Discovery of Coal

Grass Creek

Coal was discovered in Grass Creek in the 1860s and the Grass Creek Fuel Company quickly raised a company town for its workers. In 1884 a narrow gauge track was built and the town reached its peak between 1910 and 1920 with a population of 200. However increasing costs and competition from other coal mining areas forced the mines to close and the last coal came out of Grass Creek in 1940.

Coalville

Camped near present Coalville in 1858, immigrants saw mature wheat where a grain bag had spilled the previous year. A supply center for farmers, the town was originally named Chalk Creek, but the name was changed when Thomas Rhodes discovered coal. The Summit County Courthouse, in Coalville, was built of native stone in 1903 to 1904 and has been recently restored.

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