Miners Basin | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
State | Utah |
County | Grand |
Founded | 1898 |
Abandoned | 1908 |
Named for | Miners Basin Mining District |
Miners Basin, or simply Basin, is a ghost town in Grand County, Utah, United States. It was inhabited from 1898 to 1908.
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 to 1905, Miners Basin had about 75-80 residents. [1] Businesses included two saloons, a blacksmith shop, a hotel, and a post office. [1] [2] Copper production did not last very long; when it stopped, most residents moved to other towns. There were only six or seven families left by 1908. [1] Several buildings and some of the mines remain. Much of the area, nearly 700 acres (280 ha), is on private property.[ citation needed ] A hiking trail in the La Sal Mountains passes by Miners Basin. [3]
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. 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.
Bingham Canyon was a city formerly located in southwestern Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, in a narrow canyon on the eastern face of the Oquirrh Mountains. The Bingham Canyon area boomed during the first years of the twentieth century, as rich copper deposits in the canyon began to be developed, and at its peak the city had approximately 15,000 residents. The success of the local mines eventually proved to be the town's undoing, however: by the mid-twentieth century, the huge open-pit Bingham Canyon Mine began encroaching on the land of the community, causing residents to relocate. By the 1970s, almost the entirety of the town had been devoured by the mine, and the few remaining residents voted to disincorporate and abandon the community. No trace of Bingham Canyon remains today.
Frisco is a ghost town in Beaver County, Utah, United States. It was an active mining camp from 1879 to 1929. At its peak in 1885, Frisco was a thriving town of 6,000 people.
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 approximately 1938. The town is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Ivy Baker Priest, a former United States Treasurer.
Mammoth is an unincorporated community and semi-ghost town in northeastern Juab County, Utah, United States.
Scranton is a ghost town in Tooele County, Utah, United States. Located in Barlow Canyon near the Juab County line, it was a short-lived mining town. Scranton has been uninhabited for over a century, but some of its structures have survived relatively intact.
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.
Connellsville is a ghost town located high in the mountains of Coal Canyon, near the head of Huntington Canyon in the northwestern corner of Emery County, Utah, United States. A coal mining and coke manufacturing center, Connellsville was the first settlement in what is now Emery County, inhabited from 1874 to 1878. The town now lies beneath the waters of Electric Lake.
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.
Castleton is a ghost town in the Castle Valley in southeastern Grand County, Utah, United States.
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.
Grass Creek is a ghost town in Summit County, Utah, United States. Lying some 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Coalville, it was once an important coal mining town. Grass Creek was inhabited circa 1860–1940.
Silver City is a ghost town located at the mouth of Dragon Canyon on the west flank of the East Tintic Mountains in northeast Juab County in central Utah, United States. It was a silver mining town approximately 90 miles (140 km) south-southwest of Salt Lake City. This area was considered part of the Tintic Mining District and also produced bismuth, copper, gold, and lead. Settlement began with the first mining strikes here in 1869. Silver City was inhabited until 1930, after the mines played out. Jesse Knight, known as the "Mormon Wizard" for his ability to find ore easily, decided to build a smelter in Silver City because it had the flattest ground in all of the Tintic Mining District. Silver City had several mines in 1890, but the mines hit water and were abandoned. Now there is little left other than a few holes where mines were, and a number of tailings piles. The Silver City Cemetery, however, survives and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
Coal City is a ghost town in Carbon County, Utah, United States. Established in 1885, Coal City was initially a farming community until coal was discovered in the area. Small-scale mining began to take place, and because the mining operations were a mile or two away from the mines at National and Consumers, it was assumed that the citizens of the town would lack workplace stress. Coal production began to decline in 1935, and the town was essentially abandoned with just two residences occupied by the late 1960s.
Winter Quarters is a ghost town in Carbon County, Utah, United States. Coal was discovered in the area in 1875, and later that year, the Pleasant Valley Coal Company began coal mining operations. A group of coal miners were delayed during an early winter storm in 1877, which led to the town's name of Winter Quarters. On May 1, 1900, an explosion in the Winter Quarters Number Four mine killed 200 miners. Despite the mine explosion, the coal mining operations remained active until 1922, when the opening of a new mine in Castle Gate caused many people to relocate there. By 1930, Winter Quarters was abandoned.
Silver Reef is a ghost town in Washington County, Utah, United States, about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of St. George and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Leeds. Silver Reef was established after John Kemple, a prospector from Nevada, discovered a vein of silver in a sandstone formation in 1866. At first, geologists were uncertain about Kemple's find because silver is not usually found in sandstone. In 1875, two bankers from Salt Lake City sent William Barbee to the site to stake mining claims. He staked 21 claims, and an influx of miners came to work Barbee's claims and to stake their own. To accommodate the miners, Barbee established a town called Bonanza City. Property values there were high, so several miners settled on a ridge to the north of it and named their settlement Rockpile. The town was renamed Silver Reef after silver mines in nearby Pioche closed and businessmen arrived.
Dragon is a ghost town in Uintah County, at the extreme eastern edge of Utah, United States. Founded in about 1888 as a Gilsonite mining camp, Dragon boomed in the first decade of the 20th century as the end-of-line town for the Uintah Railway. Although it declined when the terminus moved farther north in 1911, Dragon survived as the largest of the Gilsonite towns. It was abandoned after its mining operations stopped in 1938 and the Uintah Railway went out of business in 1939.
Victor is a ghost town in Castle Valley in northern Emery County, Utah, United States.