Exploring Utah’s ghost towns: Seven abandoned settlements with fascinating histories

Utah is home to many beautiful cities teeming with life and laughter. But that’s not all Utah has to offer. When you think of ghost towns, you may think about places like Texas, Montana, Wyoming or California — but it turns out Utah has its fair share, as well. And most are just a short drive from a major city. 

Grafton

 Located just south of Zion National Park, Grafton was established by Mormon pioneers in 1859 on a mission from Brigham Young to grow cotton in southern Utah. It was only settled for less than a decade and was abandoned largely due to tensions between the pioneers and Native American tribes in the area. Only a graveyard and a renovated schoolhouse remain.

While you can’t go into the schoolhouse, it’s said to be one of the most pristine abandoned buildings in all of Utah’s ghost towns. It’s best known for its major screen time in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Some say Grafton is one of the most photographed ghost towns in the West. 

Silver Reef 

Like many ghost towns in the Old West, Silver Reef got its start as a mining town. A man named John Kemple found silver there in 1866. He returned several years later hoping to find the source of the silver and staked several more claims, but never found the source. Just a year after Kemple returned, word got out about his findings and others started appearing hoping to stake a claim in the silver. 

After a mine closed in Nevada, miners started relocating to the area, which they renamed “Silver Reef.” At its peak, the town held 2,500 residents, nine grocery stores, six saloons and even a newspaper, making it the largest town in Southern Utah at the time. 

A downturn in the silver market dealt a huge blow, and decreasing wages to miners dealt another. While the mines generated millions of dollars worth of silver, the last mine closed in 1891. 

Old Irontown 

Just outside of Cedar City lies Old Irontown, one of the first of Utah’s ghost towns with the most structures left behind to explore. It was founded in 1868 and originally called Iron City. It came about because of the development of Cedar City about a decade prior. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled Cedar City in the 1850s with the goal of establishing an iron works. It failed and closed down, though, and that led to the discovery of the Iron City site in 1868. 

The city grew quickly, gaining 97 residents in just two years. However, by 1876, it was abandoned. A money panic in 1874 caused the city’s residents to struggle too much and proved too difficult to overcome. The ruins of Old Irontown still remain to this day, open to explorers to discover the story of iron mining and processing. The most recognizable structure is an old beehive-shaped charcoal oven. 

Frisco

Once known as one of the “wildest towns in the West frontier,” Frisco was a silver mining town in Beaver County that was founded in 1875 and gone by the 1920s after the Horn Silver mine collapsed. At its peak, Frisco was home to 6,000 residents, but ran rampant with crime. It held over 23 saloons, brothels and gambling dens for locals and travelers. 

It’s said a man named William Pearson was brought in to lower the crime rates, but he ended up shooting criminals before letting them stand before a judge. Exploring the town is said to be dangerous as it has many trenches and pits from its days of mining. 

Promontory 

Home to the Golden Spike, Promontory basically popped up overnight as workers rushed to connect the railroad from East to West on the north end of the Great Salt Lake. The city of Promontory grew quickly before the railroad reached it and it was agreed upon that it would be the place for the railroad to join together. 

The city that sprang up around the event of the railroad finishing thrived, but it soon earned its place as a rough place. Saloons and card rooms attracted a lot of unwanted attention. After a con artist took everything from a family, Promontory’s workers put up notices warning those who meant to do harm needed to leave town or face hanging. 

Eventually, a more direct route across the Great Salt Lake meant the end of Promontory City. Now set aside as the Golden Spike National Historic Park, a museum offers photos of what the city used to look like. 

Russian Settlement 

“Russian Settlement” is actually just a placeholder for the town that didn’t have a formal name. The village in northwestern Utah near the Park Valley area was an outlier, both in location and for the fact it wasn’t a Mormon settlement. The founders were Russian Christians who were lured to the area by the promise of cheap land, which actually turned out to be uninhabitable. 

Only about 125 people called that place their home after immigrating from Los Angeles in 1914. But after just three miserable years, the settlement was abandoned because of their repeated crop failures. 

Iosepa

Iosepa was established in 1899 in Tooele County by about 100 Hawaiians who converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As Iosepa continued to grow, the residents faced discrimination from surrounding towns. Despite the harsh climate and a minor leprosy outbreak, Iosepa thrived in the face of adversity. By 1915, it was considered one of the “cleanest towns in Utah” and built a good production of agriculture. 

The residents abandoned the town later to assist with the construction of a temple in Oahu. The only remnants of the ghost town are the foundations of several houses and a cemetery. 

Utah’s extensive ghost towns make for exciting trips and day adventures, especially for history buffs and photographers. The earliest ghost towns date all the way back to the mid-1800s. There’s no shortage of places to stop when you’re ready to delve into the history of the old Wild West. As for spotting actual ghosts, though, you’ll just have to see for yourself.