Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Frisco & Newhouse


Frisco ghost town, west of Milford, Utah is one of the most popular ghost towns in the state. In its hey-day, it boasted a population of almost 6,000, had 21 saloons, and murders were a daily occurrence. It is known to have been the most dangerous town in Utah. You can learn more about it here.

Monday, July 13th, I had the day off of work and decided to pay ol Frisco a visit. Frisco and the surrounding mines are supposedly being RECLAIMED this summer, so I wanted to pay a visit before this place was destroyed forever.

If you do indeed get reclaimed Frisco, RIP. I have been here several times, even as a youngster with my Grandparents. It's sad that such a wonderful piece of Utah history is going to be demolished..

I woke up early and hit the road about 7:30 am. Driving to Beaver is kind of a bummer because my little Toyota definitely doesn't like going uphill on the freeway. Driving into Milford, traffic was backed up because of this:


Ouch. Luckily there was a detour and I didn't have to sit and wait forever. I arrived at Frisco about 10:30. Here are some pictures from the area east of the mine.









No clue what this is.. I'm going with spaceship..


Wanna go for a ride??


Look closely, there's some antelope running by!


Must have ran out of gas..


Old charcoal kiln.


Kiln.


Toyota!!


The area is dotted with hundreds of old foundations.. Remember this town once had a population of 6,000



I explored around this area for a few hours, then headed over toward the main part of the town and the cemetery. The cemetery is definitely a sight to see.. Very interesting and very sad. So many of these old graves have no marker or headstone.





There are a lot of just random unmarked graves.


After checking out the cemetery, I came upon the biggest disappointment of the day.. The area was fenced off and marked private property. This is crappy because this is the best part of the town! Not to mention the huge mine. I was bummed, but decided not to go over.. they had some pretty serious signs, and I don't need a trespassing charge on my record!! :p I ended up taking a few close up shots.




The huge mine, picture does it no justice.. you have to see it in person. (Good luck.)


After being let down by the no trespassing signs, I decided to head over to Newhouse. Newhouse is just on the other side of the mountain range from Frisco. It was another mining town, but not nearly the size or fame of Frisco. You can read up on Newhouse here.

Newhouse is actually one of my favorites. Although there are only one or two standing structures, this place is a mecca for old bottle hunters.

I only snapped this one picture in Newhouse, as it was getting late in the day, and I was sunburned, dirty, and tired.



What a fun day.. I ended up getting home about 9:00 pm, it was a full day! Here are some more random pictures I took during the day.


Lonely highway 21...


Huge dust devil in the Wah-Wah valley.


Don't fall!! This mineshaft is literally hundreds of feet deep.


Cactus..


Yoshi, worn out after a long day of chasing lizards and bunnies.

Can't wait until next time. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Stateline..

This mill was actually worked until the early 80's, until the EPA shut it down for improper environmental procedures.


Sunday, July 5th, I decided to take a ride up to Stateline Ghost Town. Stateline is approximately 30 miles north of Modena, UT, near Hamblin Valley. Like most ghost towns in Utah, Stateline was a mining town. The mine produced gold and silver. You can read more about the history of the town/mine HERE.

Anyways, around noon, I loaded up the truck, grabbed Yoshi (my black lab), and headed out. For the most part I knew where I was going, but still had to check the map a few times. I usually always end up taking a detour route, somehow I ended up at this small cemetery in the middle of nowhere..





Oddly, the rest of the pictures I took of this place didn't turn out..


This was the cemetery for the town of Hamblin. I couldn't find much info on Hamblin, other than THIS. Seems to have suffered the same fate as many of the other ghost towns in Utah.. all I could find at the supposed town site up the road were a few caved in foundations.

Near the Hamblin town site.

After this, I headed over toward Enterprise for some drinks, and then toward Modena. At Modena I turned north and headed up Modena canyon.

Neat rock formations off the side of the road..


Wild horses?? Or escapees??


After getting lost for a bit I finally found the turn off for Stateline. I spent a few hours there exploring and walking around, it's a very cool place. I actually think I may have visited once when I was a kid.. I'll have to check Grandma's photo albums. :)

After exploring around a bit I decided to head home around 7:00. There is another Ghost Town in the area, called Gold Springs. I really wanted to visit this one too, but I figured since it was getting late, I should head back. I didn't want to get lost out there in the dark. :p

All in all it was a great day, I highly recommend you visit Stateline!

Old machinery inside the mill.


Watch your step!!


Looking out the window of the mill toward Stateline


Inside the mill


Looking down toward Stateline, which was once home to over 300 people.


East side of the mill.


West side of the mill.



The General Store??


General Store.


Caved in foundation, lying in ruin.. If these walls could talk..


Another home/store/saloon? surrendering to the elements..


Peek-a-boo


Windows..


Old broken sun-purpled shot glass.. wonder if any outlaws drank from this??



Another foundation..


Old chimeny still stands.. house does not..


More modern outhouse north of the town site. I didn't need to go that bad..