Woodside, Utah
Woodside is a ghost town on the west bank of the Price River in the nearly uninhabited eastern part of Emery County , Utah . His fenced gas station is one of the few signs of human activity on this lonely stretch of US Route 6 or 191 between Wellington and the Green River .
history
The city's development began around 1880 with the construction of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad railway bridge and a water tower for steam locomotives . The first resident in the area was the local prospector Henry H. Hutchinson, who settled there in 1881.
Over the next few years, more and more people settled there and began to dig irrigation ditches. Attracted by the abundant water and the Canadian poplar , which was abundant and growing well, they founded a settlement called Lower Crossing.
As the town grew, with new shops and a blacksmith, it was named Woodside because of the poplar grove.
One of the greatest challenges Woodside faced was the Price River itself. Before the Scofield Reservoir was built, the water level in the river fluctuated widely, with highs at the beginning of the year and nearly dried up in late summer. Due to the large water catchment area of the river, even a distant downpour could mean a destructive flash flood for Woodside. Despite these problems, the city grew steadily.
A hotel and warehouse were built next to the railroad station, making Woodside a supply base for neighboring farms. The school building, built in 1892, also served as a meeting place for the residents.
Around 1900 the city had 114 inhabitants. The peak was reached 20 years later with 300 people. In the late 1920s, Woodside lost its stop and the associated livestock transports when the railroad bundled these and many other duties into Helper . This blow was followed by several periods of drought in the 1930s, and by 1940 the population had fallen to 30 people.
Woodside became a minor tourist attraction in the 1940s. The railway company built a water well around 1880, which over time turned into a bubbling mud hole due to naturally occurring carbon dioxide escaping at high pressure. This hole developed further into a cold water geyser of great tourist interest , near which a shop, a café and a gas station were built, as Route 6 now also passed Woodside. By 1970, both the shop and café burned down, leaving the geyser and gas station the only remnants of Woodside.
The geyser previously reached an eruption height of 23 meters, which it is nowhere near. A plaque explaining the city's history is located in the now fenced-in area of the city, where the current owner keeps two llamas.
Woodside today
As of mid-2012, the entire city area has been on sale for $ 3.9 million.
