Castle Gate, Utah
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Castle Gate | |
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Castle Gate Castle Gate is located in Utah | |
Coordinates: 39°43′40″N 110°52′03″W / 39.72778°N 110.86750°WCoordinates: 39°43′40″N 110°52′03″W / 39.72778°N 110.86750°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Utah |
County | Carbon |
Founded | 1886 |
Abandoned | 1974 |
Named for | Rock formation resembling the gate of a castle |
Elevation | 6,152 ft (1,875 m) |
GNIS feature ID | 1426382[1] |
Castle Gate is a ghost town located in Carbon County in eastern Utah, United States. Castle Gate was a mining town approximately 90 miles (140 km) southeast of Salt Lake City. The name of the town was derived from a rock formation near the mouth of Price Canyon. This formation features two sheer sandstone walls on either side of the Price River, which appear to open like a giant gate as travelers approach this narrow section of the canyon.
Coal mining origins[]
The first coal mine, named the Castle Gate Mine #1, opened around 1886, after the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad constructed its Utah Division over the Wasatch Plateau, from the town of Springville.[2] The mine produced high-quality coal for the steam trains. Castle Gate Mine #2 opened in 1912, and was found to have the finest coal in the region. In 1914, Castle Gate was incorporated as a town, which was owned and tightly controlled by the and the D&RGW. A third mine opened in 1922.
Historic events[]
The town is most famous for two historic events. On April 21, 1897, Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay held up an employee of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in a daylight robbery at the busy railroad station in Castle Gate, making off with $7,000 in gold.
On March 8, 1924, the Utah Fuel Company's Castle Gate Mine #2 exploded, killing 172 miners. Fatalities included 49 Greeks, 22 Italians, 8 Japanese, 7 English, 6 Austrians (Yugoslavs), 2 Scots, 1 Belgian, and 76 Americans, including 2 African-Americans.[3] It was the third-deadliest disaster in the history of coal mining in the United States at that time, and remains the tenth deadliest at present.
Deconstruction of the town[]
Castle Gate was dismantled in 1974, and residents were relocated to a new subdivision at the mouth of Spring Canyon, west of Helper. The former townsite was cleared and replaced with coal-loading facilities neighboring the railroad line.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Castle Gate
- ^ "Utah History Encyclopedia". www.uen.org. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
- ^ "Utah History Encyclopedia". www.uen.org. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Castle Gate, Utah. |
- "Utah Fuels The West, Castle Gate Mines". utahrails.net.
Castle Gate, with the former townsite to the left
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad locomotive at Castle Gate (circa 1929)
- Ghost towns in Carbon County, Utah
- Company towns in Utah
- Coal towns in Utah
- Mining communities in Utah
- Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
- Populated places established in 1886
- Ghost towns in Utah