Castle Gate, Utah

Castle Gate
Ghost town

Castle Gate spires, near old townsite
Castle Gate
Castle Gate

Castle Gate is located in Utah

Coordinates: 39°43′40″N 110°52′03″W / 39.72778°N 110.86750°W / 39.72778; -110.86750Coordinates: 39°43′40″N 110°52′03″W / 39.72778°N 110.86750°W / 39.72778; -110.86750
Country United States
State Utah
County Carbon
Founded 1886
Abandoned 1974
Named for Rock formation resembling the gate of a castle
Elevation[1] 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, 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. Castle Gate Mine #2 opened in 1912, and was found to have the finest coal in the region. 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. 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.

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Castle Gate
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