Alunite ( ) is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

located some south of Marysvale, near the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon in Piute County,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. A small but important mining town during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Alunite was inhabited from approximately 1915–1930.

History

In 1912, a

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

named Thomas Gillan discovered a wide

vein Veins () are blood vessels in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and feta ...

of spar in Cottonwood Canyon. The sample he sent for analysis was identified as

alunite Alunite is a hydroxylated aluminium potassium sulfate mineral, formula potassium, Kaluminium, Al3(sulfur, Soxygen, O4)2(Ohydrogen, H)6. It was first observed in the 15th century at Tolfa, near Rome, where it was mined for the manufacture of alum ...

, an

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

rich in both

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

and

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

. Gillan made a deal with the Mineral Products Corporation to develop the deposit, mine the alunite, and extract potash for

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

. By 1915, the company had constructed a reduction plant in the mouth of the canyon to produce potash from the ore. The small

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

that grew up around the plant was also named after the ore and was simply called, ''Alunite''. Because the town was so close to Marysvale, it never had its own church or business district, but it did have a school,

company store A company store is a retail store selling a limited range of food, clothing and daily necessities to employees of a company. It is typical of a company town in a remote area where virtually everyone is employed by one firm, such as a coal mine. In ...

, and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

When the United States entered World War I, the Alunite mines gained strategic importance as the only domestic source of potash, needed for manufacturing explosives that was already under development. The government also saw the potential in alunite's aluminium content, and installed a 24-hour work force experimenting with processes to extract

alumina Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...

from alunite. This caused an increase in the town’s employee population which reached to over 100. The war also brought rumors of foreign

spies Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations. Spies or The Spies may also refer to: Arts and media Films * ''Spies'' (1928 film), English title for ''Spione'', a 1928 German film by Fritz Lan ...

and saboteurs. Suspicious fires were blamed on enemy agents, and there were reports of people caught trying to bomb the potash plants or gather sensitive information. Most of the alunite mining activity ended after the war. The alumina extraction experiments had been successful, but the processes developed were prohibitively expensive. Demand for potash continued to drop, until by 1930 it was too costly to produce. The mines were closed, the mill torn down, and Alunite became a ghost town. A second small attempt was made to extract aluminum during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but none of the town was ever rebuilt. Alunite still lies in ruins today; but numerous foundations and walls are still visible.

References

External links

Alunite
at GhostTowns.com {{authority control Ghost towns in Utah Mining communities in Utah Populated places established in 1915 Company towns in Utah Ghost towns in Piute County, Utah

History

See also

References

External links