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The Hotel Higgins was built during Glenrock's oil boom of 1916-1917, when central Wyoming experienced unprecedented growth. Built on the site of the Deer Creek trading post and stage station, Glenrock was at the center of the oil development activity. In late 1916 the firm of Humphrey and Whiteside made a major oil discovery in the Big Muddy field west of Glenrock; other discoveries followed, in the Deer Creek and Dry Creek fields. In response to the oil boom and the influx of new citizens, John E. Higgins built the Hotel Higgins.

A contemporary newspaper account called the new Hotel Higgins ''one of the most elaborate and finely furnished hostelries in the entire Rocky Mountain region.'' The architect and builder was Edward Reavill, who constructed a 2 1/2 story, 38 room hotel. Each of the hotel's rooms was trimmed with mahogany, and was ornately furnished.

The hotel has been in continuous operation under different owners since it was opened, and has witnessed the growth of this area. As the scene of social affairs and civic meetings, even providing office space for the Glenrock city government, the hotel has been instrumental in the maturing of the town itself. The Higgins is the only early twentieth-century hotel that remains operating in Glenrock, a reminder of its ''boom town'' period.