Hiawatha, Utah

Hiawatha is a ghost town, formerly a coal mining town in Carbon County, Utah, United States. The town is located at the base of Gentry Mountain, some 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Price. It used to be a vibrant mining town, with a population of above 1,500 in the 1940s. Coal was discovered here in 1909, a mine was built, a railroad was constructed, and the city was incorporated in 1911. Another nearby village called Blackhawk was merged with Hiawatha in 1915. Hiawatha was a company town. The United States Fuel Company, which owned the Hiawatha mine and had its headquarters there, essentially ran the town. After the 1940s, production began to drop and people moved away. The population fell from 439 in 1960, to 43 in 1990. The city was disincorporated on November 20, 1992. On December 12, 1997, the permit for the Hiawatha Mines Complex was transferred from U.S. Fuel Company to Hiawatha Coal Company. The company plans to recommence mining in the near future. In September 2006, the Carbon County commission approved the rezoning of three of Hiawatha's six sections as residential, at the request of the property owner ANR Inc. It is estimated that around three or four families currently live in Hiawatha. Some homes have been remodeled, and further construction is ongoing. Hiawatha was also notable for having a vibrant Greek immigrant community, particularly from the island of Crete.