TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
As you can all guess, this trip was inspired by the "best ghost towns of UT" thread. In that discussion, someone mentioned Eureka. 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 today, 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 for RME, I made sure to incorporate my car into a few of the photos.
On the way there, I drove through 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:
As it happens, Eureka is only about 50 miles from my home. I was off work today, 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 for RME, I made sure to incorporate my car into a few of the photos.
On the way there, I drove through 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:
