Keetley, UT
County:
Wasatch
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
40° 38′ 8″ N, 111° 24′ 53″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Keetley is a ghost town located in Wasatch County, Utah, United States. It began as a mining community, with a spur of the Union Pacific Railroad increasing the economic interest in the community for a short time. The village was submerged by the waters of Jordanelle Reservoir in 1995 along with Hailstone.
Remains:
The town began as a mining camp. Its first name was Camp Florence, for the first “lady” to visit the camp. It became a Pony Express station and a center for the area’s mining and lumber industries. As it grew into a town, it was renamed for Jack Keetley, a Pony Express rider and local mining supervisor.
Current Status:
Because of its proximity to Park City and the Jordanelle Reservoir, while the site of Keetley itself is now completely submerged by the reservoir, the surrounding area is today the site of new construction, bringing in large resort-style home developments such as Hideout Canyon, Todd Hollow and Deer Mountain. In 2008 the town of Hideout was incorporated in this area.
Remarks:
A large, 150-acre (61 ha) farm was established after much intense labor to clear the land of the ubiquitous rocks. While the women and children tended to chickens, pigs, and goats, the men went to work farming sugar beets. The settlement lasted until the end of World War II when two-thirds returned to their homes in California and the rest scattered to other communities in Utah.
Kelton, UT
County:
Box Elder
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
41°44’46″N 113°06’23″W
Elevation:
4,229 ft (1,289 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1869
Disestablished:
1942
Comments:
Kelton is a ghost town, just north of the Great Salt Lake, in the Park Valley area of Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The town was inhabited during the period of 1869–1942. Once an important section station on the First Transcontinental Railroad, Kelton was dependent on the railroad throughout its history. The town suffered serious setbacks in the 1880s when its busy stagecoach route to Boise, Idaho was discontinued, and in the 1900s when the Lucin Cutoff left it off the main rail line. The strongest earthquake in Utah history caused severe damage in 1934, but Kelton ceased to exist only when the rails were completely removed during World War II.
Remains:
The site was first settled under the name of Indian Creek, when the mostly-Chinese work crew of the Central Pacific Railroad arrived on April 12, 1869, less than a month before the driving of the golden spike. When the post office was established here on December 16, 1869, it was named Kelton after an early stockman. It quickly grew into a prosperous town, soon including several fine hotels, stores, homes, a whole row of saloons and gambling halls, and even a telephone exchange.
Current Status:
As late as 1937 Kelton was still an important local shipping point, and a population of 47 remained. The final death blow came suddenly, when the Southern Pacific Railroad completely dismantled the old railway line in a week, July 1–8, 1942, and contributed the hardware to the war effort. The last residents of Kelton left, taking some of the houses with them. Nothing remains but some ruins, fallen buildings and abandoned foundations, and a deteriorating cemetery. The railroad grade is still clearly visible, although many of the trestles are falling down.
Remarks:
On the morning of March 12, 1934, Kelton was hit by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Utah. At a magnitude of 6.6 and an intensity of VIII, the Hansel Valley quake and its aftershocks might have been devastating in a densely populated area, but only two people were killed. Great fissures and holes opened in the earth, muddy water gushing from them. Houses and other buildings were severely shaken, and the Kelton schoolhouse was left leaning at such a precarious angle that it had to be abandoned.
Kimberly, UT
County:
Piute
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
38°29’N 112°23’W
Elevation:
8,970 ft (2,734 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1890s
Disestablished:
1938
Comments:
Kimberly is a ghost town in the northwest corner of Piute County, Utah, United States. Located high in Mill Canyon on the side of Gold Mountain in the Tushar Mountains, Kimberly was formerly a gold mining town. Originally settled in the 1890s, it lasted until 1910. Kimberly had a minor rebirth in the 1930s, but has been uninhabited since about 1938. The town is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Ivy Baker Priest, a former United States Treasurer.
Remains:
Prospectors began to strike gold in the Gold Mountain area as early as 1888. Newton Hill located the famous Annie Laurie mines here in 1891, and Willard Snyder developed the Bald Mountain Mine. Snyder platted out a Mill Canyon townsite, which he named Snyder City. A few businesses sprang up in town, but the real growth began in 1899 when Sharon, Pennsylvania investor Peter L. Kimberly bought the Annie Laurie and other area mines. Kimberly incorporated his holdings as the Annie Laurie Consolidated Gold Mining Company, which established a gold cyanidation mill here.
Current Status:
Kimberly’s high elevation makes it inaccessible for much of the year, but many remnants of the town are still visible. The upper part of the canyon is filled with tailings. Ruins of many log and frame buildings line the lower canyon, the skeleton of the Annie Laurie mill is still standing, and a few mine buildings are largely intact.
Remarks:
For years only a few men remained at Kimberly, doing minor maintenance. Then in 1931 a new vein of ore was opened up and a smaller mill built. The company hired some 50 men to work the mine, and Kimberly was revived. The new body of gold and silver ore was mined out by 1938; Kimberly was re-abandoned. Most of the salvageable buildings were moved away by 1942. Both Piute County and the Gold Hill Mining Company claimed ownership of the old jailhouse; after staying at Kimberly for many years it was moved to Pioneer Village, now at Lagoon Amusement Park in northern Utah.
Kiz, UT
County:
Carbon
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°36’17″N 110°33’18″W
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1906
Disestablished:
1940
Comments:
Kiz is a ghost town located in arid Clark Valley, in the sparsely populated eastern part of Carbon County, Utah, United States. This agricultural settlement existed between approximately 1906 and 1940. The nearest currently inhabited town is East Carbon.
Remains:
The area was first settled in the 1890s by two successive ranchers—the first, by the name of Clark, giving his name to the valley. Each of them in turn soon abandoned his ranch, most likely due to drought conditions. In 1906 the first of the more permanent settlers arrived, Orson Dimick and John Higginson, later to be joined by Nephi Perkins and Dimick’s parents, Ephraim and Kiziah. Most of the homesteaders came in the period 1910–1916, including a successful Basque sheepherder named Gratien Etchebarne who filed the first legal claim to the land in 1916. By then there were some two dozen families living in what became Kiz.
Current Status:
Kiz did experience successful harvests some years, but water was always in short supply. In 1930 there was another severe drought, and most of the residents moved away. The school burned down in 1932, and the students started attending school in Sunnyside. By 1940 Kiz was a ghost town. The town’s cemetery and a few empty foundations are still visible.
Remarks:
The settlers were aware of the valley’s forbidding desert climate. They set about the difficult task of dry farming. Trying to save all the available water, residents dug numerous wells, and although there was no stream nearby, they built a large reservoir for irrigation. In 1921 the American Legion promoted Clark Valley as a home for World War I veterans to establish themselves, making claims of available irrigation water that never actually arrived. It is not known how many people this advertisement brought, but by 1924 there were enough children to establish a school, in a building provided by Etchebarne. The population reached its peak in 1925, and a post office was established in 1926 in George Mead’s general store. He suggested the name Kiz in honor of the first woman settler in the valley, his sister Kiziah “Aunt Kiz” Dimick.
Knightsville, UT
County:
Juab
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°57’14″N 112°06’03″W
Elevation:
6,742 ft (2,055 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1896
Disestablished:
1940
Comments:
Knightsville is a ghost town located in the East Tintic Mountains on the northern slope of Godiva Mountain, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Eureka, in the northeastern corner of Juab County in central Utah, United States. A silver mining camp, Knightsville was established and operated as a company town by local mining entrepreneur Jesse Knight. The town was inhabited from 1896 until approximately 1940.
Remains:
Jesse Knight came to the Tintic Mining District in 1896, with little money and no previous mining knowledge or experience. Against the advice of experienced geologists, he sank a mine shaft that quickly reached a rich body of ore. In response to those who had doubted, he named it the Humbug Mine. Opening about a half dozen mines in the east Tintic area, Knight became one of the region’s richest mine owners. His membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was conspicuous in an industry dominated by non-Mormons, and his successes brought him the nickname “the Mormon Mining Wizard”.
Current Status:
In 1915 the valuable ores in Knight’s mines began to run out. Some of the mines were gradually closed. Houses were moved out of Knightsville, many of them to Eureka. By 1924 only two mines were still running, and by 1940 the entire operation was closed down. The site of Knightsville was emptied. Today nothing remains but some assorted debris and the schoolhouse foundation, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Remarks:
Knight disapproved of the drunkenness and other vices of the typical mining camp lifestyle. He decided to build his own model town to house the miners near the Humbug Mine. He started Knightsville by having 20 houses built on Godiva Mountain. He soon expanded to 65 homes and two boarding houses. There were stores, churches, hotels, and a post office. But Knightsville became known as “the only mining camp in the United States without a saloon”; as the landowner Knight would not permit a saloon to operate in town.
La Plata, UT
County:
Cache
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
41°26’38″N 111°40’47″W
Elevation:
7,470 ft (2,277 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1891
Disestablished:
1894
Comments:
La Plata is a ghost town on the southern end of Cache County, Utah, United States. Located in the Bear River Mountains on a small tributary of the east fork of the Little Bear River, La Plata was a short-lived silver mining boomtown in the 1890s.
Remains:
The first ore in the area was discovered in July 1891 by a mountain shepherd, who brought a curiously dense rock to show his foreman. The foreman recognized it as silver-bearing galena and took it to be assayed in Ogden. The sample was 45% lead, with a silver concentration of 400 ounces per ton. The two quietly registered a mining claim, but the secret got out. Several more high-grade ore pockets were found, and a silver rush began. This was the first major Utah mining claim ever found north of Salt Lake City, and many northern Utahns became interested. By August 1891 more than 1000 miners had arrived, and the number soon reached 1500. Lines of cabins and stores stretched along either side of the creek, forming a town called La Plata (Spanish for “silver”). There were 60–70 buildings in all, including two stores, saloons, a bank, and a post office.
Current Status:
Today the site of La Plata is surrounded by private land, which has helped preserve a few old cabins here. Mining machinery and collapsing shafts also remain as traces of the old silver mines.
Remarks:
La Plata’s high elevation made for harsh winters, and few people stayed after the 1891 season. Only 150 inhabitants were still found in January 1892. By then the richest ore had started to run out; the highest concentrations of silver were found on or close to the surface. The return of warmer weather brought a second, smaller rush; the population was back up to 600 by July 1892.
Lark, UT
County:
Salt Lake
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
40°31’30″N 112°05’47″W
Elevation:
5,541 ft (1,689 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1866
Disestablished:
1978
Comments:
Lark is a ghost town located 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Herriman in the Oquirrh Mountains of southwest Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. Lark was the location of several copper mines.
Remains:
The discovery of gold in Bingham Canyon in 1863 brought a rush of prospectors, two of whom were named Dalton and Lark. Settlements with these names grew up around the two mining claims, but Dalton was later merged into Lark. The town of Lark was officially established January 3, 1866.
Current Status:
By 1929, Lark was a company town of the United States Smelting and Refining Company, which expanded the town through the 1940s and 1950s. At its peak, the population exceeded 800. Then the nearby non-copper mines began to close, and the town went into decline. The last silver, zinc, and lead mine closed about 1971. In 1972, Kennecott Copper bought the land, and in 1977, they announced foreclosure. The company wanted the land to dump large quantities of overburden from nearby Bingham Canyon Mine. The population was 591, and Kennecott helped move people and some homes, even preparing a subdivision in nearby Copperton. By 1978, Lark was dismantled.
Remarks:
The town had enough Latter-day Saint residents by 1918 to be made a ward, but by 1923, the ward was reduced to a branch. It had 234 members in 1930.
Latuda, UT
County:
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Remains:
Current Status:
Remarks:
Linwood, UT
County:
Daggett
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
40°59’41″N 109°38’46″W
Elevation:
6,043 ft (1,842 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1890s
Disestablished:
1950s
Comments:
Linwood was a small, unincorporated village in north-central Daggett County, Utah, United States, near the Wyoming state line. The town, located along Henrys Fork of the Green River about 5 miles east of the county seat of Manila, was first settled in the 1890s. The nearby bottomland was used for irrigated agriculture, and sheep ranches operated in the more arid lands to the north.
Remains:
A United States post office operated at Linwood from 1903 to 1958.
Current Status:
The town of Linwood was in decline by the 1920s, due to farm consolidation and road improvements, which made larger communities more easily accessible to local residents. In the late 1950s the Linwood area was purchased by the federal government as part of its land acquisition for the Flaming Gorge Reservoir project. The remaining buildings in Linwood were razed or moved, and the townsite is now inundated; no trace of the former community remains.
Remarks:
Loseeville, UT
County:
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Remains:
Current Status:
Remarks:
Low, UT
County:
Tooele
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
40°47’08″N 112°56’26″W
Elevation:
4,600 ft (1,402 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1880
Disestablished:
1955
Comments:
Low is a ghost town in northern Tooele County, Utah, United States. Low was established in 1880 as a construction and maintenance camp on a siding of the Western Pacific Railroad. The name “Low” may have derived from its location on a low pass between the Cedar Mountains to the south, and the Grassy Mountains to the north.
Remains:
The “Low Transportation Corridor” or “Low Rail Corridor” both refer to a proposed rail line to carry spent nuclear fuel from the Union Pacific mainline at the junction of Interstate 80 near the Low Interchange, to the Skull Valley Indian Reservation, across 1,593 acres (645 ha) of Bureau of Land Management land within the Skull Valley.
Current Status:
Local water was unavailable so the camp was abandoned in 1955. A scattering of ruins remain. The Low Flight Strip is an abandoned military airfield located approximately 13 miles (21 km) west of Low. Interstate 80 runs west of low, and Exit 60 is known as “Low Interchange”.
Remarks:
Lucin, UT
County:
Box Elder
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
41°20’54″N 113°54’18″W
Elevation:
4,478 ft (1,365 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
Disestablished:
1990s
Comments:
Lucin (also known as Umbria Junction) is an abandoned railroad community in Box Elder County, Utah, United States, resettled by a single owner-resident, along the western side of the Great Salt Lake, 162 miles (261 km) northwest of Salt Lake City.
Remains:
Lucin was founded in the late 19th century, about 10 miles (16 km) north of its current location, to provide a water stop for railroads to replenish their steam locomotives. The town was moved in 1903 to serve as a stop for the Lucin Cutoff. Historically, the town’s population consisted mainly of employees of the Central and Southern Pacific Railroads. In 1936 the town was abandoned, and then resettled by a group of retired railroad workers and their children. For a while, no one had lived in Lucin, until 1997 when Ivo Zdarsky, venturing aviation entrepreneur and manufacturer of the Ivoprop, a plane propeller, bought it and moved there. The area is managed for migrating songbirds and other wildlife by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The town was named for a local fossil bivalve, the Lucina subanta.
Current Status:
Except for the intermittent (more permanent since 2008) presence of Ivo, town owner and avid solitary explorer, and his IVOPROP Corp research and development activities, Lucin is a ghost town. As of 2016, the most prominent town features are a recent airplane hangar doubling as a residence and a workshop, an adjacent unpaved landing strip, along with several smaller, separate utility buildings (water, fuel, telecommunications, power).
Remarks:
A description of what remains from the old town includes a pond fed by a pipe that brings water from the nearby Pilot Range, a group of trees in an otherwise barren desert, and various everyday items left by the former residents. There are no remaining buildings, but there are root cellars and two concrete phone booths. The original grading of the railroad can be found heading northeast toward Promontory, Utah and the Golden Spike National Historic Site. The Lucin area is a popular stop for rockhounds looking for an apple- green chert-like phosphate mineral Variscite, also known as Utahlite and Lucinite. Nearby is a large artwork called the Sun Tunnels, which was created by artist Nancy Holt in 1976.
Mammoth, UT
County:
Juab
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°55’38″N 112°07’26″W
Elevation:
6,391 ft (1,948 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1870
Disestablished:
Comments:
Mammoth is a semi-ghost town in northeastern Juab County, Utah, United States about three miles south of Eureka and two miles east of Tintic Junction. The townsite lies in Mammoth Canyon on the west flank of the East Tintic Mountains about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Mammoth Peak at an elevation of 6,400 feet (2,000 m). Mammoth was founded around 1870 during the boom and bust mining cycle of the American West. The name for the town comes from the Mammoth Mine located near the area.
Remains:
The Mammoth Mine was discovered around the same time as the settlement of Eureka in February 1870. Miners rushed in and began a boomtown. The area was remote and the environment harsh; no water was to be found nearby. The mines piped in water for industrial use, but residents had to buy drinking water for ten cents a gallon. Mines in the area around Mammoth produced ore, silver, and gold. The Mammoth Mine was in production for around seventy-five years. Considered part of the Tintic Mining District, with other communities and mines in the area, the area around Mammoth played a vital role in the mining economy of the Utah Territory and later the State of Utah.
Current Status:
Today, some residents still consider Mammoth home. There is some smaller scale mining that goes on in the area today for metals. The area is also popular with ghost town enthusiasts, campers, off-road vehicle riders, and hikers. The western actor Tristram Coffin (1909–1990), star of the syndicated 26 Men television series, was born in Mammoth. The silent era actress Marion Mack (8 April 1902 – 1 May 1989), best-known for her work in the film classic The General, was born in Mammoth.
Remarks:
Activity in Mammoth peaked around 1900–1910, with a population of 2500–3000. The town had a school, four large hotels, and other businesses typical of a town its size. Mammoth was officially incorporated in 1910, but began to decline soon after. By 1930 the population was down to 750, the town having disincorporated on 29 November 1929.
Matlin, UT
County:
Box Elder
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
41°33’34″N 113°21’32″W
Elevation:
4,603 ft (1,403 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1869
Disestablished:
1904
Comments:
Matlin, Utah is a ghost town located in the western part of Box Elder County, Utah. It was established by the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) on April 5, 1869. Chinese railroad workers built a small community and facilities to support the track section. The town relied on the railroad through its entire history. In 1904 the site was abandoned when the Lucin Cutoff was finished. Records indicate that the population was 15 people in 1870 and 25 in 1876. These numbers most likely did not include Chinese residents.
Remains:
Current Status:
All that is left of the town is the profile in the rail grade of a wye built in 1900.
Remarks:
McCornick, UT
County:
Millard
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°12’56″N 112°24’30″W
Elevation:
4,747 ft (1,447 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1919
Disestablished:
1930
Comments:
McCornick is a ghost town located in Millard County, Utah, United States. Lying in Whiskey Creek Flat 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Holden, McCornick was a failed land development project that lasted from 1919 until around 1930.
Remains:
In 1918, the Sevier River Land and Water Company, after successfully promoting development in the Lynndyl area, expanded its water project southward. The company built an aqueduct from Leamington along the foothills of the Canyon Mountains to irrigate vast tracts of potentially fertile farmland. Boosters began to draw prospective settlers with sophisticated advertising and high-pressure sales pitches. Salesmen emphasized the conveniences of farming so close to Delta, with its large sugar refinery and the main line of the Union Pacific Railroad. They also spoke glowingly of the water supply, which was at the highest level the region had seen in years.
Current Status:
The turning point came in the winter of 1921–1922, the driest in many years. There followed a succession of dry years, grasshopper plagues, and dust storms. McCornick had been heavily over-promoted and supplied with sorely inadequate irrigation water. Developers had promised the ability to irrigate 200,000 acres (81,000 ha), but in 1922 found they couldn’t provide enough water for even 1,000 acres (400 ha). In fact the wet years around 1917–1921 had been an anomaly; the region was reverting to its normal desert state. In 1923 there were only 50 families left in town. By 1926 the Sevier River Land and Water Company was bankrupt, sold off to a California company, and reorganized as the Central Utah Water Company. The reorganization did nothing to keep the settlers, who continued to move away. By 1929 there were only four or five families left.
Remarks:
The next year the canal broke a second time, and some families moved away completely, but reports of the settlement’s success continued to bring new settlers. In 1920 it began to take shape as a real town. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built a chapel and organized a ward with 83 member families. A small post office was established, and the town was named for William McCornick, a Salt Lake City banker and corporate promoter of the Sevier Land and Water Company. A schoolhouse and a general store were built. McCornick’s population reached its peak of about 500 in 1921. McCornick recorded a total of 95 births and 10 deaths in its brief existence. Many of its buildings were moved to other towns; the schoolhouse was taken to Flowell in 1930. Two or three of the old houses still stand, and the land is used mostly for pasture and hay.
Mercur, UT
County:
Tooele
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
40° 19′ 15″ N, 112° 12′ 44″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Mercur is a historical hard rock mining ghost town in Tooele County, Utah, USA. In 1891, It became site of the first successful use of the cyanide process of gold extraction in the United States, the dominant metallurgy today. Its elevation from sea level is approximately 2,042 m. The nearby Mercur Gold Mine was re-opened by Barrick Gold in 1985, and is undergoing reclamation and restoration.
Remains:
The town first came into being in 1870 as Lewiston (not to be confused with the present-day city of Lewiston in Cache County), when gold was discovered at the head of the Lewiston Canyon, six miles west of present-day Cedar Fort. A small gold rush began, peaking about 1873; the population reached as high as 2000. During the mid-1870s, silver boomed, and silver mines were opened and quartz mills to process the ore were built. A million dollars worth of silver bullion was shipped down the valley, but the ore quickly gave out, and Lewiston became a ghost town by 1880.
Current Status:
In 1879, a Bavarian miner named Arie Pinedo had discovered a deposit of cinnabar in the area. The ore contained gold as well as mercury, but contemporary processes were unable to extract it. Similar discoveries were made throughout the 1880s. The ward was discontinued in 1913 because the mines had closed by then and pretty much the whole population had moved away. By 1916, there was only one building left in Mercur, and, by 1930, it was gone.
Remarks:
The currently producing Mercur Gold Mine went into production in 1985, and is operated by Barrick Mercur Gold Mines Foundation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Barrick Gold. Annual production was about $US 20 million. Mercur is known for producing specimens of the rare thallium sulfosalt mineral lorándite, TlAsS2.
Mill Fork, UT
County:
Utah
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°57’50″N 111°18’29″W
Elevation:
5,820 ft (1,774 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1877
Disestablished:
1930s
Comments:
Mill Fork is a ghost town located about 12 miles (19 km) east of Thistle in Spanish Fork Canyon in Utah County, Utah, United States. Named for its sawmills, Mill Fork was important in the development of the railroad through the canyon. The arched entrance to the small, well-tended Mill Fork Cemetery is a landmark on U.S. Route 6 between the cities of Spanish Fork and Price.
Remains:
The Utah and Pleasant Valley Railroad, a predecessor of the Denver and Rio Grande Western, was building through Spanish Fork Canyon in 1875–1879. Sometime during this period the railroad established three sawmills at Mill Fork to process railroad ties. A large water tower and a small reservoir were constructed in 1888, soon to be joined by a general store and housing for railroad employees. A helper engine was also stationed here. The population grew as high as 250.
Current Status:
Another use for the area’s abundant timber came with the creation of an extensive charcoal business in the canyon; many Mill Fork residents were employed in cutting the wood or working the kilns. The charcoal business closed down around 1890, followed by the store, and Mill Fork was in a serious decline. Most residents had left by 1900; a few homesteaders lasted until the 1930s. The 1940s saw the change to diesel locomotives. No longer needed as a water stop, and with its helper engine obsolete, the Mill Fork railway station was closed down in 1947. The railroad removed its section house in the late 1950s, leaving little besides the cemetery.
Remarks:
Miners Basin, UT
County:
Grand
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1898
Disestablished:
1908
Comments:
Miners Basin or simply Basin is a ghost town in Grand County, Utah, United States. It was inhabited from 1898 to 1908.
Remains:
Miners Basin was settled among the La Sal Mountains. Copper was discovered in the area in 1888, but a mining town was not established until 1898, when the recently established Miners Basin Mining District constructed a company town for their workers. From 1896-1905, Miners Basin had about 75-80 residents. Businesses included two saloons, a blacksmith shop, a hotel, and a post office. Copper production did not last very long; when it stopped, most residents moved to other towns.
Current Status:
There were only six or seven families left by 1908. Several buildings and some of the mines remain. Much of the area, nearly 700 acres (280 ha), is on private property. A hiking trail in the La Sal Mountains passes by Miners Basin.
Remarks:
Mohrland, UT
County:
Emery
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°26’25″N 111°00’55″W
Elevation:
7,185 ft (2,190 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1907
Disestablished:
1938
Comments:
Mohrland is a ghost town located in Emery County, Utah, United States. Lying in Cedar Creek Canyon near the Carbon County line, Mohrland was Emery County’s largest coal mining town, with a history more typical of Carbon County’s coal camps than of most Emery County communities.
Remains:
Coal mining in Cedar Creek Canyon began on a small scale sometime before 1896, producing coal mainly for local home heating use. In 1907 an investment group bought the mine and surrounding land. They incorporated as the Castle Valley Fuel Company and surveyed a townsite called Mohrland. The name was formed as an acronym from the initials of the surnames of the company’s principal investors: Mays, Orem, Heiner, and Rice.
Current Status:
The most successful years were the early 1920s, but by 1925 coal prices and profits were down. On March 1, 1925, U.S. Fuel closed down the mine without warning, leaving Mohrland’s residents without jobs and without credit at the company store. Many people had no money or food. The company reopened Mohrland just as suddenly in September 1926, and the town struggled back to its feet. In 1930 the population was 620. Coal production continued to become less profitable during the Great Depression. In 1938 U.S. Fuel announced a decision to close Mohrland and consolidate mining operations at Hiawatha, which had a slightly shorter shipping route and more room to build a new preparation plant. The buildings were sold to a salvage company for $50 each, and very little of the town was left behind.
Remarks:
Coal started shipping by April 1910, and despite Castle Valley Fuel’s financial problems, the town continued growing. A business district was soon established in Mohrland, including a hospital, company boarding house, Errol Charlestrom’s Wasatch Store, a post office, and several saloons. In 1915 ownership of the mine was transferred to the United States Fuel Company, which also ran the town of Hiawatha just to the north. By 1920 Mohrland had over 200 houses, a large amusement hall, and a school. The population was about 1000. Mohrland was a company town throughout its history; the mine owners essentially ran the town. The company worked to make it a pleasant place to live, despite its location at the edge of the desert. The streets were lined with shade trees, and a small stream ran along the canyon bottom. Mine employees’ benefits included medical services, as well as regularly scheduled dances, films, and other social events. Mohrland’s company baseball team was particularly popular and successful. In the spring of 1915, as champions of the Carbon County league, they played an exhibition game at Price against the Chicago White Sox, drawing an audience of over 10,000, but losing by a score of 17 to 1.
Mosida, UT
County:
Utah
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
40°07’38″N 111°57’24″W
Elevation:
4,557 ft (1,389 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1910
Disestablished:
1924
Comments:
Mosida is a ghost town located on the southwestern shore of Utah Lake, in Utah County, Utah, United States. The nearest inhabited town is Elberta, some 12 miles (19 km) to the south. A heavily promoted planned community in the 1910s, Mosida was ultimately a failure.
Remains:
The land was purchased from the Utah State Land Board in 1909 by a group of three men: R. E. Morrison, Joseph Simpson, and J. E. Davis. They planned to divide the land and sell it in tracts for peach orchards. They named their project Mosida, an acronym formed from the first two letters of each of their surnames. Within months they sold out to a group of promoters from Denver, Colorado who incorporated as the Mosida Fruit Lands Company.
Current Status:
Some ruins of Mosida still stand, including the foundations of the hotel and schoolhouse, and the concrete pumphouse walls.
Remarks:
Mountain Dell, UT
County:
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Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
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Mutual, UT
County:
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National, UT
County:
Carbon
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1920s
Disestablished:
1950
Comments:
National is a ghost town in Carbon County, Utah, United States. It is located along upper Gordon Creek.
Remains:
Coal was discovered in the area in 1908, but large-scale mining did not begin until the National Coal Company purchased the mines in the 1920s. All of the buildings in National were constructed of the same brick material. In 1921, the National Coal Company, together with the Gordon Creek Coal Company, built a railroad line from Helper to the mining operations. In July 1938, the National Coal Company discontinued mining operations in the area. The mine was sold under foreclosure by the end of the year. All of the mining equipment that had value was sold. Mining continued under a new owner for a short time, but the town was soon abandoned. A few foundations and deteriorating buildings remain in National.
Current Status:
National is located less than a mile from the ghost towns of Consumers and Sweet; the three towns shared a post office, school house, hospital and amusement hall. National is also only a few miles away from the ghost town of Coal City.
Remarks:
Newhouse, UT
County:
Beaver
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
38°28’52″N 113°20’31″W
Elevation:
5,151 ft (1,570 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1900
Disestablished:
1921
Comments:
Newhouse is a ghost town located on the eastern edge of the Wah Wah Valley in Beaver County, Utah, United States. A silver mining town based on the Cactus Mine on the western slopes of the San Francisco Mountains, Newhouse was smaller and quieter than Frisco, 5 miles (8.0 km) to the southeast.
Remains:
The Cactus Mine was first identified as a silver mine in 1870, one of the earliest in the San Francisco Mining District. A succession of companies over the next thirty years failed to profit from the mine. A small smelter was built here in 1892, but was never successful. Everything changed in 1900, when Samuel Newhouse bought the property. A wealthy Salt Lake City entrepreneur, Newhouse had successfully financed the development of copper mining at the Bingham Canyon Mine two years before. Finally, enough capital was available to make the Cactus Mine workable. The mining camp that formed on his land was initially known as Tent Town, for the temporary nature of its dwellings.
Current Status:
Newhouse’s success was short-lived. By 1910, the Cactus Mine was worked out, and other area mines never amounted to much. Most of the miners took their families elsewhere. Many buildings, including the well-built dance hall, were moved 30 miles (48 km) away to Milford. The cafe kept operating, serving those few miners who stayed on, until it burned down in 1921. In 1922, filmmakers came to Newhouse to make the silent film The Covered Wagon. Dozens of ruined buildings, foundations, and rubble remain at the town site.
Remarks:
Under Newhouse’s management, the silver mining business began to boom. By 1905, the town, now named Newhouse, had many permanent structures, including a restaurant, library, livery stable, hospital, stores, hotel, opera house, and dance hall. Samuel Newhouse was an experienced developer and promoter, and he kept tight control over his company town. He built over seventy stucco company houses for miners to rent. The company piped water 5 miles (8.0 km) from the Wah Wah Springs and installed an electrical generation system. A town park was irrigated with excess water left over from mining and culinary use. As owner, Newhouse named the town’s businesses, such as the Cactus Trading Company, the Cactus Club, the Cactus Dancehall, and the Cactus Cafe, after the mine. Public drunkenness was strictly forbidden, and the only saloon permitted was built a mile from town, off of Newhouse’s property. Newhouse offered a $50 prize to the first parents to have a baby in Newhouse, and he gave all the town’s children Christmas presents.
Northrop, UT
County:
Washington
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
37° 9′ 45″ N, 113° 0′ 45″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Northrop, now a ghost town, was a small, early settlement in Washington County, Utah, United States, established in 1861 by Isaac Behunin. It was located at the confluence of the North Fork and East Fork of the Virgin River. It was one of the settlements formed as part of the cotton growing colony in the County.
Remains:
Northrop was destroyed by the Great Flood of 1862 and the settlers moved to settle on some nearby land with more space for growth and above the river floods, in what is now Springdale.
Current Status:
The site of Northrop was just at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Virgin River, on the east side of the Virgin River east of Grafton. Nothing remains; the site was just beginning to be settled when it was washed away by the worst flood recorded in the Western United States.
Remarks:
Notom, UT
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Paria, UT
County:
Kane
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
37°14’54″N 111°56’57″W
Elevation:
4,747 ft (1,447 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1870
Disestablished:
1929
Comments:
Paria /p”‘ri””/, (rhymes with “Maria”) or Pahreah, is a ghost town on the Paria River in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in central Kane County, Utah, United States. It was inhabited from 1870 to 1929, and later used as a filming location.
Remains:
The area was first settled in 1865 by a Mormon group led by Peter Shirts. This early settlement was named Rockhouse, for Shirts’s strongly built sandstone house. After the end of the Black Hawk War in 1867 settlers began to arrive at a rapid pace. Farming produced good crops for several years, but irrigation was very difficult; each spring the surface runoff water was absorbed into the desert soil too quickly to properly water the fields. In 1870 the residents agreed to move the settlement. They divided in two groups; half the people went about 5 miles (8.0 km) upstream and founded the town of Pahreah.
Current Status:
After more flash flooding severely damaged the set in 1998, a team of volunteers and employees of the Bureau of Land Management disassembled the wreckage and replaced the structures in 1999–2001. New interpretive signs explained the movie set’s significance and distinguished it from Paria itself. Then in 2006 the rebuilt set was destroyed by a suspicious fire. In 2007, Paria was used as a filming location by the independent film The Attic Door. A facade of a house was built in the footprint of the previous set, then moved to the nearby town of Kanab.
Remarks:
In later years the film industry became interested in using the picturesque ghost town, with its canyon vista background, as a location for making Westerns. Several scenes for Buffalo Bill were shot here in 1943, but crews were in a constant struggle against the flooding Paria River. Producers of other movies and television programs used Paria more or less throughout the 1950s. Then in 1961 the old ghost town was used as a major location for the Rat Pack film Sergeants 3, the largest western ever filmed in Kane County. Not satisfied with what remained of Paria, the film’s creators constructed an imitation Old West town about a mile to the west. Visitors often confused this movie set with the real Paria, as it fell into disuse after the filming of The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976.
Peerless, UT
County:
Carbon
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°41’39″N 110°54’40″W
Elevation:
6,447 ft (1,965 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1916
Disestablished:
1953
Comments:
Peerless is a ghost town in Carbon County, Utah. It is located just three miles (5 km) west of Helper.
Remains:
In 1916, 440 acres (1.8 km2) of land were purchased by William and Charles Sweet. They immediately began to develop coal mining operations. In 1917, the Sweets sold the property to the Peerless Coal Company. Coal shipments began over the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1918. As the mining continued, the population grew. At its peak, the town’s population was about 300, half of which worked in the mines. The community included thirty homes, a store, a school, the mine office, a post office, and a poolhall. Coal production peaked in World War I, when 2,000 tons of coal was mined daily. In 1938, coal mining activity began to decline and people began to leave.
Current Status:
By World War II, the mine was operating very little, and only a few people remained. The mine closed in 1954, and the rest of the residents left. A few foundations and filled-in mine shafts remain.
Remarks:
Prattville, UT
County:
Sevier
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Prattville was a location in Sevier County, Utah settled under the leadership of Helaman Pratt in 1873. Pratt served as the first branch president at this location.
Remains:
Current Status:
The settlement was largely abandoned in 1878, and the LDS branch was dissolved that year.
Remarks:
Rainbow, UT
County:
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Richardson, UT
County:
Zip Code:
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Rockport, UT
County:
Summit
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
40°45’40″N 111°23’17″W
Elevation:
5,955 ft (1,815 m)
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
1860
Disestablished:
1953
Comments:
Rockport is a ghost town in a narrow part of Weber Valley at the mouth of Three Mile Canyon in Summit County, Utah, United States. Located 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Wanship, it was inhabited for nearly a century before the creation of Rockport Reservoir, which covered almost the whole townsite.
Remains:
The first European American settlers came to the area in 1860. They named their settlement Crandall, renaming it Enoch City the next year. Freezing winter temperatures and deep snow made life difficult, but the pioneers stayed, building their own gristmill in 1863. In 1866, however, when the outbreak of the Black Hawk War caused widespread fear of Ute attacks, the colony was completely evacuated to Wanship. The next year they moved back, but built a rock wall around the entire settlement for defense. This wall, 2 feet (0.61 m) thick and 8 feet (2.4 m) high, changed Enoch City’s name again, to Rock Fort. Once the Ute troubles had passed, the wall was torn down and used to construct other buildings. No longer a fort, the town received its permanent name, Rockport.
Current Status:
For many years the population of Rockport stayed over 100, but it finally declined in the 1940s. The post office and school were closed, but there were still 27 families living here in the 1950s when the government decided to construct the Wanship Dam. Despite the protests of these families and the majority of Summit County voters in a 1952 special election, the government purchased the entire valley in preparation for the construction of the dam. The lake it created, Rockport Reservoir, flooded the town. When the water level is low, old foundations and streets can sometimes be seen, but the only remnant of Rockport above the water is its little cemetery, sitting on a ridge above the lake. Some of Rockport’s historic buildings were moved to Pioneer Village, at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington.
Remarks:
In 1872 a concrete building, made with Portland cement produced in nearby Hoytsville, was erected to house the first store in town, a general store which doubled as the post office. A rock quarry was developed, producing stone for many area buildings. A good source of fuller’s earth was found in Rockport, and there was also a sawmill.
Round Valley, UT
County:
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Royal, UT
County:
Carbon
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39° 44′ 46″ N, 110° 52′ 49″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Royal is a ghost town that existed in the early 1900s as a small coal mining town in Carbon County, Utah, United States. Originally called Bear Canyon, the town was renamed Cameron, Rolapp, and finally Royal when the Royal Coal Company purchased it, changing names each time a new owner took over.
Remains:
The historian and author Helen Z. Papanikolas was born here in 1917, during which time the town was known as Cameron.
Current Status:
All that remains of Royal today are some stone walls, a couple of the mines, and a miner’s dwelling. These remnants can be seen in Price Canyon.
Remarks:
Russian Settlement, UT
County: Box Elder
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 41°43’N 113°21’W
Elevation: 4,850 ft (1,480 m)
Time Zone: Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
Established: 1914
Disestablished: 1917
Comments: Russian Settlement is a ghost town in the Park Valley area of Box Elder County, Utah, United States. It is not known what name, if any, the settlers from Russia gave to their community; it has been called “Box Elder County’s ghost town with no name.” The settlement, which lasted about 1914–1917, was formed by a group of Spiritual Christians from Russia of mixed faiths and ethnicities. The land company never provided promised facilities to make the land liveable, and the colony failed quickly. The most noticeable remnant of Russian Settlement is a cemetery with two graves.
Remains: Between 1910 and 1914, the Salt Lake City-based Pacific Land and Water Company acquired about 180,000 acres (73,000 ha) (280 sq.mi.) of property in Box Elder County to resell. This land consisted of former railroad land, the property of another company absorbed by Pacific Land and Water, and tracts purchased from ranchers. Pacific Land and Water misrepresented this arid land in advertising, describing it as “amongst the richest in the state of Utah” that “only awaits the plow to yield up its vast treasures.” Advertising described the local climate as “energizing,” and it was claimed that the heavy growth of sagebrush indicated that the land was fertile for farming. Land was sold for US$17.50 per acre, financed at 7 percent interest, with 20 percent down and the remainder paid annually over five years.
Current Status: No one has lived in the area since the Russians left. Some buildings stayed standing for many years, and the pattern of town lots was visible into the 1960s. Today, the main feature that remains is a weathered white picket fence surrounding two graves. Both headstones are in Russian. One grave is of Anna Kalpakoff, who was accidentally shot by her husband. The other is of her sister-in-law, Mary Kalpakoff, who died during childbirth. The current headstones were placed in 1966 by Mary’s son and grandson who resided near Fresno, California. There are also clearly defined foundations, caved-in wells, and various artifacts. A cowboy on horseback fell into an old well here in 1937, barely escaping with his life. A hill just to the northwest is known as Russian Knoll, in honor of the immigrants who once lived in the area.
Remarks: Repeated crop failures led to the abandonment of the town, beginning in 1915. In August 1916, the stove from the schoolhouse was sent to the Lucin school, and in September the entire school was disassembled and shipped to Promontory. By the end of 1917, Russian Settlement was a ghost town. Most of the settlers returned to the Los Angeles area. Box Elder County residents removed the buildings, moving some to new locations and salvaging the rest for materials.
