centralutah

Central Utah

The east-central portion of Utah has rich heritage linked to the mining industry. Kenilworth was built in the early 1900's as the company town for employees of Independent Coal and Coke Company. The company primarily employed miners of Greek descent, and was the first mining operation to challenge the monopoly of the areas major mining interests. The homes and buildings in Kenilworth were simple and utilitarian. The Company Store carried an eclectic variety of merchandise, striving to meet all the needs of miners and their families. The residents of Kenilworth and the Independent Coal and Coke Company are all long gone now, but the company store and their scattered buildings still stand.

Photo: Kenilworth Company Store, near Helper

In the Central Utah town of Fillmore, Territorial Statehouse State Park marks the location of Utah's first Territorial Government in the mid 1850's.

Photo: Territorial Statehouse State Park

The desert country of the San Rafael Swell in east-central Utah is a wildly beautiful and unforgiving landscape. In Utah's early days, cowboys and outlaws alike galloped across its vast, open stretches, and camped in its twisting stone canyons. But even with its many hide-outs and wide tracts of grazing land, nobody stayed around too long until the Swasey brothers came in the late 1800's Sid, Joe, Charlie and Jack Swasey were sturdy fellows with a penchant for working and playing hard. Local lore says Sid had "a wild streak a mile wide" and once leaped his horse eleven feet across a gorge of the San Rafael River 100 feet below, and lived to tell the tale. The Swasey's built a cabin and hidden corral where they freely welcomed lonely cowboys and outlaws on the run.

Photo: Swasey's Cabin / San Rafael Swell

More Stories & Images of Utah's Past
Northern Utah
Central Utah
Southern Utah

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