GOLD HILL

Gold Hill (Tooele) is on Gold Hill Wash, three miles southeast of Woodman Peak and five miles north of Ibapah. California gold seekers discovered gold here in 1858 and a smelter was subsequently built in 1871. The town sas named after the low gold-bearing mountain to the east. The 1869 settlement consisted of dugouts and shacks made from willow and cedar posts. Several mines eventually opened in this vicinity and gold, copper, silver, lead tungsten, arsenic and bismuth were mined. Ultimately, the mines were thought to be worked out and the town was abandoned. Then, in 1916 the mines were revitalized for World War I and the population peaked at three thousand. In 1938 the last train pulled away and the town died once more, only to be reopened again for World War II, after which it was again abandoned. Today, eleven residents live in Gold Hill.

John W. Van Cott