Horn Silver Mine at Frisco, Utah
This page was last updated on May 29, 2011.
(This is a work in progress; research continues.)
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Overview
Railroad service reached Frisco in June 1880 when the Utah Southern Railroad Extension finished its route south from York, at the southern end of Utah Valley. This was a Union Pacific-controlled company, and within a year, UP had taken control of connecting lines Utah Central Railway (between Ogden and Salt Lake City) and Utah Southern Railroad (between Salt Lake City and York). The Utah Southern Railroad Extension as organized as a Union Pacific enterprise to extend the rails of Utah Southern south to reach the silver mines at Frisco, the largest of which, the Horn Silver mine, was partly controlled by men who were also directors of Union Pacific. Union Pacific consolidated its control with by organizing the Utah Central Railway in July 1881, which was a merger of Utah Central Railroad, Utah Southern Railroad, and Utah Southern Railroad Extension.
The mines at Frisco were found to be very rich in silver and lead ores. By the end of 1882, the Horn Silver mine alone shipped $6 million worth of ore.
Timeline
September 16, 1887:
"The Utah Central road has closed its Frisco freight, ticket and telegraph
offices, as they don't pay. Trains will run up there from Milford just the
same, but all the clerical work will be done either at Milford or by the conductors." (Salt Lake Daily Tribune, September 16, 1887)
1928
Tintic Lead Company purchased the claims of the old Horn Silver Mine near Milford.
1931
Tintic Lead Company shut down the old Horn Silver Mine.
Railroad Service Abandoned
February 27, 1925
LA&SL received Utah Public Utilities Commission approval to discontinue regular service between Frisco and Newhouse. The line was constructed in the latter part of 1904 for the Newhouse Mining Company and the Cactus Mining Company. By 1925 the town of Newhouse had been dismantled and the railroad's only traffic was tank cars of water for the local sheep ranches. (Public Service Commission of Utah, case 741)
1931
Regular service on the Frisco Branch had ended in 1931 with the shutdown of
the old Horn Silver mine by the Tintic Lead Company, which had bought the property
in 1928. The extension was washed out in several places during 1934 and 1935.
Passenger service had ended in 1928.
April 21, 1937:
LA&SL applied to abandon the Newhouse Extension portion of Frisco Branch, from
Frisco to Newhouse, Finance Docket 10623, approved April 21, 1937. (221 ICC
309) (see
also Utah Public Service Commission files, Box B65T1, research done on September 14, 1987)
May 22, 1937
The railroad had applied to abandon the entire Frisco Branch, along with the
Newhouse Extension. But the ICC imposed a two year test period, at the suggestion
of the Utah State Industrial Development Board, to allow development of potential
mine traffic, from Frisco to Milford. (Abandonment approved by the ICC in
Finance Docket 10623, effective May 22, 1937, reported in 221 ICC 309)
September 10, 1937
In 1937 Union Pacific's depot was the only structure remaining in Newhouse
and at Frisco there was only the railroad's depot and two houses. Work on removal
of the extension was begun on September 10, 1937.
October 7, 1937
LA&SL completed removal of the seven-mile Newhouse Extension, Mile Post 16.5 (Frisco) to Mile Post 23.5 (Newhouse, end of branch) of the Frisco Branch. The removal was done under Work Order 934. The Newhouse Extension had been completed in September 1904 to connect with Samuel Newhouse's Newhouse Mines & Smelting mill railroad, the Newhouse, Copper Gulch & Sevier Lake Railroad, which shut down in 1927. (Union Pacific engineering department records)
July 24, 1942:
LA&SL to abandon Frisco Branch, "line in Beaver
County, Utah".
Applied January 26, 1942, approved July 24, 1942, effective 60 days later,
on September 24, 1942. (ICC Finance Docket 13611, case not reported, listed
in 252 ICC 803; Utah Public Service Commission files, Box B65T1)
- Protested by Industrial Development Department of the State of Utah because "several marginal mines are producing metals (including copper and zinc oxide) needed for the war effort".
- Paved road in service between Frisco and Milford.
- UP was given a 90 day extension because new traffic had developed for the branch.
- UP was given an additional six month extension on December 15, 1942, with the approval for abandonment taking effect on June 30, 1943.
- Additional extension denied on June 17, 1943.
August 28, 1943:
LA&SL completed removal of 15.29 miles of the Frisco Branch, from Mile
Post 1.21 to Mile Post 16.5 (Frisco, end of track). The branch was retired
on June 22, 1943, after abandonment was approved by the ICC on July 24, 1942. (Work
order 2528; ICC Finance Docket 13611, effective September 24, 1942)
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