Photo/Dan Meyers on Unsplash
Photo/Dan Meyers on Unsplash
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Southern Utah is home to several ghost towns. Wikipedia describes a ghost town as an “abandoned village, town, or city that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads”.  

 

A location can become a ghost town due to a change in economic activity, natural disaster, or human-caused disaster. Some examples include Pripyat, Ukraine, Craco, and Pompeii in Italy and the ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings.  

Anasazi Pueblo
Getty Images
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Photo/Manasa Dendukuri on Unsplash
Photo/Manasa Dendukuri on Unsplash
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Photo/Alfonso Scarpa on Unsplash
Photo/Alfonso Scarpa on Unsplash
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Now that we know more about ghost towns, let’s look at five southern Utah ghost towns. 

 

Photo/Nathan Atkinson on Unsplash
Photo/Nathan Atkinson on Unsplash
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Grafton: located in Rockville, Grafton was settled by LDS Church pioneers in 1859. Grafton has been used as a filming location. 

 

Photo/Nathan Atkinson on Unsplash
Photo/Nathan Atkinson on Unsplash
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Frisco: located in Beaver County, Frisco was an active mining camp from 1879-1929. The town was once a thriving town of 6,000. 

Photo/Google Maps
Photo/Google Maps
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Photo/Google Maps
Photo/Google Maps
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Silver Reef: 15 miles northeast of St. George, Silver Reef was established after John Kemple a prospector from Nevada discovered a vein of silver in the sandstone in 1866. 

 

Photo/Google Maps
Photo/Google Maps
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Photo/Google Maps
Photo/Google Maps
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Photo/Google Maps
Photo/Google Maps
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Old Irontown: located 22 miles from Cedar City, Old Irontown was founded in 1868 as a second attempt to mine iron from Iron Mountain. 

 

Photo/Google Maps
Photo/Google Maps
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Photo/Google Maps
Photo/Google Maps
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Paria: located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Paria was inhabited from 1870-1929. Like Grafton, Paria has been used as a filming location. 

Photo/John Fowler on Unsplash
Photo/John Fowler on Unsplash
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Photo/John Fowler on Unsplash
Photo/John Fowler on Unsplash
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Atlas Obscura was a helpful resource for this piece. I'll link their pieces on Abandoned Places in Utah and Ghost Towns in Utah.

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