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Tag Archives: Ghost Towns

Promontory Ghost Town Tour

18 Saturday Dec 2021

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Box Elder County, Ghost Towns, Promontory, utah

At Golden Spike National Historic Site at Promontory, Utah there has been set up a tour of the old remains of the ghost town of Promontory.

Stop 1

“Promontory is nether city nor solitude, neither camp nor settlement. It is bivouac without comfort, it is delay without rest. It is sun that scorches, and alkali dust that blinds. It is vile whiskey, vile cigars, petty gambling, and stale newspapers at twenty-give cents apiece. It would drive a morbid mind to suicide. It is thirty tents upon the Great Sahara, sans trees, sans water, sans comfort, sans everything.” – New York Tribune, Albert Richardson

An unlikely and inconvenient meeting place, Promontory, Utah Territory, eventually developed into a town. The handful of temporary establishments in 1869 gave way to more permanent services in the 1870s. This tour will guide you around the remnants of Promontory.

The next stop is the Golden Spike Hotel! Walk to the Union Pacific Siding and follow the tracks to the northwest (toward the entrance road).

Golden Spike Hotel – Stop 2

The Brown family owned and operated the Golden Spike Hotel in the 1870s and 1880s. They offered travelers a chance to dine at the last spike.

In the early 1900s the hotel became the Houghton General Store. The store sold a variety of goods including tobacco, socks, cured meat, and even wine. The building also served as a depos, post office, and boarding house.

After a roof collapse in the 1950s, the building was finally demolished in 1965. Investigate the brush in front of you to see the remaining foundation of the building. The photograph in the center was taken from the south and includes the hotel and box elder tree that still grows at the site.

Cinders and Ashes – Stop 3

To your immediate right on the north side of the tracks is a dumping area for cinders. Locomotives burned coal or wood to heat their and the fireboxes needed to be emptied of cinders regularly.

If you look a little farther north you’ll see the site of a cemetery. Look for a depression area in the soil. At least 5 graves were reported to be in this location but have vanished since Promontory was abandoned in 1942. The graves were maintained by the Whitaker family for many years.

Last Spike Site – Stop 4

This is the spot! East meets West! The photograph to the left shows the first few temporary structures of Promontory in 1869. Tents served as restaurants, saloons, and even hotels. The next stop is the Round House for the Union Pacific. Follow the road to the next sign.

Union Pacific Round House – Stop 5

Like any vehicle, locomotives need maintenance to function reliability. A round house was constructed here to perform work on locomotives. While nothing exists above ground, archaeologist discovered the brick foundations and drain pipes are just a few inches under your feet.

The 1880s photograph below was taken from the south looking north. Using the round house in the center, where would you expect to find more building foundations?

Floyd/Larson Ranch – Stop 6

Della Owens, daughter of Hans Ethelbert Larson, was born in Brigham City in 1909 and lived in Promontory. Her family raised horses, cattle, and dry-farmed in the valley.

Looking straight ahead you’ll see what is left of the ranch she grew up on, a few metal posts fencing off a cistern for the ranch house. Della was 7 years old in 1916 when the obelisk was installed at the last spike site. She would have seen it every day on her way to school.

As you walk to the last stop you’ll be retracing the steps that Della took every morning on her way to school.

School House – Stop 7

Promontory had enough children to necessitate a school being built shortly after the town was founded. The site in front of you was home to that school. After the area was designated a national monument in 1965 all existing structures were moved or demolished. The school house is currently on private property and visible from the entrance road.

Agate, Utah

15 Saturday May 2021

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Ghost Towns, Grand County, utah

The nearest better known place would be Cisco, Utah.

Sulphurdale, Utah

03 Monday May 2021

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Beaver County, Ghost Towns, Mining, Mining Towns, utah

When sulphur was discovered in the area in the 1850s south of Cove Fort a mine was established and a small town developed.

N 38.56037 W 112.58102

Newhouse, Utah

03 Monday May 2021

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Beaver County, Ghost Towns, Mining, Mining Towns, utah

Newhouse is a ghost town that was established in 1905 and named for Samuel Newhouse.

N 38.48099 W 113.34201

Adairville, Utah

31 Sunday Jan 2021

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Ghost Towns, Kane County, utah, Utah Ghost Towns

Adairville was settled in 1873 by Thomas Adair but after floods in 1883 and 1884 they gave up and moved to Paria.

St. Thomas, Nevada

15 Sunday Nov 2020

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Ghost Towns, Nevada

St. Thomas is an interesting ghost town because it was abandoned two different times. It was settled by Thomas Smith in 1865 and grew to over 500 people but six years later a new survey moved the state line and made it so St. Thomas was in Nevada – Nevada ordered the payment of back taxes which the people could not afford and they left. Others came in and took up living there but in the 1930’s the Hoover Dam was built and raised the water line to cover the town, causing it to be abandoned again. Later the waters receded and the ruins were uncovered.

Baker Mine

23 Sunday Aug 2020

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Baker Mine, Box Elder County, Ghost Towns, Mines, utah

Baker Mine in Box Elder County, Utah.

Not much is left of the old ghost town built around the iron mine, the remains of the smelter can be seen lower in the canyon.

Arago City, Utah

18 Tuesday Aug 2020

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Arago City, Beaver County, Ghost Towns, Mining, utah

Arago City is also called South Camp, not far from Shauntie in Beaver County.

Aldridge, Utah

18 Monday May 2020

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Ghost Towns, utah, Wayne County

Aldridge was settled in 1882 and by 1890 it was a pretty good community but it was abandoned by 1900 due to poor farming ground.

Shauntie, Utah

09 Saturday May 2020

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Beaver County, Ghost Towns, Mining, utah

The first mining settlement in Beaver County, Shauntie had 40+ homes, a hotel, saloons, a post office and more.

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