Turnerville, WY

Turnerville is a tiny Star Valley community in Lincoln County, set along the Salt River valley between the larger towns and villages that make up northern Wyoming’s long, narrow settlement corridor. The 2010 census counted 192 people, and a Star Valley community profile lists Turnerville at about 6,400 feet. That combination—small population, high valley floor, mountains and forested country around it—does most of the work in picturing the place. U.S. 89 runs the length of Star Valley, and the Salt River threads through the valley, tying Turnerville to the roads, water, ranches, and neighboring communities that make the area function as one region.

Turnerville’s local life is tied to the wider Star Valley system. Lincoln County School District 2 serves the community; younger students attend one of the valley’s elementary schools, while middle and high school students head to Afton. Ranching and hay remain part of the valley’s working background, even as residential growth, recreation, and commuting reshape the land around them. The Star Valley Conservation District includes Turnerville among its communities and tracks the practical pressures that come with that growth, from water and wildlife habitat to farmland and subdivision development. Turnerville is easy to miss if you are scanning for a large town, but it makes sense as one small piece of the valley’s farm, school, and mountain-road network.