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UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Sunnyside, Utah, ca. 1900. Mining operations commenced in 1898, and from that time production increased rapidly. Prosperity reached its peak in the early 1920's, but by 1930 a decline had begun in the coal industry and the once-thriving community began to dwindle rapidly. The economic stimulus of World War II brought new life to the town, and the area of Sunnyside continues to operate today as a company-owned community.
Late in the year 1903, an Italian miner in the company-owned town of Castle Gate, Utah, was listening to the harangues of organizers from the United Mine Workers. He could hardly understand English, but in translation he understood that he was being told of the need to join the union in order to obtain better wages, better working conditions, and a permanent bargaining agency. He was urged to go out on strike against Utah Fuel Company, and he finally went out, along with hundreds of others, mostly immigrants, who had been overawed by union promises. With his decision to strike, however, came serious problems. The home in which he lived was owned by the company for which he worked, and he was soon ordered to vacate. The company-owned store was closed, and it became difficult for him to purchase the necessities of life. The union set Dr. Allen is assistant professor of history, Brigham Young University. The subject of his Ph.D. dissertation was "The Company Town as a Feature of Western American Development."
