Castle Gate, Utah
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Castle Gate was a mining town in eastern Utah located approximately 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. The name of the town was derived from a rock formation near the mouth of Price Canyon. This formation featured two sheer sandstone walls on either side of the Price River, which appeared to open like a giant gate as travelers approached the this narrow section of the canyon.
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[edit] Coal mining and the founding the town
The first coal mine, named the Castle Gate Mine #1, opened around 1886 after the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad constructed a rail line over the Wasatch Plateau from the town of Springville, Utah. The mine produced high-quality coal for the steam trains. In 1914, Castle Gate was incorporated as a town, which was owned and tightly controlled by the Utah Fuel Company and the D&RGW Railroad. Castle Gate Mine #2 opened in 1912 and was found to have the finest coal in the region. A third mine was opened in 1922.
[edit] Historic events
The town is most famous for two historic events. On 21 April 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 8 March 1924, the Utah Fuel Company's Castle Gate Mine #2 exploded, killing 172 miners. 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.
[edit] Deconstruction of the town
The town of Castle Gate was dismantled in 1974. Residents were relocated to a new subdivision at the mouth of Spring Canyon, west of Helper, Utah. The former townsite was cleared by May of 1974 and replaced with coal loading facilities neighboring the railroad line.
[edit] References
History of Castle Gate, Utah - Utah History Online.
Utah Fuels The West, Castle Gate Mines.
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