Lark, Utah

Lark
Ghost town
Lark

Location of Lark in Utah

Coordinates: 40°31′30″N 112°05′47″W / 40.52500°N 112.09639°WCoordinates: 40°31′30″N 112°05′47″W / 40.52500°N 112.09639°W
Country United States
State Utah
County Salt Lake
Founded 1866
Abandoned 1978
Named for A prospector named Lark
Elevation[1] 5,541 ft (1,689 m)
GNIS feature ID 1437617[1]

Lark is a ghost town located 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Herriman in the Oquirrh Mountains of southwest Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. Lark was the location of several copper mines.

History

The discovery of gold in Bingham Canyon in 1863 brought a rush of prospectors, two of whom were named Dalton and Lark. Settlements with these names grew up around the two mining claims, but Dalton was later merged into Lark.[2] The town of Lark was officially established January 3, 1866.[3]

The town had enough Latter-day Saint residents by 1918 to be made a ward, but by 1923, the ward was reduced to a branch. It had 234 members in 1930.[4]

By 1929, Lark was a company town of the United States Smelting and Refining Company, which expanded the town through the 1940s and 1950s. At its peak, the population exceeded 800. Then the nearby non-copper mines began to close, and the town went into decline. The last silver, zinc, and lead mine closed about 1971. In 1972, Kennecott Copper bought the land, and in 1977, they announced foreclosure. The company wanted the land to dump large quantities of overburden from nearby Bingham Canyon Mine. The population was 591, and Kennecott helped move people and some homes, even preparing a subdivision in nearby Copperton.[2] By 1978, Lark was dismantled.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lark
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Carr, Stephen L. (1986) [June 1972]. The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns (3rd ed.). Salt Lake City, Utah: Western Epics. p. 159. ISBN 0-914740-30-X.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Van Cott, John W. (1990). Utah Place Names. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press. p. 222. ISBN 0-87480-345-4.
  4. ↑ Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1941) p.414.