Substantial gold deposits found at the Carissa Mine in 1867 drew thousands to the South Pass area, and as the boom grew, the Carissa became the center of mining development and the primary economic force for South Pass City. When the gold played out and the mine’s technology reached its limit, the Carissa closed, helping bring on the gold bust and the decline of South Pass City in the 1870s. Modern mining advances and new investment allowed the Carissa to reopen in the early 1900s and sparked a renewed boom. A major modernization project during the winter of 1928-1929 added facilities that were newly built or moved to the site. The Carissa continued a pattern of opening and closing under changing owners, shifting investment, fluctuating gold prices, and new technologies until its final closure in 1949, and the State of Wyoming acquired it in 2003 as a historic site.