1.  Name of Property
Historic name Coalville and Echo Railroad Company
                    Summit County Railroad Company
                           Utah Eastern Railroad Company
                           Echo and Park City Railroad Company
other names Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail State Park

2.  Location  Summit County, Utah, from Echo to Park City
street and number:
city or town:

3.  State/Federal Agency Certification

4.  National Park Service Certification

5.  Classification
Ownership of Property
public/State
Category of Property
site
Number of Resources within Property
                        Contributing            Noncontributing
buildings
sites
structures trestle crossing I-80 at Echo
           15 pile bridges

objects
Total                              16

Name of related multiple property listing
Park City Main Street Historic District, including the Union Pacific Depot, lies one mile to the south of the Rail Trail, but is not included in this application.
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register
The  following properties potentially contribute to the historical significance of the Rail Trail and are currently listed on the National Register.  They are near or adjacent to the Rail Trail, but none included within this proposed listing:
Allen, Thomas L., House              98 North Main Street                    Coalville
Birch, Annie, House                    Vicinity of                             Hoytsville
Boyden, John, House           47 West Center Street                   Coalville
Echo Church and School         Temple Lane                             Echo
Hoyt, Samuel, House         2653 Wouth 570 West             Hoytsville
Kimball Hotel and Stage Stop  Kimball Junction                        County
Summit County Courthouse          Main Street                             Coalville
6.  Function or use
Historic Functions: Railroad corridor, carrying passengers and coal from the mines of Coalville, Utah to markets in Park City, Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah; and silver and related ores from the mines in Park City, Utah to smelters in Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Current Functions: Non-motorized trail for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and horseback riding.

7.  Description
Architectural Classification

Materials

Narrative Description
The Historic Summit County Rail Trail is a federally "rail banked" property that was deeded to the State of Utah, Division of Parks and Recreation subsequent to a ruling by the Interstate Commerce Commission on February 7, 1989 officially abandoning the property for railroad use and granting a Certificate of Interim Trail Use for the old railroad lines. 

The property consists of two lines:  26.86 miles of the Park City branch from milepost .02 near Echo and milepost 26.88 in Park City and the 2.5-mile Ontario Branch (a.k.a. Phoston Spur) between milepost 0.0 near Keetley Junction and milepost 2.5 near Phoston, a total distance of 29.36 miles in Summit and Wasatch Counties.

The two lines intersect at Keetly Junction, but at present time, only the Echo Dam to Park City section of the old railroad grade is open for public trail use.  The Phoston Spur will be opened as development funds are available.

A&K Railroad Materials purchased and removed the rails and ties in 1989, leaving the original rail bed, culverts and trestles for public use.  There are no buildings or other railroad structures remaining within the property.  The Echo Station was removed to Coalville to serve as a Senior Citizens Center [the Keetley Station, beyond Phoston and outside the limits of this proposed listing, became  a Senior Citizens Center in Park City].  The old Park City Union Pacific Station, now a restaurant,  is currently listed on the National Register and is not included in this application because it is located at a point (milepost 28.5) beyond the limits of the described property.  The railroad grade from milepost 27.4 into Park City and through Deer Valley was abandoned and reverted several years prior to 1989.  Much of that property currently serves as a non-motorized trail and city park.

The railroad grade is a single structure system consisting of the primary grade, culverts and bridges.  The grade averages about 13 feet in width and includes excavated drainage slopes extending several feet on each side.  Depending on the terrain, cuts or fills were made to accommodate the railroad.

The property varies in width from 50 feet to 100 feet and includes several parcels of greater width that were used for stockyards and livestock loading areas.  In Atkinson, there was a loading area for mine tailings that were sent to smelters in Salt Lake City for processing and for flux.

The condition of the grade, bridges and trestles is good due to the railroad's program of continual maintenance.  The entire grade from Monroc to Park City has been covered with 6-8 inches of topsoil and 10 inches of compacted road base to cover mine tailings.  In an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, this was deemed an adequate mitigation procedure to obviate any potential health hazard to trail users.  The old bridges from Echo Dam to mile 26.88 have been covered with pressure-treated decking and side rails for the protection of trails users.

The railroad grade begins in the town of Echo on the historic Union Pacific transcontinental line and passes through the towns of Coalville, Hoytsville, Wanship, Atkinson, Homer and Park City.  The Ontario, or Phoston Spur serviced the Chevron Chemical Corporation's phosphate rock processing plant just east of the summit between Park City and Heber City.  That plant has been disassembled and removed and all that remains are foundations and the circular railroad grade around its circumference.

The total land area of the Historic Summit County Rail Trail is 490 acres.

8.  Statement of Significance
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history
B.  Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past

Areas of Significance

Period of Significance  1869-1986

Significant Dates

Significant Person:  Brigham Young, E.H. Harriman, Jay Gould, George Hearst, James Ben Ali Haggin

Cultural Affiliation

Architect/Builder

Narrative Statement of Significance
The Echo to Park City line of the Union Pacific Railroad tells the remarkable story of the development of mineral resources of the American West and additionally relates the struggles of the Mormon Pioneers as they sought to settle Utah and establish viable economic systems.  Nearly coincidental with the completion of the Central Pacific/Union Pacific transcontinental line, linking the east coast of the United States with the west coast, silver ore was discovered in the mountains between Echo and Salt Lake City.  The railroad linking this ore discovery in Park City enabled the production of fabulous mines, creating 26 millionaires and contributing to the wealth and architectural enhancement of Salt Lake City.  Additionally, the coal mines of Chalk Creek, Grass Creek and Coalville could market fuel cheaply, decreasing reliance on scarce supplies of wood.

In 1858, coal was discovered in the Chalk Creek community, later named Coalville.  Coal had also been discovered in Cedar City and Sanpete, but the distances from major population centers was too great to make these discoveries profitable for development.  Coalville was 50 difficult wagon miles from Salt Lake City through Silver Creek Canyon and Parley's Canyon by dirt toll road.  It cost about $10.00/ton to haul coal by wagon and wood was about $10/cord.  Winters were cold and nearby sources of timber were rapidly being depleted.  An economical supply of coal was a necessity both for warmth and for power to supply the rapidly industrializing population.  A cheaper, more efficient system of transportation would mean more comfortable, more profitable lives for the rapidly increasing population. 

Seven months prior to the great celebration on May 10, 1869, joining the Union Pacific Railroad from the east the Central Pacific Railroad from the west, silver ore was discovered in Park City, Utah.  A group of soldiers from Ft. Douglas were out prospecting in October and came across an outcropping of ore on Flagstaff Mountain east of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons where ore was already being delivered via Salt Lake City to Godbe's Tooele.  A storm was approaching and the soldiers were apprehensive about reaching shelter, so they quickly tied a bandana around a "flagstaff" and placed it in the ground marking the location for a return trip in the Spring.

In September, 1869, Mormon Church leaders, anxious to provide coal to shivering Salt Lake City residents, incorporated the Coalville and Echo Railroad Company to carry coal from the mines in Coalville to Echo where it could be transferred to the Union Pacific main line to Ogden.  In Ogden, it would then be transferred to the Utah Central Railroad to complete the trip to Salt Lake.  In previous years, Brigham Young had fought valiantly to secure a southerly route for the Union Pacific that would pass through Salt Lake, but he lost the battle to Ogden and began to plan for the construction of the Utah Central Railroad to connect Salt Lake City to the Union Pacific main line through Ogden.  During the construction of the transcontinental line through Ogden, Brigham Young contracted with the Union Pacific Railroad to grade 90 miles of the main line and when he was finished, the Union Pacific defaulted on their agreement to pay, promising instead to provide $600,000 worth of rails and rolling stock for the Utah Central project.  Brigham Young calculated that at the current prices, he'd be able to equip the little Coalville and Echo Railroad Company as well.

The Coalville and Echo Railroad was owned by Mormon Church leaders in Coalville with local Bishop W.W. Cluff as railroad company President, conducting groundbreaking ceremonies on October 21, 1869.  Coalville residents secured the rights of way and prepared the ties and grades by the end of the year, but the rails and rolling stock never arrived.  By the time the Utah Central Railroad was completed from Ogden to Salt Lake City, there was nothing left over for the little Coalville and Echo Railroad.  In the meantime, the Union Pacific acquired coal mines in Rock Springs, Wyoming near their tracks and began to ship Wyoming coal to Salt Lake City.  Bishop Cluff left for Scandinavia for 18 month on a gospel mission and for two seasons, Coalville coal was either shipped by wagon to the railroad at Echo or shipped to Salt Lake City entirely by wagon through Parley's Canyon.  Union Pacific owned the railroad and the mines and since there was no competition, the price of coal was high.  The new mines in Park City were faced with enormous wagon shipping costs for their ore, and the time was right for a new attempt at building a railroad.

This time, Bishop Cluff was joined by Joseph A. Young, son of Brigham Young in forming the Summit County Railroad Company on November 27, 1871 with capital stock of $600,000, divided into 6,000 shares at $100 each.  The new railroad purchased the ties, grade and right of way from the defunct Coalville and Echo Railroad by exchanging paid-up stock and financed the purchase of rails and rolling stock by issuing 270 20-year mortgage bonds of $500 each at 7% interest.  On May 1, 1873, the Summit County Railroad Company began operation from the mines in Coalville to the Union Pacific in Echo and planned to complete the line to Park City and Salt Lake City to the west in the near future.  During the winter of 1873-74 the eight mines in Coalville shipped 200 tons of coal per day from Coalville to Echo, Echo to Ogden and Ogden to Salt Lake City.  Again, the Union Pacific intervened in its own interest to drive the Coalville miners out of business by raising the rate from Echo to Ogden from $1.50/ton to $3.76/ton.  Church leaders refused to pay the higher rate and threatened to take the coal by wagon southwest to Salt Lake City.  The Union Pacific relented and lowered their price to $1.75/ton, but they held all the cards in the deck and the Mormons were powerless to compete with them. 

In 1875, Brigham Young sold the Utah Central Railroad [Ogden to Salt Lake City] to the Union Pacific for $250,000.  The Summit County Railroad defaulted on its bonds and it was also sold to the Union Pacific for $75,000.  By 1877, Jay Gould gained control of the Union Pacific and cornered the northern Utah coal market by purchasing the Pleasant Valley Coal Mines in Carbon County, and by securing an agreement with Coalville mine owners to be the sole purchaser of their output.  Local mines could no longer ship ore over their own railroad, nor could they sell coal by the wagon load to entrepreneurs who exchanged coal for merchandise in Salt Lake City.  According to Leonard Arrington in his article "Utah's Coal Road",
"The bishops of the various Mormon wards in Salt Lake County were particularly interested in this matter because Salt Lake tithing produce had been carried by teams to Coalville for years.  There it was exchanged for coal which was brought to Salt Lake and used for welfare purposes, and for heating church office buildings, chapels, and business enterprises."

To add insult to injury, Gould installed his brother Abram Gould in Salt Lake as the sole agent for Union Pacific coal.  Abram attempted to freeze out the small independent dealers and sold coal only to large retailers.  With complete control, Union Pacific could sell coal from their Rock Springs mines exclusively and shipments from Coalville dwindled to 2 carloads per day.

Again the Mormons responded by organizing a railroad, the Utah Eastern Railroad Company, incorporated on December 27, 1879.  They had learned a thing or two, however, and this time the board of directors included mine owners from Park City.  Church leaders in Coalville agreed to run the railroad from Coalville to Kimball's Ranch in Parley's Park if the Salt Lake priesthood would match their effort with a line from Salt Lake City to Park City  to meet it.  The total distance would be fifty miles and the hope was that coal could be delivered in Salt Lake City for $3-4/ton.  President of the Board of Directors was R.C. Chambers, superintendent of the Ontario Mine in Park City and representative of George Hearst (father of William Randolph Hearst) and James Ben  Ali Haggin of San Francisco who each with Chambers owned one-third of the Ontario Mine.  Other board members were George M. Scott, Henry Dinwoodey, Francis Armstrong, Edmund Wilkes, John A Groesbeck, Joseph M. Cohen, Robert Harkness, and Robert T. Burton who represented the interests of the Mormon Church.

The formation of the Utah Eastern Railroad was guided by the fear that the Union Pacific would manage to acquire control of it as it had the other two railroads organized to counteract their monopoly.  To keep the Utah Eastern Railroad out of the hands of the Union Pacific, 4,000 of the total 7,000 shares of stock (valued at $100/share) were placed in the hands of three trustees who were to control it (even though it might be sold to others) for fifteen years.  Those trustees were Colonel Winder and Leonard W. Hardy representing the Mormons and Fred H. Auerbach, representing the non-Mormons.  Nearly all the construction costs were paid for with stock.  400 men with 150 teams graded the 23 miles from Coalville to Park City between May and August, 1880.  The grading work, right of way and the ties were secured, prepared and paid for with company stock.  The cash subscription of $82,400, however, was insufficient to pay for rails and rolling stock, so R.C. Chambers of the Ontario silver mine advanced $186,000 secured by 186 mortgage bonds at $1,000 each to purchase twenty five miles of track, an engine and ten cars from the bankrupt Nevada Central Railroad.

Though this transaction appeared to be in the best interests of the Utah Eastern at the time, it proved to be its undoing just three years later, for R.C. Chambers secretly sold the $186,000 worth of bonds at 12 shares/$1,000 bond plus bonus stock to James Ben Ali Haggin, giving him 2,232 shares and control over the Utah Eastern.  At that time the subscribers and trustees owned only 1,648 shares.  The remainder were unsold.  Haggin was president of the Ontario and vice-president of Wells Fargo and the Nevada Central Railroad.  Haggin and his partner and brother-in-law, Lloyd Tevis sold their shares to the Union Pacific in 1883, paving the way for a takeover at the annual stockholder's meeting in November.

Without benefit of foresight, however, the Utah Eastern Railroad pushed forward with grading the bed.  The 23 miles of grade was ready on August 27, 1880 and the next few months were filled with feverish activity.  R.C. Chambers purchased the rails, engine and ten cars from the Nevada Central on September 8.  On November 5, workers began laying the track and they tooted triumphantly into Park City on December 12, 1880.

Where was the Union Pacific during all this activity?  They were right beside the Utah Eastern, laying parallel track and hoping to beat the upstart to the lucrative promise of transporting coal to and silver ore from the new Park City mines!  When the Summit County Railroad defaulted on its bonds in 1877, the Union Trust stepped in to secure its investment and in October, 1880 the transaction was completed, transferring the Summit County Railroad to Sydney Dillon of the Union Pacific for $75,000.  Another railroad race was on.  The Union Pacific, in possession of the old grade, laid standard gauge track and puffed in to Park City as the Echo and Park City Railroad, just a month behind the Utah Eastern in January, 1881.  It is remarkable that the Utah Eastern was able to reach Park City first, for the Union Pacific tried to delay the shipment of their rails and rolling stock.  Before Union Pacific knew what they were up to, they agreed to transport the old Nevada Central equipment for $35 per car.  They ultimately charged $85 per car to transport just 40 miles from Ogden to Echo.  If they couldn't stop the Utah Eastern by charging exorbitant rates, or delaying their shipment of equipment, they would ultimately stop them by buying they company as reported earlier.

For nearly three years, the narrow-gauge Utah Eastern was a profitable railroad.  Prior to completion of the tracks, they entered into agreements with the Ontario Mining Company and the Empire Mining and Milling Company to deliver coal from Coalville and to ship out silver ore.  The Utah Eastern also formed the Home Coal Company by buying the Wasatch Coal Mine and others in Coalville and their agreement with the mining companies guaranteed coal at $4 per ton.  Though they delivered coal to teamsters at Kimball's ranch for wagon shipment to Salt Lake City, they didn't need to rely on Union Pacific transportation in order to be profitable.  The Utah Eastern had sufficient business as a result of their contracts to turn a profit.  The Union Pacific, on the other hand, delivered coal to Park City at $6 per ton and carried the bulk of the passenger traffic.

In November, 1883, as a result of the earlier shenanigans of R.C. Chambers, the Union Pacific was able to gain control of the profitable Utah Eastern Railroad.  They assumed the contracts of both the Ontario and Empire mines and immediately ceased shipments on the Utah Eastern.  The stockholders of the Utah Eastern protested the takeover and the voting of bonus stock and they were even granted a receiver, but all of their efforts were futile.  The lawyers of Utah were involved in defending polygamous Mormons against the Edmunds Act and the entire territory was in turmoil with most of the religious leaders in hiding or in jail.  The tracks of the Utah Eastern were pulled, the narrow gauge equipment was sent to the Utah Northern.

The victory of the Union Pacific was not complete, however, for 1883 marks the year that the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad completed its line through the rich coal fields of Carbon County, Utah.  Prices of coal in Utah became competitive and the stranglehold of the Union Pacific was broken.

The promised Utah Eastern line from Salt Lake City to Park City was eventually built as the Utah Central which became the Denver and Rio Grande.  Part of the old alignment of the original Utah Eastern was used but it was abandoned in 1947 and reverted to adjacent property owners.

The Echo and Park City Railroad became a part of the Union Pacific in 1900.  The line served for 100 years, hauling passengers, farm products, coal and ore for one of the nation's greatest silver mining districts.  Coal was hauled for many years from Grass Creek between Coalville and Echo to the Devil's Slide Cement plant to process cement for the building of Boulder Dam.  Beginning in the 1930's winter sports enthusiasts used the Union Pacific for ski trains to Deer Valley, Snow Park and Park City Ski Area, but that business was not sufficient to justify maintaining the railroad.

The Phoston Spur was originally constructed in 1923 to serve mines centered around Keetley in Wasatch County.  It was extended to the Mayflower Mine and hauled ore from those profitable mines for many years.  In 1986, all that remained of the spur was the track to the Chevron phosphate processing plant which received ore transported there by truck from mines near Vernal.  Chevron built a pipeline to convey the product by slurry to the Union Pacific lines in Wyoming and dismantled their plant in Phoston.  That portion of the line was included in the abandonment, acquired by Utah Division of Parks and Recreation and will be opened for non-motorized trail use to connect to the trail system that is being built around the Jordanelle Reservoir.


9.  Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography
Arrington, Leonard J., "Utah's Coal Road in the Age of Unregulated Competition," Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 23 (1955) pp. 35-63.

Arrington, Leonard J. and Bitton, Davis, The Mormon Experience, A History of the Latter Day Saints, Vintage Books, New York, p. 174.

Athearn, Robert G., Rebel of the Rockies, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1962.

Bender, Henry E. Jr., Uintah Railway, The  Gilsonite Route,  Howell-North Books, Berkeley, California, 1970, p. 5.

Carr, Stephen L. and Edwards, Robert W., Utah Ghost Rails, Western Epics, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1989, p. 100-103.

Hampshire, David, "Rail Life Stories", Lodestar Magazine, Volume 15 No. 2, Summer l992, p. 27.

The Haggin Collection, a catalogue published by the San Joaquin Pioneer and Historical Society, Stockton, California, 1991.

LeMassena, Robert A., Rio Grande...to the Pacific, Sundance Limited, 100 Kalamath Street, Denver Colorado 80223, 1974.

Pitchard, George E., A Utah Railroad Scrapbook, Salt Lake City, UT, 1987.  Available at University of Utah, Marriott Library, Special Collections HE 2771U8P51988.

Reeder, Clarence A. Jr., The History of Utah's Railroads 1869-1883, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Utah, Department of History, 1970.

Ringholz, Raye Carleson, Diggings and Doings in Park City, Park City, UT, 1983, p. 60.

Robertson, Donald B., Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho, 1986.

Strack, Don, 1212 North 225 West, Centerville, UT 84014-1104, unpublished material.

Thompson, George and Buck, Fraser, Treasure Mountain Home, Dream Garden Press, Salt Lake City, UT, 1981, p. 33.

Tullidge, Edward W., History of Northern Utah and Southern Idaho, Salt Lake City, 1889, p. 131.

10.  Geographical Data
Acreage of Property  490 acres

UTM References

Verbal Boundary Description
The northern boundary of the Historic Summit County Rail Trail is its junction with the Union Pacific main line at Echo, Utah.  It continues southward across the eastern shore of Echo Reservoir and passes through Coalville, Utah west of Main Street.  The Rail Trail  runs along I-80 west of Hoytsville and passes through the community of Wanship.  From there, it lies between the 2 lanes of I-80 as it goes up Silver Creek Canyon.   At Atkinson, it separates from I-80 and crosses ranch land to Monroc and Geneva Steel near Quinn's Junction at U.S. 40 and Utah Highway 248.  At Keetly Junction, the Phoston Spur goes east south east  and the Park City branch travels west south west to a point east of Bonanza Drive in Park City.  The width of the Rail Trail property varies from 50 - 100 feet with larger parcels adjoining that once served as stockyards and loading stations.  There is one such parcel in Atkinson that is 130' x 165' and another in Coalville, north of Chalk Creek that is currently being used as parking and trail head.  The southern boundary of the Rail Trail is mile 26.88 of the old railroad, just east of Bonanza Drive.

Boundary Justification
The boundary is defined on Union Pacific Railroad maps and is coincidental with that portion owned by Utah Division of Parks and Recreation.
11.  Form Prepared By
Sally Elliott, 2690 Sidewinder Dr., Park City, UT 84060, 801-649-5712 for Summit County Historical Society



Property Owner  Utah Division of Parks and Recreation.
 
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