Forest City, Utah
Encyclopedia
Forest City is a ghost town
in Utah County
, Utah
, United States
. It is located in the valley of Dutchman Flat in the upper part of American Fork Canyon
, in the Uinta National Forest
. A silver mining
town just over the mountain from Alta
, Forest City was inhabited about 1871–1880. The town grew up around the smelter that was built to process ore from the canyon's mines. The American Fork Railroad, which was intended to serve Forest City and the smelter, stopped short of its destination due to engineering difficulties. Transportation costs rose too high for the mines to continue operating profitably. As the smelter, mines, and railroad closed down, Forest City was abandoned.
in the late 1860s, prospectors
crossed the mountain ridge to the south and staked more claims in American Fork Canyon. The largest mine, the Miller Hill Mine, developed quickly, and in 1871 was purchased for $120,000 by the Aspinwall Steamship Company of New York City
. They built a smelter
at Dutchman Flat called the Sultana Smelting Works, which employed 250–300 men in 1871. It was one of the most costly smelters in Utah Territory
. The town that grew around the smelter was named Forest City.
The smelter's production soon outpaced the ability to transport bullion and ore
out of the canyon. In April 1872 the Aspinwall Steamship Company organized the American Fork Railroad Company to address this problem. They planned to build a narrow gauge railway from the city of American Fork
up the canyon to Forest City. The Utah Southern Railroad
, which at the time went no further south than Sandy
, was scheduled that year to extend its track southward through Utah Valley
, and the new railroad was to join it at American Fork. Construction on the line began from American Fork in May 1872, and by August it had reached the mouth of the canyon.
to be used on the American Fork Railroad arrived in Salt Lake City in July 1872, but the Utah Southern Railroad had made little progress past Sandy by then. The train was transported south to its new home by "leapfrogging": laying a section of temporary track, driving the train to the end, then pulling up the track and replacing it in front of the train.
The train arrived in American Fork and made its first test run on August 20, 1872. The railroad reached the end of its route on November 26, 1872 at Deer Creek, on the present site of Tibble Fork Reservoir. The route had been graded all the way to the Sultana Smelter, but unfortunately for Forest City the final four miles were judged too steep for the train to climb. Bullion was brought down from the smelter in wagons and loaded into the train cars at Deer Creek. To save on operating costs, the full cars were often allowed to coast down the steepest part of the track to the waiting locomotive
.
, two general store
s, hotels, houses, and a successful saloon. That winter a diphtheria
epidemic
swept the town, killing a number of people including 11 children. The dead were buried in a small cemetery nearby, which became known as Graveyard Flat.
In early 1873, railroad officials decided their small engine was too light for the steep railway, and mule
s took over pulling the train until a new larger engine arrived in the autumn. Canyon industries were not developing as rapidly as expected, and plans to extend the railroad to Forest City were abandoned for good.
Population figures for Forest City are uncertain, ranging as high as 2000–3000 at the peak. There were enough children that a school was established. A dairy farm supplied the town with milk and butter. 15 kiln
s produced charcoal
for the smelter, with another 10 down in Deer Creek.
In the years 1874–1876 the American Fork Canyon mines began to peter out. The higher-grade ore bodies were being exhausted. Prospecting even further up the canyon led to the discovery of other good veins, but the country was rugged and development slow. In order to cover expenses the railroad began taking tourist groups up the canyon on sightseeing trips. The Miller Hill Mine stopped producing ore by 1874, started up again briefly the next year, then shut down permanently. The Sultana Smelter was dismantled in 1876, and Forest City was in serious decline. The canyon's other mines were not rich enough to keep the railroad profitable. In June 1878 the American Fork Railroad became the first Utah railroad to go out of business. Forest City was deserted by 1880.
s and all-terrain vehicle
s over it and have even torn down the picket fence
surrounding it. As of 2004, only a wooden sign remains.
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...
in Utah County
Utah County, Utah
Utah County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2000, the population was 368,536 and by 2008 was estimated at 530,837. It was named for the Spanish name for the Ute Indians. The county seat and largest city is Provo...
, 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...
. It is located in the valley of Dutchman Flat in the upper part of American Fork Canyon
American Fork Canyon
American Fork Canyon is a canyon located in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. The canyon is famous for the Timpanogos Cave National Monument, which resides on its south side...
, in the Uinta National Forest
Uinta National Forest
Uinta National Forest is a national forest located in north central Utah, USA. It was originally part of the Uinta Forest Reserve, created by Grover Cleveland on February 2, 1897. The name is derived from the Ute word Yoov-we-teuh which means pine forest...
. A silver mining
Silver mining
Silver mining refers to the resource extraction of the precious metal element silver by mining.-History:Silver has been known since ancient times. It is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and slag heaps found in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea indicate that silver was being separated...
town just over the mountain from Alta
Alta, Utah
Alta is a town in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 370 at the 2000 census, a slight decrease from the 1990 figure of 397....
, Forest City was inhabited about 1871–1880. The town grew up around the smelter that was built to process ore from the canyon's mines. The American Fork Railroad, which was intended to serve Forest City and the smelter, stopped short of its destination due to engineering difficulties. Transportation costs rose too high for the mines to continue operating profitably. As the smelter, mines, and railroad closed down, Forest City was abandoned.
History
Soon after the discovery of silver in Little Cottonwood CanyonLittle Cottonwood Canyon
Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley, roughly 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon is part of Granite, a CDP and “Community Council” designated by Salt Lake County. The canyon is a glacial trough , carved by...
in the late 1860s, prospectors
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...
crossed the mountain ridge to the south and staked more claims in American Fork Canyon. The largest mine, the Miller Hill Mine, developed quickly, and in 1871 was purchased for $120,000 by the Aspinwall Steamship Company of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. They built a smelter
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
at Dutchman Flat called the Sultana Smelting Works, which employed 250–300 men in 1871. It was one of the most costly smelters in Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
. The town that grew around the smelter was named Forest City.
The smelter's production soon outpaced the ability to transport bullion and ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
out of the canyon. In April 1872 the Aspinwall Steamship Company organized the American Fork Railroad Company to address this problem. They planned to build a narrow gauge railway from the city of American Fork
American Fork, Utah
American Fork is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, at the foot of Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Range, north of Utah Lake. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 26,263 at the 2010 census, nearly a 20% growth since the 2000 census...
up the canyon to Forest City. The Utah Southern Railroad
Utah Southern Railroad (1871–1881)
The Utah Southern Railroad was built by the Mormons between Salt Lake City and York , and acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1875.-External links:* , Utah History Encyclopedia, University of Utah...
, which at the time went no further south than Sandy
Sandy, Utah
Sandy is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,461 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah....
, was scheduled that year to extend its track southward through Utah Valley
Utah Valley
Utah Valley is a valley in North Central Utah located in Utah County, and is considered part of the Wasatch Front. It contains Provo, Orem, and their suburbs, including Highland, Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs, Mapleton, Spanish Fork, Lindon, Pleasant Grove, Springville, Lehi, Payson, and...
, and the new railroad was to join it at American Fork. Construction on the line began from American Fork in May 1872, and by August it had reached the mouth of the canyon.
American Fork Railroad
The small trainTrain
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
to be used on the American Fork Railroad arrived in Salt Lake City in July 1872, but the Utah Southern Railroad had made little progress past Sandy by then. The train was transported south to its new home by "leapfrogging": laying a section of temporary track, driving the train to the end, then pulling up the track and replacing it in front of the train.
The train arrived in American Fork and made its first test run on August 20, 1872. The railroad reached the end of its route on November 26, 1872 at Deer Creek, on the present site of Tibble Fork Reservoir. The route had been graded all the way to the Sultana Smelter, but unfortunately for Forest City the final four miles were judged too steep for the train to climb. Bullion was brought down from the smelter in wagons and loaded into the train cars at Deer Creek. To save on operating costs, the full cars were often allowed to coast down the steepest part of the track to the waiting locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
.
Decline
In late 1872, severe winter weather forced operations in American Fork Canyon to shut down for the season. At that time the population of Forest City was estimated at 500. The town included a sawmillSawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, two 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...
s, hotels, houses, and a successful saloon. That winter a diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
swept the town, killing a number of people including 11 children. The dead were buried in a small cemetery nearby, which became known as Graveyard Flat.
In early 1873, railroad officials decided their small engine was too light for the steep railway, and mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s took over pulling the train until a new larger engine arrived in the autumn. Canyon industries were not developing as rapidly as expected, and plans to extend the railroad to Forest City were abandoned for good.
Population figures for Forest City are uncertain, ranging as high as 2000–3000 at the peak. There were enough children that a school was established. A dairy farm supplied the town with milk and butter. 15 kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s produced charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
for the smelter, with another 10 down in Deer Creek.
In the years 1874–1876 the American Fork Canyon mines began to peter out. The higher-grade ore bodies were being exhausted. Prospecting even further up the canyon led to the discovery of other good veins, but the country was rugged and development slow. In order to cover expenses the railroad began taking tourist groups up the canyon on sightseeing trips. The Miller Hill Mine stopped producing ore by 1874, started up again briefly the next year, then shut down permanently. The Sultana Smelter was dismantled in 1876, and Forest City was in serious decline. The canyon's other mines were not rich enough to keep the railroad profitable. In June 1878 the American Fork Railroad became the first Utah railroad to go out of business. Forest City was deserted by 1880.
Remnants
Little is left of Forest City today. The foundations of the smelter and of some houses are still visible. The cemetery at Graveyard Flat was preserved for some time, but people have driven snowmobileSnowmobile
A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...
s and all-terrain vehicle
All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
s over it and have even torn down the picket fence
Picket fence
A picket fence is a variety of fence that has been used mostly for domestic boundaries. Until the introduction of advertising on fences in the 1980s, a Cricket field was also usually surrounded by a picket fence, giving rise to the expression rattling the pickets for a ball hit firmly into the...
surrounding it. As of 2004, only a wooden sign remains.
External links
- Forest City at GhostTowns.com