Colton is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

located near the southeastern edge of

Utah County Utah County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Utah. The county seat and largest city is Provo, which is the state's third-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States Census, the ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States, approximately south of Soldier Summit. Formerly a busy

railroad junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by ''points'' ( ...

on the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from D ...

, Colton is a landmark on U.S. Route 6 between the cities of Spanish Fork and

Price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the ...

. __TOC__

History

The site was first settled in 1883 under the name of Pleasant Valley Junction, where the Pleasant Valley Railroad connected the mining town of Winter Quarters, to the south, to the Rio Grande line. This line was soon abandoned, replaced by a Rio Grande branch along a much easier grade between Pleasant Valley Junction and Scofield. Pleasant Valley Junction quickly grew to include a store, hotel, and five

saloons Saloon may refer to: Buildings and businesses * One of the bars in a traditional British pub * An alternative name for a bar (establishment) * Western saloon, a historical style of American bar * The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...

. In addition to the railroad, the mining and milling of

ozokerite Ozokerite or ozocerite, archaically referred to as earthwax or earth wax, is a naturally occurring odoriferous mineral wax or paraffin found in many localities. Lacking a definite composition and crystalline structure, it is not considered a mi ...

was important in the local economy. Sometime just before 1898 the town was renamed Colton in honor of railroad official William F. Colton. Two years later in 1900 the

Scofield mine disaster The Scofield Mine disaster was a mining explosion that occurred at the Winter Quarters coal mine on May 1, 1900. The mine was located at near the town of Scofield, Utah. In terms of life lost, it was the worst mining accident at that point in Am ...

dealt the entire area a serious blow, but Colton survived. In 1915 Colton nearly experienced a second boom when the railroad considered forming a division point here, but they eventually chose Soldier Summit instead. Colton stayed a fairly busy railroad town—in fact, the town burned and was rebuilt three times. When the introduction of diesel locomotives began to eliminate the need for helper engines to push trains over the Summit, Colton rapidly declined. By the 1950s most of the railroad operations were stopped and the buildings removed. The most noticeable remnant of Colton is the Hilltop Country Store, which was moved up to the highway in 1937, but is no longer in business. A few intact buildings and ruins are still found in the townsite itself.

References

External links

Colton
at GhostTowns.com

at Legends of America {{Utah County, Utah Ghost towns in Utah County, Utah Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Populated places established in 1883 1883 establishments in Utah Territory Ghost towns in Utah

History

See also

References

External links