbell County and is a dedicated advocate for history and culture in her community.
Kelley researched and wrote the National Register of Historic Places nomination for Gillette’s 1935 U.S. Post Office, the city’s first property listed on the National Register. She was also instrumental in creating the Gillette Historic Preservation Commission in 2015. In 2021, under Kelley’s leadership, the commission successfully nominated the Historic Gillette Avenue District to the National Register.
Kelley has also been a longtime member and officer of the Campbell County Historical Society and has helped develop educational programming, walking tours and research about the local area. She has led numerous historic walking tours of Gillette for local school groups and has written and published three books about Campbell County history in partnership with the Rockpile Museum.
GROWYo, LLC was nominated by Green River Mayor Pete Rust and the Sweetwater County Historical Museum. GROWYo recently completed the restoration of the historic Tomahawk Hotel in downtown Green River. The GROWYo team includes Marty Carollo, Darren Clevenger, Amy Stone, and Joshua Stone.
The historic Tomahawk Hotel opened in 1921 in downtown Green River and operated as a hotel until the 1980s. When GROWYo purchased the Tomahawk Hotel from Green River Futures in 2017, the building required extensive restoration. Throughout the project, GROWYo prioritized preservation and reused original materials whenever possible.
Today, the historic Tomahawk houses multiple commercial storefronts, including a brewery, pet spa, artist marketplace, and law office, as well as residential suite rentals, office spaces, and conference rooms.
In July 2026, a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrated the grand opening of the restored building, drawing more than 500 attendees. GROWYo considers the Tomahawk Hotel the “heartbeat of downtown” and its restoration an opportunity to help revitalize downtown Green River and its businesses.
The Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office was pleased to recognize this year’s recipients during the Preserve Wyoming Conference and celebrate their contributions to historic preservation across the state. Sara Sheen, Deputy Director of the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources and State Historic Preservation Officer, presented the 2026 awards.
For more information about the Preserve Wyoming Awards and Preserve Wyoming Conference, contact Katie Leeper with the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office or visit WyoSHPO.wyo.gov.
Figure 1: The Preserve Wyoming Award recognizes individuals, businesses, and organizations that have made significant contributions to historic preservation in Wyoming. Figure 2: Thomas Tisthammer (left) was nominated for a lifetime achievement award for his decades-long work and commitment to preserving Wyoming’s historic buildings and cultural landscapes. Figure 3: Mary Kelley (middle), pictured with Sara Sheen (left) and Brian Beadles (right), was nominated by the Gillette Historic Preservation Commission and Campbell County Rockpile Museum for her dedication to historic preservation and advocacy for history and culture in her community. Figure 4: GROWYo, LLC was nominated by Green River Mayor Pete Rust and the Sweetwater County Historical Museum for its recent restoration of the historic Tomahawk Hotel in downtown Green River. Photos courtesy of Wyoming Out Loud.
Contact:
Katie Leeper, Certified Local Government Coordinator
Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
(307) 777-7566 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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