Castleton is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 located on the La Sal Mountain

La Sal Range

The La Sal Mountains are located in Grand and San Juan counties, near the eastern border of the state of Utah, and rising above the town of Moab. This range is part of the Manti-La Sal National Forest and the southern Rocky Mountains. The maximum elevation is at Mount Peale, reaching 12,721 feet ...

 Loop Road some 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Moab

Moab, Utah

Moab is a city in Grand County, in eastern Utah, in the western United States. The population was 4,779 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat and largest city in Grand County. Moab hosts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors to the nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks...

 in Grand County

Grand County, Utah

Grand County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2000 the population was 8,485, and by 2005 had been estimated at 8,743. It was named for the Colorado River, which at the time of statehood was known as the Grand River. Its county seat and largest city is Moab.-Geography:According...

, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The nearest inhabited town is Castle Valley

Castle Valley, Utah

Castle Valley is a town in Grand County, Utah, United States. The population was 349 at the 2000 census. The town is about 16 miles northeast of Moab near State Route 128.-Geography:Castle Valley is located at ....

.

History

A short-lived gold placer mining

Placer mining

Placer mining is the mining of alluvial deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment....

 camp existed here in the 1860s, but the area was first settled by a prospector

Prospecting

Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...

 named Doby Brown in the late 1870s or early 1880s. By 1882 enough settlers had gathered to establish a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

. In 1888 when a local gold rush

Gold rush

A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...

 began at nearby Miners Basin

Miners Basin, Utah

Miners Basin or simply Basin is a ghost town in Grand County, Utah, United States. It was inhabited from 1898 to 1908.- History :Miners Basin was settled among the La Sal Mountains. Copper was discovered in the area in 1888, but a mining town was not established until 1898, when the recently...

, Castleton became important as a supply town. It had a general store

General store

A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...

, hotel, two saloons, and several other businesses. At its peak in 1895, the population exceeded that of Moab. In fact, when Grand County was organized in 1890, Castleton vied with Moab for the chance to be county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

.

The Panic of 1907

Panic of 1907

The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. Panic occurred, as this was during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs on...

 closed down the area's mines, and soon ranchers were Castleton's only residents. By 1910 the businesses were gone, leaving only the post office, and the population had dropped to 50. In 1930 there were six residents. A few people stayed in the dead town for decades, but in 1967 the county commission

County commission

A county commission is a group of elected officials charged with administering the county government in local government in some states of the United States. County commissions are usually made up of three or more individuals...

officially vacated Castleton as an occupied town.