Salduro, Utah

Salduro
Ghost town
Western Pacific Railroad in Salduro, 1911[1]
Western Pacific Railroad in Salduro, 1911[1]
Salduro is located in Utah
Salduro
Salduro
Salduro is located in the United States
Salduro
Salduro
Coordinates: 40°44′06″N 113°51′23″W / 40.73500°N 113.85639°W / 40.73500; -113.85639
CountryUnited States
StateUtah
CountyTooele
Elevation
4,219 ft (1,286 m)
Time zoneUTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)
GNIS feature ID1437674[2]

Salduro (also Salduro Siding) is a ghost town located in Tooele County, Utah, United States.[2]

Description

The name "Salduro" is a combination of Spanish words sal and duro and means "hard salt".[3]

The settlement was located on the geologically significant Salduro Salt Marsh, also known as the Bonneville Salt Flats.[4]

Bonneville Speedway is located approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) north of Salduro.[5]

History

Eastbound Western Pacific Railroad passenger train crossing the Bonneville Salt Flats near Salduro (1912).

Salduro formed next to the Western Pacific Railroad, which was completed in the early 1900s. Significant salt beds were identified during the construction of the railroad, and several mining claims soon followed. After several years of unprofitable attempts to produce salt, the claims were leased by the Capell Salt Company, which erected a small mill near Salduro.[6]

A rest area on Interstate 80 was built at the former settlement. A plaque there commemorates the land speed records set on the Bonneville Salt Flats. (July 2014)

Circa 1916, the Capell Salt Company merged into (or was transferred to) the Solvay Process Company, a potash producer. That same year, the Solvay Process Company began extracting potash from subsurface brines of the Salduro Salt Marsh. The operation was constructed on the south side of the Western Pacific Railroad at Salduro station.[6]

On June 23, 1924, U.S. Army test pilot Russell Maughan performed the first dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight across the United States, flying a Curtiss P-1 Hawk. One of his five refueling stops was in Salduro.[citation needed]

The settlement gained prominence in the 1930s and 1940s, when significant potash and salt were mined nearby.[3]

Decline

In 1944, the potash plant at Salduro closed. Shortly after, fire swept through the settlement, and it was soon abandoned.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Colborn, Edward F. (1911). A Glimpse of Utah. Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. p. 51.
  2. ^ a b "Salduro". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ^ a b c Van Cott, John W. (1990). Utah Place Names: A Comprehensive Guide to the Origins of Geographic Names: A Compilation. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. pp. 325–26. ISBN 978-0-87480-345-7. OCLC 797284427. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Phalen, W.C. (1919). Salt Resources of the United States (PDF). United States Department of the Interior. p. 158.
  5. ^ "MyTopo Maps - Salduro, UT, USA" (Map). mytopo.com. Trimble Navigation, Ltd. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Gwynn, J. Wallace. "History of Potash Production from the Salduro Salt Marsh (Bonneville Salt Flats), Tooele County". geology.utah.gov. Utah Geological Survey. Retrieved March 7, 2018.

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