Sherpa
Member
On another forum (RME4x4), we recently began a thread about exploring ghost towns in Utah and surrounding states. I've always been intrigued by this idea, though I've never done anything about it. Virtually all of these towns just seem so, well, out of the way. If only they were closer to home, or right on the way to a practical destination, etc.
Someone mentioned Eureka, UT. He said it wasn't actually a ghost town, "but it might as well be." Curious, I went searching for more info. Eureka came into being during the 1860s, though it remained more or less insignificant until about 1890 when it sprouted four mines that began churning out gold and silver. Its population rapidly grew to more than 3,000 residents and eventually leveled off at over 3,600 residents. In the early 1930s, the mines were idled during the great depression and the population began to decline. At least one mine was re-opened during World War II and stayed in use into the early 1960s; nevertheless, the population continued to shrink--by the 1960 census, the official tally was down to just 771 people. To this day, the population hovers around 600 residents.
As it happens, Eureka is only about 50 miles from my home. I was off work yesterday, so why not hop in the Mustang and go for a drive? I grabbed my camera and was on my way. Knowing that this would become a road trip story, I made sure to incorporate my car into a few of the photos.
(Sorry, but I took one of my road cars rather than a 4x4.)
On the way there, I drove through a tiny town called Goshen. I didn't think much of it until I saw this monument on the edge of town:
Back under way, I continued heading west. Coming up to what had at one time been a railroad crossing--the section of rails that crossed the road have long been removed--an old wooden bridge caught my eye. I stopped to investigate. My first view of it from the road (zoomed in):
I parked and decided to get a bit closer to the other side on foot:
After this, I didn't stop again until I finally entered Eureka. The first thing I did was circle the town on the southern edge hoping to see evidence of old mines or whatnot. There were certainly a number of dilapidated old buildings:
I soon made it to the west edge of town. I was greeting by the site of the 120-foot tall head frame of the former Bullion Beck and Champion Mining Company. Constructed in about 1890, the head frame is now all that remains of the company. There was a historical marker with some information about the mine and an explanation of the frame itself:
Across the street from the frame was this:
At this point, I began circling back via the northern edge of town. I immediately found a quaint little Catholic church:
To this point, I had been focused almost entirely on mining-related items. It wasn't until now that I took a mental step back and just plain looked around. The houses were typically fairly small, and a large number of them appeared to be unoccupied. Even the ones that did seem to be inhabited were extremely worn--many of them looked like they might collapse at any moment. Looking at them began to feel a bit, well, eerie. In the off chance that a house I thought was abandoned might actually not be, I decided not to photograph anything that might have been an occupied private residence.
Soon I had looped back around to the east end of town where I had first arrived. Now I turned onto the main road and headed to the center of town--it certainly didn't take long. I parked to check things out. First up was another church (I think it was Baptist):
Attached to the back of it was Bonnie's Boutique. I don't know exactly what that implies, but I really liked the style of the exterior:
Next door was apparently an old service station of some kind. One door was labeled "honk for service."
On the other side of that was a Methodist church. How about that? Here were three churches in a Utah town of 600 people and none of them were Mormon--so much for stereotypes.
It was still eerie. Right here on Main Street, abandoned buildings were slowly succumbing to nature... and nobody seemed to be bothered.
At least a few buildings still looked relatively intact:
Next door to that former city hall was a small mining museum. Unfortunately, it was currently closed.
At this point, I had essentially seen the entire town. I had plans for the evening, so I decided to head back home. A few miles outside of town, I had to stop to photograph this sign next to the road:
Subject to re-open, eh? Doesn't look like it'll be happening very soon:
It was a brief trip, but I still enjoyed it.
Someone mentioned Eureka, UT. He said it wasn't actually a ghost town, "but it might as well be." Curious, I went searching for more info. Eureka came into being during the 1860s, though it remained more or less insignificant until about 1890 when it sprouted four mines that began churning out gold and silver. Its population rapidly grew to more than 3,000 residents and eventually leveled off at over 3,600 residents. In the early 1930s, the mines were idled during the great depression and the population began to decline. At least one mine was re-opened during World War II and stayed in use into the early 1960s; nevertheless, the population continued to shrink--by the 1960 census, the official tally was down to just 771 people. To this day, the population hovers around 600 residents.
As it happens, Eureka is only about 50 miles from my home. I was off work yesterday, so why not hop in the Mustang and go for a drive? I grabbed my camera and was on my way. Knowing that this would become a road trip story, I made sure to incorporate my car into a few of the photos.
(Sorry, but I took one of my road cars rather than a 4x4.)On the way there, I drove through a tiny town called Goshen. I didn't think much of it until I saw this monument on the edge of town:
Back under way, I continued heading west. Coming up to what had at one time been a railroad crossing--the section of rails that crossed the road have long been removed--an old wooden bridge caught my eye. I stopped to investigate. My first view of it from the road (zoomed in):
I parked and decided to get a bit closer to the other side on foot:
After this, I didn't stop again until I finally entered Eureka. The first thing I did was circle the town on the southern edge hoping to see evidence of old mines or whatnot. There were certainly a number of dilapidated old buildings:
I soon made it to the west edge of town. I was greeting by the site of the 120-foot tall head frame of the former Bullion Beck and Champion Mining Company. Constructed in about 1890, the head frame is now all that remains of the company. There was a historical marker with some information about the mine and an explanation of the frame itself:
Across the street from the frame was this:
At this point, I began circling back via the northern edge of town. I immediately found a quaint little Catholic church:
To this point, I had been focused almost entirely on mining-related items. It wasn't until now that I took a mental step back and just plain looked around. The houses were typically fairly small, and a large number of them appeared to be unoccupied. Even the ones that did seem to be inhabited were extremely worn--many of them looked like they might collapse at any moment. Looking at them began to feel a bit, well, eerie. In the off chance that a house I thought was abandoned might actually not be, I decided not to photograph anything that might have been an occupied private residence.
Soon I had looped back around to the east end of town where I had first arrived. Now I turned onto the main road and headed to the center of town--it certainly didn't take long. I parked to check things out. First up was another church (I think it was Baptist):
Attached to the back of it was Bonnie's Boutique. I don't know exactly what that implies, but I really liked the style of the exterior:
Next door was apparently an old service station of some kind. One door was labeled "honk for service."
On the other side of that was a Methodist church. How about that? Here were three churches in a Utah town of 600 people and none of them were Mormon--so much for stereotypes.
It was still eerie. Right here on Main Street, abandoned buildings were slowly succumbing to nature... and nobody seemed to be bothered.
At least a few buildings still looked relatively intact:
Next door to that former city hall was a small mining museum. Unfortunately, it was currently closed.
At this point, I had essentially seen the entire town. I had plans for the evening, so I decided to head back home. A few miles outside of town, I had to stop to photograph this sign next to the road:
Subject to re-open, eh? Doesn't look like it'll be happening very soon:
It was a brief trip, but I still enjoyed it.
