Desert Lake, Utah

Ghost town in Utah, United States

39°22′24″N 110°46′57″W / 39.37333°N 110.78250°W / 39.37333; -110.78250CountryUnited StatesStateUtahCountyEmeryFounded1885Abandoned1910Elevation

^[1]

5,577 ft (1,700 m)

Desert Lake is a ghost town in Castle Valley in northern Emery County, Utah, United States. It was inhabited from 1885 to about 1910.^[2]^[3]

History

In 1885, several families moved from the nearby town of Cleveland to an area they called Desert Lake, and built a 500-foot (150 m) embankment dam to impound a 300-acre (1.2 km²) irrigation reservoir (Desert Lake).^[4] In 1896, the dam broke, causing significant damage.^[2] The LDS Church provided $1000 to rebuild the dam, and also to extend a ditch southwest to Cleveland.^[4]

The 1900 United States Census reported Desert Lake's population at 127.^[5] Six years after the Census was taken, in 1906, the Desert Lake area was surveyed. An LDS church, a general store, several frame homes, and a school were constructed. The general store also served as the town's post office.^[6]

A problem throughout the valley occurred as farmers irrigated land, which dropped the water table and caused alkali in the soil to rise.^[4] The alkaline soil eroded adobe structures and caused many crops to fail.^[4] As the alkali in the soil concentrated, the residents of Desert Lake moved about 6 miles (9.7 km) away and founded the town of Victor. A few log homes make up what's left of the town of Desert Lake.^[6]

References

^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Desert Lake
^ ^a ^b Thompson, George A. (1988). Some Dreams Die: Utah's Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures. Salt Lake City: Dream Garden Press. pp. 111–112. ISBN 0-942688-01-5.
^ Van Cott, John W. (1990). Utah Place Names: A Comprehensive Guide to the Origins of Geographic Names. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. p. 108. ISBN 9780874803457. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Taniguchi, Nancy J. (2004). Castle Valley, America: hard land, hard-won home. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. pp. 113. ISBN 0-87421-589-7.
^ Geary, Edward A. (1996). A History of Emery County. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society. p. 115. ISBN 0-913738-05-0.
^ ^a ^b Carr, Stephen L. (1986) [1972]. The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns. Salt Lake City: Western Epics. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-914740-30-8.