Dragerton, Utah 84520
Established 1943 ---- Incorporated 1974
Dragerton. net
 Welcome to my website which is dedicated to the history of the area known as East Carbon Utah, which consists of the towns of Sunnyside, Columbia, Dragerton (now known as East Carbon City)


Sunnyside



East Carbon was first established in 1887 when George Whitmore arrived in the area looking for a suitable place to establish a cattle ranch.  Soon after his arrival a Scotsman by the name of Lord Scott-Elliott arrived and built the Big Spring Ranch where he place over 10,000 head of sheep.

In 1896 Jefferson Tidwell and his three sons discovered an outcrop of coal in Whitmore Canyon and began mining soon after.  By 1897 the Pleasant Valley Coal Company had purchased the mine from Tidwell.  In 1899 Utah Fuel acquired the mine and for the next fifty years operated the mine in Sunnyside.  In 1942 Kaiser Steel arrived in the area and by 1950 had acquired the mine from Utah Fuel and for the next fifty years operated the mine providing employment for thousands of men who came there from all walks of life.
In 1942 the Defense Plant Corporation arrived in East Carbon and began the process of turning the barren beachlands surrounding the Book Cliff Mountains into a modern coal mining community.   The Ryburg/Strong/Grant construction company arrived to make the transformation of this waste land into the town of Dragerton. 
The Defense Plant Corporation fell under the umbrella of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), which was established after the Great Depression to provide relief to the nation’s banks and energize a stagnant economy.  From 1941 until 1945, the RFC was the financial institute of the government.  During that period it had authorized more than two billion dollars in loans and investments each year, peaking at more than six billion dollars being authorized in 1943.
 

The Whitmore Cattle Company was established in 1878 and at one time had as many as 30 cowboys working for them.  Their land holding stretched from what is now the Sunnyside Park to the area now known as the  Mounds.

image courtesy of the National Archives

 

The early coal miners of Sunnyside lived in tents until cottages could be built.
                                              image from the George Edward Anderson Collection
                                               Courtesy Brigham Young University 


Robert Forrester was placed in charge of developing Sunnyside's coal industry.  Utah Fuel played a major role in East Carbon's coal industry from 1897 to 1950. The tipple in the background and timbers used inside the mine for reinforcing the ceiling of the mine.

image from the George Edward Anderson Collection courtesy of Brigham Young University
 

In 1921 Leon Felix Rains established his coal operation just south of Utah Fuel's operation and developed the town of Columbia. 

 
Looking north west from the tipple at the town of Columbia.  This small mining town was built in 1921 and was one of three mine operating in East Carbon.  The mine shut down in 1967 and the town which at one time had a population of over 1400 residents has at present fewer then 100.  In 1974 the town was incorporated along with the town of Dragerton to make the new town of East Carbon City.
   top and bottom images both from the June Stevenson Collection
 
The Columbia tipple located southeast of the town along the base of the Book Cliff Mountains.  You can see the some of the houses  to the left of the tipple.
 
         Dragerton, Utah-- East Carbon City  incorporated in 1974
 
 
 When the first workers arrived in East Carbon to built the town of Dragerton, these buildings were already there.  The owner was Davy Menotti and his wife Maria, who migrated to East Carbon in 1914.  In 1918 David built a store which he operated along with is family until 1981.
top and bottom images both from the Beth Woodward Collection 
 
The Columbia Housing Project began in the fall of 1942 and by March 1943 the first residents of the new town of Drager had taken up residence. The contractor for this project was the W.E Ryberg-Strong-Grant Construction Company of Springville, Utah.
 
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Robert Forrester

image from the Eastern Utah Telegraph
Early Sunnyside pioneers

  Bishop John Potter

image from the George Edward Anderson Collection courtesy Brigham Young University

 
 
 
 
 
 

 Leon Felix Rains was the man responsible for developing the mine and town of Columbia in 1921.

Image courtesy of Jack Presset
 
 
 
 

Columbia

Dragerton