Hiawatha, Utah
Encyclopedia
Hiawatha is a ghost town
, formerly a coal mining
town in Carbon County
, Utah
, United States
. The town is located at the base of Gentry Mountain, some 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Price
. It used to be a vibrant mining town, with a population of above 1,500 in the 1940s. Coal
was discovered here in 1909, a mine was built, a railroad was constructed, and the city was incorporated in 1911. Another nearby village called Blackhawk was merged with Hiawatha in 1915.
Hiawatha was a company town
. The United States Fuel Company, which owned the Hiawatha mine and had its headquarters there, essentially ran the town. After the 1940s, production began to drop and people moved away. The population fell from 439 in 1960, to 43 in 1990. The city was disincorporated on November 20, 1992.
On December 12, 1997, the permit for the Hiawatha Mines Complex was transferred from U.S. Fuel Company to Hiawatha Coal Company. The company plans to recommence mining in the near future. In September 2006, the Carbon County commission
approved the rezoning
of three of Hiawatha's six sections as residential, at the request of the property owner ANR Inc. It is estimated that around three or four families currently live in Hiawatha. Some homes have been remodeled, and further construction is ongoing.
Hiawatha was also notable for having a vibrant Greek immigrant community, particularly from the island of Crete
.
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...
, formerly a coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
town in Carbon County
Carbon County, Utah
Carbon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for the major coal deposits in the area, the county seat and largest city, is Price. Carbon County is the second largest natural gas producer in Utah , with 94 billion cubic feet produced in 2008. As of 2010 the population was...
, 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 town is located at the base of Gentry Mountain, some 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Price
Price, Utah
Price is a city in Carbon County, Utah, United States. The city is home to the USU-College of Eastern Utah, as well as the large USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum affiliated with the college. Price is located within short distances from both Nine Mile Canyon and the Manti-La Sal National Forest...
. It used to be a vibrant mining town, with a population of above 1,500 in the 1940s. Coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
was discovered here in 1909, a mine was built, a railroad was constructed, and the city was incorporated in 1911. Another nearby village called Blackhawk was merged with Hiawatha in 1915.
Hiawatha was a company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
. The United States Fuel Company, which owned the Hiawatha mine and had its headquarters there, essentially ran the town. After the 1940s, production began to drop and people moved away. The population fell from 439 in 1960, to 43 in 1990. The city was disincorporated on November 20, 1992.
On December 12, 1997, the permit for the Hiawatha Mines Complex was transferred from U.S. Fuel Company to Hiawatha Coal Company. The company plans to recommence mining in the near future. In September 2006, the Carbon 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...
approved the rezoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
of three of Hiawatha's six sections as residential, at the request of the property owner ANR Inc. It is estimated that around three or four families currently live in Hiawatha. Some homes have been remodeled, and further construction is ongoing.
Hiawatha was also notable for having a vibrant Greek immigrant community, particularly from the island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
.