A Goshen County cornerstone

TORRINGTON – The Rock Shop. The business and its hand-painted wooden signs advertising crystals, jewelry and more are staples in Goshen County. Although it may feel like The Rock Shop has been in operation forever at the corner of Road 47 and U.S. Highway 26/85, in reality it first opened its doors 54 years ago.
“We bought the property in fall of ’62, and opened about the beginning of June ’63,” owner Dale Miller said.
The road to open the shop wasn’t an easy one – Dale and his wife, Wanda, recall tearing down other structures and recycling the material to construct
the building.
“Wanda’s sister, Lola, and her husband, Ted Schiller, were in business with us when we first started,” Dale said. The Schillers have since passed on. “We all came from South Dakota.”
Dale and Ted spent months building the shop, while also working at the Holly Sugar factory. By late spring of 1963, they were ready to call it complete.
“Ted went and dug up jade for fun, he thought we could sell that (along with other rocks),” Dale said of what prompted the couples to open The Rock Shop. “We hunted rock for several years – we dug jade in several different places.”

One such place was a mine on government land east of Riverton. Eventually, government regulations became too restricting for the hunters, and they decided to stop after about 15 years of excavations.
The Millers have sold their jade to buyers in China, and a large piece – some weighed 50 pounds – is displayed at the state museum in Cheyenne. They still have jade available at the store and keep a few of the rocks in their
personal collection.
“We go to shows and purchase a lot of the rocks (we sell),” Dale said. Denver, Colo. is a favorite destination. “We just had a few (rocks) to start with – we have quite a few now.”
The Millers also purchase rocks and trinkets from Mexico and Pakistan – but still make a percentage of jewelry in-house.
“Dale cuts and polishes the stones,” Wanda said. She used to set the stones in necklaces, earrings, etc. herself, but now an employee helps the couple.
“We gradually built (The Rock Shop) up to what it is today. It’s been a very interesting business – we meet people from all over the United States,” Wanda said.
“We’ve also met people from New Zealand and Africa,” Dale added.
The couple, both in their 80s, said they feel it’s nearly time to retire. Eventually, they hope to purchase a home either in Goshen County or back in South Dakota – currently the pair lives in a house attached to the shop.
“We didn’t know a lot about rocks at first,” Dale said. “We learned by reading books, going to shows, and talking to people about rocks.”
“It’s made us a living, and we’ve met a lot of good people,” Wanda said. “People from all over the United States come back here because they like our shop – some people tell us it’s one of the finest shops in
the country.”
The Rock Shop is open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Along with jade, it offers agate and opal jewelry, gifts, minerals and fossils. Call (307) 532-5938 for more information.