Bingham was formerly a town in a narrow canyon on the east face of the Oquirrh Mountains in southwestern Salt Lake County, Utah, United States.
Photographs ...Construction of underground elevator room captured in Bingham's US mine photo series
Bingham Canyon was first settled in 1848 by Mormon settlers Thomas and Sanford Bingham. The area was originally used for livestock and timber.
Bingham Utah 1910
Ore discoveries were made by early settlers, but the Mormon Church discouraged mining at the time and the discoveries were ignored and eventually forgotten.
In the early 1860s, rich gold and silver ores were rediscovered in the area. A mining district was organized, but the remote location of the mines and the high cost of transporting goods by wagon on the crude roads made mining uneconomical, making development slow.
Italian Boarding House and Bar - Bingham, Utah ca. 1910
A few miners persevered and rich gold spots were discovered on Bingham Creek. A few lucky prospectors struck it rich, but many managed to survive these early years, and by the late 1860s about a hundred miners had settled in the area.
In 1873 the Bingham and Camp Floyd branch of the Utah Central Railroad was completed, which greatly changed the mining situation in Bingham Canyon. Heavy equipment transportation became feasible and mining of the rich finds began in earnest. Mills and smelters were built and Bingham Canyon became a prosperous mining region.
By the turn of the century, a copper mining boom developed in Bingham Canyon. Smaller mines were consolidated in the hands of larger mining companies that had the resources to develop mines on a scale not previously possible.
US Mine Miners - Bingham, Utah ca. 1930
The growing demand for copper transformed Bingham into a major industrial town. Miners from around the world called Bingham home, and in the 1920s the town peaked at over 15,000 residents.
Many mining towns are known for being built in unlikely or uncertain locations, but Bingham may be the most extreme example. Built in a very narrow valley, the city stretched for nearly seven miles along one main road. Various ethnic neighborhoods make up the residential parts of the city, representing Italy, France, Ireland, Great Britain, Japan and many other nationalities.
Train carrying ore at Bingham Mine ca. 1914
The success of the local mines ultimately proved to be the town's undoing, however: By the mid-twentieth century, the large open pit Bingham Canyon Mine began encroaching on the community. The last buildings were destroyed in 1972 and the widening pit swallowed the entire city
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