The old Broadway Hotel (built in 1911) at Broadway and Date in Tooele, Utah (145 N Broadway Ave) stands majestic and abandoned for now, there has been talk over the years of restoring it but nothing happening yet. I love the big cool looking building.
This area was first settled beginning in 1856. In 1934, a large area of some 33 square miles, comprising the settlements of Clover, St. John, and Vernon, was incorporated into a town called Onaqui. The incorporation was essentially a bureaucratic tactic to secure federal aid for development of municipal infrastructure, including from the Rural Electrification Administration. When the people of Vernon were granted a petition to incorporate separately on 22 February 1972, the remaining town was renamed Rush Valley.
Saltair has been several resorts on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. The first was built in 1893 and designed by Richard K.A. Kletting, resting on over 2,000 posts holding it above the water. It burned down in 1925.
The replacement, Saltair II also burned down, this time in 1931.
William and Emma J. Hughes Ajax The unique two-story underground building was established in 1870. Shortly thereafter a post office called “Centre” was added. The building was 80 x 100 feet, in some places the lower floor was 20 feet below ground. The excavation was done by William Ajax using a shovel and wheelbarrow. The building’s support timbers were cut from juniper and pine trees. These trees were located in the mountains west of here where he walked to and from each day to cut the timbers. The roof was constructed of poles covered with juniper boughs, sod and clay. The store was illuminated by sunlight coming through south-facing windows in the roof. Shoppers were offered a wide variety of merchandise, food, clothing, housewares, hardware, tools and medicine. Goods were arranged in department store style. It was estimated the value of the merchandise was in excess of $70,000.
Patrons came from the mining camps, sheep and cattle ranches and the communities of Rush and Vernon Valley. Meals and lodging for travelers were provided. Their livestock was also cared for in sheds and corrals located west of the present highway. Wild grass-hay was cut in nearby meadows. It was sold to miners in Stockton, Ophir and Mercur. The coming of the railroad through Rush Valley made supplies and travel more accessible, thus ending much of the need for a store in the area. William Ajax died in 1899, his family operated the store until 1914 when they liquidated the merchandise.
The building was abandoned, and later it was burned, (perhaps railroad transients camping at the building). All that remains are the mounds of dirt just east of the monument.
This illustration depicts the living quarters where meals and lodging were provided. A portion of the underground store was under this building.
See other historic markers in the series on this page for SUP Markers.
Richville was located between Lake Point and Tooele near the former site of E. T. City. Saw, woolen, and flour mills were built nearby and subsequently names were developed: Mills, Milton, Millvale, and Milltown. For a short period of time Richville was the county seat. After the county seat was moved to Tooele and the mills shut down, the community was abandoned. Today it is Mills Junction.
The U-138 exit from I-80 leads into a brief corridor of gas stations and convenience stores and continues through present-day Lake Point and Mills Junctions, two adjacent communities whose borders essentially overlap. This corridor was an important meeting place in pioneer times.
Near here, Adobe Rock, a large outcrop at the northwest point of the Oquirrh Mountains, was a favorite pioneer rendezvous spot. Its name came from a small adobe house Captain Howard Stansbury (a U.S. surveyer of the area) had built nearby to house his herders. It was the site of many travelers’ camps and a familiar point of reference. The Donner party camped near Adobe Rock in 1846. On July 27, 1847, apostle Orson Pratt and two other men climbed to the top of the rock to get a view of the Tooele Valley. Later, when Brigham Young came to visit the settlements, this was where he was greeted.
Mormon Pioneers quickly took advantage of mountain streams in the area to power their gristmills. The mills were eventually closed, and by 1889 the town of Mills Junction was abandoned. The Benson mill, constructed in 1854 by the grandfather of Ezra Taft Benson, and LDS apostle and two-term secretary of agriculture under President Eisenhower who later became LDS Church president, has been restored and operates as a museum. The mill is open from April through October.(*)
Ophir is a small mining town, named for the nearby canyon and mining district, where gold was discovered in the 1860s. The mining district was named for the biblical Ophir, from where King Solomon brought back gold to Israel. The population was 23 at the 2000 census, a decrease of two from the 1990 figure of 25.
LOOKOUT POINT Look north, see trees that mark site of TOD PARK, which was home for civilian employees of Army Depot (1943-1960). Look northwest, see the 10,000 acres of Tooele Army Depot ammunition storage, warehouses, mainenance shops and administration buildings. Look west, see the water mark on South Mountain made by Old Lake Bonneville at the 5200 foot level. Look south, see the geologic wonder of Stockton Bar which was created by wave action of Old Lake Bonneville. Look down west, see the trees that mark the site of the Ghost Town of Bauer (private property), the Honerine Tunnel adit, and the terminix of the old Utah Nevada Western Railroad (1885-1905). Look east in gully, see Soldier Bridge on old road built by Steptoe’s Army in 1854. Look northeast, see bench across Silcox Canyon which was created by an earthquake that happened before the last Ice Age. Glaciers cut through the bench and created a wide flat bottom canyon.
See other historic markers in the series on this page for SUP Markers.