Echo is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, su ...
located in northwestern
Summit County,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
, United States. The population was 56 at the
2010 census.
Echo was founded in 1854. The community took its name from nearby Echo Canyon.
History
Echo originated as a stopover along the
Mormon trail
The Mormon Trail is the long route from Illinois to Utah that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled for 3 months. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon ...
. Later the town served as a junction between the
First transcontinental railroad
North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
and a spur line to serve silver mines near
Park City. Since the creation of
U.S. Highways
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these ...
Echo has served as a highway junction, where the main road coming from
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...
splits with one branch proceeding towards
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
, continuing towards
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, and the other towards
Ogden, continuing to
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...
. Originally the main highway was numbered
U.S. Route 30S U.S. Route 30S may refer to:
* U.S. Route 30S (Oregon), now OR 201 and US 20/US 26 from Ontario to Caldwell
* U.S. Route 30S (Idaho–Utah–Wyoming), now I-84 and I-80 from Burley to Granger
* U.S. Route 30S (Nebraska–Iowa), now US 275, US 6, and ...
and the branch was
U.S. Route 530; the modern freeway equivalents are numbered
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one ...
and
Interstate 84.
Echo was significant to the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
. The town served as a coaling and watering station for trains entering
Echo Canyon. From Echo,
helper locomotives were added, when needed, to push trains up the steep grade to
Wahsatch. A large
coaling tower and many other railroad infrastructures existed in and around the town. Echo saw the most action during World War II.
The introduction of diesel power, especially after the war, negated the need for the services previously required by steam. The coaling tower, most trackage, and structures were removed.
Echo had faded by the sixties, yet was still alive by the junction of two major highways. However, the arrival of the interstate relegated the town to a few quaint buildings; some homes, a motel, restaurant and bus station. A tavern sells cigarettes, food, and beer. Nearby; Echo Canyon is a magnificent spectacle with its high rock sides and colorful scenery. The canyon begins just east of Echo and ends outside of
Wahsatch, Utah.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
[ of 2010, there were 56 people living in the CDP. There were 31 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 96.4% White and 3.6% American Indian and Alaska Native. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.6% of the population.
]
Education
It is in the North Summit School District
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
.
Climate
Echo has a continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing so ...
( Köppen ''Dfb'') characterized by cold, snowy winters and hot summers with high diurnal temperature variation
In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day.
Temperature lag
Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak ...
.
See also
* List of census-designated places in Utah
This article lists census-designated places (CDPs) in the U.S. state of Utah. At the 2010 census, there were 81 CDPs in Utah. That number dropped to 79 in 2016 when first Dutch John then Millcreek incorporated, and to 74 when five in Salt Lake ...
*
References
{{authority control
Populated places established in 1854
Census-designated places in Summit County, Utah
Census-designated places in Utah
1854 establishments in Utah Territory