Hiawatha, Utah

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 here, essentially ran the town. [cite book | last = Carr | first = Stephen L. | title = The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns | edition = 3rd edition | origyear = 1972 | origmonth = June | year = 1986 | publisher = Western Epics | location = Salt Lake City, Utah | pages = p.83 | isbn = 0-914740-30-X ] After the 1940s, production began to drop and people began to move 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. [cite web | url = http://dogm.nr.state.ut.us/coal/mines/C007011.htm | title = Permit C007011 | accessdate = 2007-12-19 | publisher = Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil, Gas and Mining] 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. [cite news | last = Bowen | first = Les | title = Commission denies request for approval of 12-lot subdivision | work = Sun Advocate | date = September 12 2006 | url = http://www.sunad.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=9601 | accessdate = 2007-12-19 ] It is estimated that around three or four families currently live in Hiawatha. Some homes have been remodeled, and further construction is ongoing.

It is the belief of some people that both Hiawatha Coal Co. and ANR Inc. are owned by the Latter Day Church of Christ's Davis County Cooperative Society.cite web| url = http://www.xmission.com/~plporter/lds/kingston.htm#Holdings | title = Kingstons' Utah Holdings: An Incomplete List | accessdate = 2008-07-31] This belief has been propagated by ex-members of the church. The officers of both companies deny this, and the issue is currently being litigated in the Utah court system.

Hiawatha was also notable for having a vibrant Greek immigrant community, particularly from the island of Crete, who lived in the town and worked in the local coal mines.

ee also

*John E. Moss, a politician born in Hiawatha

References

External links

* cite web
author = Don Strack
title = Old Hiawatha Mine
work = Utah Rails—Utah Fuels the West: Utah's coal industry and the railroads that served it
url = http://utahrails.net/utahcoal/utahcoal-old-hiawatha.php
accessdate = 2007-11-15
* cite web
author = Wallace R. Baldwin
title = Hiawatha, Utah: Black Coal Dust and White, White Snow
url = http://hometown.aol.com/wallybaldw/index.html
accessdate = 2007-11-15