Mutual
1919-1954
The extreme western end was the last area to be developed in Spring Canyon in December of 1919. The Mutual Coal Company was organized and advertised the sale of stock thereby becoming the only mine in the canyon that was not privately owned. The name Mutual was chosen because it was organized as a cooperative with stockholders. Fred J. Leonard was the first president. The unusual ownership scheme promised shareholders they would receive their coal at a discount. The diversity of the shareholders grew along with the mine. As soon as weather permitted, in the spring of 1920, a tipple was built along with a surface tramway 600 feet long from the upper coal seam to the tipple. The mine had 3 seams of coal, one 8 feet thick between the other two and one 6.5 feet thick closest to the tipple.
The Mutual Mines consisted of Morton #1 opened by Thomas Lamp, the Morton #2 opened by Walter Drake and the Mutual #3 opened by Albert Shaw, in 1921 the Mutual store was built by Joe Pauagano and later sold to water and Helen Johnson. The store remained open until 1954 outliving the Mutual Mines by 16 years. Unlike the company towns in Spring Canyon and elsewhere, Mutual was different because it did not have its own school, instead sending their children to the school in Rains and it had a privately owned store, very unusual for that time.
Mutual was the last stop on the Spring Canyon Stage Line, local residents Joe & Bob Cormani, Peter Labori and Harry Eda operated the line and charged $1.50 for a round trip fare to Helper. The faire was high for the time but for many residents it was their only option. In the winter the snow was so deep that even residents who owned cars would use the stage line. The Mutual mines were closed in 1938 and the workings were taken over by the Carbon Coal Company in adjacent Rains. Miners from the nearby mines of Rains and Little Standard moved into some of the homes abandoned by the Mutual miners but as the coal boom died away after WWII so did the town of Mutual.
This historic marker is located on the Price River Parkway Gold Medal Mile in Helper, Utah and was dedicated by the Matt Warner Chapter 1900 of E Clampus Vitus on July 23, 2016 (6021)
