- Connellsville, Utah
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Connellsville — Ghost town — Location of Connellsville in Utah Coordinates: 39°36′54″N 111°13′14″W / 39.615°N 111.22056°WCoordinates: 39°36′54″N 111°13′14″W / 39.615°N 111.22056°W Country United States State Utah County Emery Established 1874 Abandoned 1878 Named for Connellsville, Pennsylvania Connellsville is a ghost town located high in the mountains of Coal Canyon, near the head of Huntington Canyon in the northwestern corner of Emery County, Utah, United States. A coal mining and coke manufacturing center, Connellsville was the first settlement in what is now Emery County, inhabited from 1874 to 1878. The town now lies beneath the waters of Electric Lake.
History
In May 1874, the Fairview Coal Mining and Coke Company began mining in Coal Canyon[1] to meet the demand for coke by Salt Lake City-area smelters. The company town built in the mining area was named Connellsville for the large coking center of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, but its population was small, only a few dozen miners and coke-oven workers.[2] This was the first commercial coal mining operation in the Wasatch Plateau, pre-dating the coal mining boomtowns of Carbon County. The Connellsville coal made poor coke, however, and transportation facilities were lacking.[3] By 1878 the project was deemed a failure, and the town was abandoned.[2] Most of the miners moved over the mountain to Winter Quarters.[3]
After the closure of Connellsville, its coal was mined only occasionally, to meet residential heating needs in the Sanpete Valley. Several remnants of the ghost town, including cabins and coke ovens, still stood until the construction of the Electric Lake reservoir in 1973. Before the water covered Connellsville, Utah Power funded an archaeological survey of the area and reconstructed one of the coke ovens on a new site above the water line.[4] The rest of the ghost town is underwater.
References
- ^ Watt, Ronald G (January 1997). A History of Carbon County. Utah Centennial County History Series. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Historical Society. p. 108. ISBN 0-913738-15-8.
- ^ a b Carr, Stephen L. (1986) [1972]. The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns (3rd ed.). Salt Lake City, Utah: Western Epics. p. 84. ISBN 0-914740-30-X.
- ^ a b Geary, Edward A (January 1996). A History of Emery County. Utah Centennial County History Series. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Historical Society. p. 136. ISBN 0-913738-05-0.
- ^ Geary, p.368.
Municipalities and communities of Emery County, Utah County seat: Castle Dale Cities Towns Unincorporated
communityIndian
reservationGhost towns Connellsville | Desert Lake | Mohrland | Victor | Woodside
Categories:- Ghost towns in Emery County, Utah
- Mining communities in Utah
- Populated places established in 1874
- Company towns in Utah
- Utah geography stubs
- United States ghost town stubs
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