Haunted for no apparent reason, this school is now retired but still well used by the community as a recreation and events centre. Like the town hall complex across the street to the east, the school seems to be haunted, a situation capitalized on by members of the Byron Recreation Department who have conducted
Ghost Tours of the building.
The following is an excerpt from page 462 of the book
Haunted Places: The National Directory: Ghostly Abodes, Sacred Sites, UFO Landings and Other Supernatural Locations
BYRON
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL This combination elementary and high school building has been haunted by an unidentified presence since 1952. Custodians, students, teachers; and even superintendents have reported strange happenings near the former library, which was located where the weight and wrestling room is today. Putrefying odors, intense cold spots, moving mists, disembodied footsteps, lights turning off and on, and appliances working even when they are not plugged in are just a few of the unexplainable events. The superintendent at the time, Harold Hopkinson, remembers hearing and feeling an invisible presence walk past him in the hall and head up the short stairway to the old library. Then he heard the door open and close. No one can remember a tragedy occurring at the school, and the manifestations remain unexplained.
From Google Books
Built in 1962-64 as a composite school, as the result of school consolidation, this 95,000 square foot building was, from 1983 until 2010, the high school for students from Deaver, Cowley and Byron. In 2010, further consolidation lead to the construction of a new Rocky Mountain High School in Cowley, serving students from Byron, Cowley, Frannie and Deaver and leading to the closure of this school.
After many council meetings, town meetings and much second guessing and hand wringing, the town of Byron accepted ownership of the building from Big Horn County School District #1.
In 1969 the Wyoming legislature required a general reorganization of the Wyoming School Districts to provide for improved and more equalized educational opportunities for all pupils in the state.
The District continued to maintain schools that were in existence at the time of the reorganization which included separate high schools at Deaver, Cowley, Byron and Burlington. Associated with each high school was a junior high. K – 6 elementary schools were operated in Cowley, Frannie, Byron and Burlington.
In 1983 the board consolidated the high schools in Deaver, Cowley and Byron, creating the Rocky Mountain High School which was located in Byron. Three junior highs were combined into Rocky Mountain Middle School in Deaver. K – 5 elementary schools were organized for Frannie, Cowley, and Byron.
In 2010 the new Rocky Mountain Middle/High School began operation and 6th – 12th grade students from Byron, Cowley, Frannie and Deaver now benefit from the new building on the East end of the Town of Cowley. Schools in Deaver and Byron were closed.
From Big Horn County School District #1
On March 12, 2012 the building was sold to Alex John Campos, a businessman from Duluth, GA, for $70,000. Initial plans were to open a call centre in the building, creating employment for as many as 100 persons. That has not yet come to pass. As well, part of the building was turned over to the town and is now in use as a recreation and events centre.