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The Company Town: A Passing Phase of Utah's Industrial Development
THE COMPANY TOWN: A Passing Phase of Utah's Industrial Development
By James B. Allen
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 up a tent colony off company property, but the tents provided only minimal protection. It was impossible for him to move in with friends who might own their own homes in town, for these were on company property, and owners were required to leave the premises, either selling their homes or forfeiting them to the company. Finally, the company provided an easy way for him to leave Utah, with the practical guarantee that he had no further opportunity for work.
This story, while hypothetical, represents some of the problems created in the early years of the twentieth century in connection with a little-publicized but nevertheless significant industrial institution — the company town. This was a unique type of settlement in which all property — including homes, business facilities, utilities, etc. — was owned outright by a particular company, having been created specifically for the purpose of housing company employees. Literally hundreds of these communities have dotted the American map, and more than 200 have existed in the 11 Far Western States alone. They have been important particularly in the support of coal mining, copper production, and lumbering.
In most cases company towns were created because of the need to provide living quarters for workers at a mine, mill, or processing plant established in a remote area. Faced with this necessity in order to assure a permanent work force, company managers found themselves involved not only in the operation of their primary business, but also in the curious and often irritating process of town planning, community building, merchandising, and public welfare. The owner of a company town became, in a real sense, not only the employer but also the landlord, merchant, town government, police, and sometimes even counselor and father confessor. To the employee "the company" was synonymous with everything in town, including the company-owned store where he could charge goods against future pay checks, and where sometimes he was compelled to trade. Only a handful of these company-owned towns remain today, at least in the West, but their story has been an interesting and significant sidelight in the economic development of the nation.
The company town has also been a significant feature in Utah's industrial development. No industry, of course, was absolutely dependent upon company towns, but particular companies have sometimes found them highly important to their initial success and continued operation. Most of Utah's company towns existed in the coal fields of Carbon County, but mining for lead, zinc, and silver produced such company-owned communities as Newhouse, in Beaver County, and Dividend, in Utah County. Bacchus was once a full-fledged company town supporting the operation of Hercules Powder Company near Magna. Kennecott Copper Corporation once owned completely the town of Copperton and, in connection with American Smelting and Refining Company, the town of Garfield.
In addition to the full-fledged company towns in Utah, there were many modifications. In some cases a company owned all the land around a mine, but did not attempt to provide homes or community services, except, perhaps, a store. The company also allowed employees to build their own homes on company land. Such a settlement was Mammoth, in Juab County. There were other communities in which a particular company built some of the houses and provided a few services. They frequently are referred to as company towns, for in each case a single company seemed to dominate. They did not, however, become full-fledged company towns, for other businesses were allowed to operate, or the company did not take on full community responsibilities. They might be dubbed "company controlled," or semi-company towns. Such a community was Silver City, near Eureka.
The original townsite of Garland was owned and laid out in 1903 by Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, and 14 homes were built for certain key employees, but it never became exclusively a company town. The townsite of Lark, near Magna, was located on land owned by the United States Smelter and Refining Company. The company owned several houses which it rented to employees and allowed other workers to build their own homes on company property, but the town never became fully paternalistic in the sense of a full-fledged company town. Finally, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad was responsible for the thriving settlement which once existed at Soldier Summit. In 1919 the company completed an elaborate new hotel and owned 40 "modern" cottages for the benefit of its employees. In the same year it was planning to participate in the building of a swimming pool and a YMCA building. The fast-growing community was not fully company owned, however, and sported such noncompany businesses as three general stores, two automobile garages, a real estate office, and a billiard parlor.
In the mining fields of Utah, there were many small camps which could hardly be called towns but were important to the success of particular operations. In 1938, for example, the Utah Industrial Commission described at least 30 mines throughout the state at which some sort of living quarters were provided by the company. Although none of these were company towns, some of the facilities were fairly extensive. Several companies provided cottages and boardinghouses, while the Silver King Coalition Mines Company in Summit County operated its own boardinghouse, grocery store, and coal yard "without profit for the benefit of its employees." None of these camps reached the status of legitimate towns, but they illustrate the same need for providing certain benefits and services which, at larger mines, led to the creation of company towns.
Another modified version of the company town in Utah was Dragerton, Carbon County. This coal mining community grew out of the steppedup needs of World War II. It was actually constructed under contract from the federal Defense Plant Corporation for the purpose of housing United States Steel employees at the Horse Canyon Mine. The town was operated by U.S. Steel, but was never as paternalistic as the typical company town considered here. In 1947 the War Assets Administration sold the town to Geneva Steel Company which, in turn, engaged the real estate firm of John W. Galbreath & Company to sell the town to residents.
A FEW UTAH TOWNS
It would not be feasible to tell the story of every company town in the state, but a brief summary of the development of a few of the most interesting communities will help demonstrate the role of the company town in Utah's industrial development.
The settlement at Grass Creek, in Summit County, never became a full-fledged company town, but for a few years it was a sort of semi-company town and because of its connection with the Mormon Church it has special interest here. Furthermore, it is an example of the early tendencies toward company-town ownership.
The Grass Creek area was originally settled in 1883, when a number of Chinese laborers and a few local Mormon miners were hired by the Union Pacific Railroad to work its coal mine in the area. Union Pacific built a number of houses for employees, but in 1886 and 1887 the mine was closed, the houses taken down, and the camp abandoned. The L.D.S. Church, meanwhile, had built a combination meetinghouse and schoolhouse, which was left standing until moved to a new location in 1901. In 1893 the Mormon Church began to develop its own mine, about three miles above the old Union Pacific camp, and Mormon miners again moved into the area. About 1896 this mine was abandoned and work began on another church mine a half-mile farther up the canyon. This was the basis for the Grass Creek settlement, and several L.D.S. people moved there. The Grass Creek Coal Company was owned outright by the Mormon Church. The company allowed many of its workers to build their own homes on company land, but its journal shows that the settlement had some of the elements of a company town. The company owned several homes, collected rent, sold coal to employees, and provided supplies from the company-owned "mine supplies store." Its connection with the church is emphasized by the fact that church tithing orders were accepted at the store in lieu of cash. As in most early company towns, the company deducted rent, board, coal, and other items from the miner's wages. In 1897 the company owned at least 14 houses in Grass Creek, and in 1899 the state mine inspector reported the addition of three miners' cottages, one large lodginghouse, and a schoolhouse. There were approximately 55 men employed in the mine. About 1910 the Grass Creek property was turned over to another company, and a few years later the mine was closed. The history of this small mine, however, illustrates the need some mining companies felt to provide certain community facilities. This need became the basis for other larger and more permanent company towns.
The largest "chain" of company towns owned by any Utah corporation belonged to Utah Fuel Company, a subsidiary of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. 10 The railroad's main interest, of course, was in obtaining a supply of coal to keep its engines running. In this way Rio Grande, like Union Pacific, found itself in the curious position of acting as landlord for several mining towns, including Castle Gate, Clear Creek, Sunnyside, Winter Quarters, Black Hawk, and Mohrland, Utah, and Somerset, Colorado. This "chain" never reached the proportions of the string of towns operated by Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation, which was probably the largest single company-town landlord in the West. But in the early years of the century the unions and the Progressive party criticized Utah Fuel Company in connection with its towns in much the same way as they did its huge Colorado counterpart.
Castle Gate is one of Utah's oldest and most enduring company towns. In 1883 the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad completed its line into eastern Utah, and soon after this Pleasant Valley Coal Company opened Castle Gate Mine Number 1 near the railroad. There was no immediate effort on the part of the company to construct living quarters for employees, but many of the early settlers lived in box cars provided by the railroad. The mine prospered and in 1888 Utah Fuel Company, which eventually took over Pleasant Valley Coal Company, acquired properties there. By then a few homes had been constructed, and in one of them the town's first school was conducted. In 1901 Castle Gate boasted a population of 1,300, with 480 men being employed at the mines and coke ovens. The town had a school, two "hotels" (boardinghouses for single employees), and 65 company-owned cottages. The company also had permitted several employees to build dwellings of their own on company grounds. This beginning was somewhat typical of the origin of many company towns.
There is little information available concerning the adequacy of houses originally provided by Utah Fuel, although criticism, by union organizers a few years later would lead one to believe they were inadequate. At any rate by 1912, the company apparently had become more concerned with the nature of its dwellings. Fifty additional houses had been erected, and the state mine inspector gave the following description of the new structures:
Not many company towns in the West actually became incorporated communities, but in 1914 residents of Castle Gate petitioned for incorporation, and they were granted their wish. The town was to be governed by a board of trustees, presided over by a president. If the government was anything like that of other incorporated company towns, company management usually had ample representation among the trustees. The town later passed into the hands of Independent Coal and Coke Company, but remained as a full-fledged company-owned community until about 1960, when the company sold its houses. Over the years the landlord company has participated in community activities by providing a social hall, contributing to the Castle Gate Welfare Association, and operating a hospital. Population of Castle Gate has dropped from a rollicking 1,300 in 1901 to about 350 at the present time.
Located six miles south of Scofield, Clear Creek (sometimes spelled Cleer Creek) had its beginning as a company town when Utah Fuel Company opened a new mine on July 5, 1899. By November 500 tons of coal per day were being produced. The original workers lived in the traditional tent colony until houses could be built, but by the end of the year the company was employing 200 men and had laid the foundation for a typical company-owned community. In his report for 1899, the mine inspector described the town:
The Wasatch Store Company, which operated a store in Clear Creek, was the merchandising subsidiary of Utah Fuel and ran stores in other company towns as well. Clear Creek never became an incorporated community.
Perhaps the largest and most significant town in Utah Fuel's network was Sunnyside. Mining operations commenced in 1898, and from that time production increased rapidly. The earliest settlers lived in tents until houses could be provided for them, but by 1901 the company had built 100 five- and six-room cottages. They were constructed of wood and all were equipped with electric lights and a water system. Already, however, the company was employing 450 men, and the population of the town had jumped to 1,500. Since the company could not erect homes fast enough to accommodate the mushrooming population, it allowed many miners to build their own, using plans furnished by the company. In this way the traditional uniform architecture of the company town was maintained, and the company later purchased these dwellings. The town also boasted a church building, a school equipped to handle 200 children, a hospital, a company boardinghouse for single men which gave them board at 75 cents per day, and a branch of the Wasatch Store Company.
The mine inspector reported in 1901 that the company had taken care to give Sunnyside a modern appearance, and hence the town was "free from shacks and shambles which have characterized the early coal camps of the west." If this description is accurate, the idyllic picture implied did not last for long. Population continued to flow into the area as coal production increased, and by 1903 the company had added 18 cottages, 20 two-story houses, and 10 "double houses." Three hotels were operated by private parties, and there were still several privately owned homes on company property. With all this it remained impossible to provide enough homes for the rapid influx of workers and their families, and a great many tents were in use. Many of the new immigrants were from Greece and other parts of southern Europe. They located in the southern part of the canyon which became known as "Ragtown." By 1906 there were 226 Italian, 278 Austrian, and 111 Greek miners working for Utah Fuel and Pleasant Valley Coal Companies. It is presumed that a large portion of them had settled with their families in the tents of Sunnyside's Ragtown where neither water nor adequate sewage disposal was available. Eventually, however, company dwellings were built for them, and old Ragtown became known as New Town. The mine inspector called Sunnyside the "Queen of the Coal Camps," but apparently the queen was rather disheveled in places.
As in the case of most coal mining towns, the location of the mine in a canyon made town planning difficult, and the homes of Sunnyside might be built anywhere from the canyon floor to a precarious hillside. Helen Zeese Papanikolas described the typical problem this way: "The very terrain of mining towns that could not grow outwards but must grow up the slopes of the mountains made for a crowded, intimate confusion." Sunnyside apparently was not the worst in this respect, but it did have problems. Company houses were numbered for identification purposes, with Number 1 being at the northern end or "top" of the town. A longtime resident reported that Number 2 house "was perched on a very steep hillside and always looked as if it were going to slide off." Also typical of coal mining camps is the fact that there were at least two distinct sections of town, primarily because the terrain would not allow otherwise and the fact that Americans lived in one section while immigrants and their families congregated in the other.
Although a company store operated profitably in Sunnyside, the company could do little about private merchants who established themselves near town. In the early days miners apparently were required to trade at the company store as a matter of job security, but in later years this policy softened and little was said if employees traded at other institutions. Sunnyside Mercantile, for example, located off company land, delivered merchandise into town, and local farmers were allowed to peddle their produce in the community. The company had given the milk monopoly to a local ranch, however, and residents in Sunnyside had difficulty getting permission even to own a family cow.
Sunnyside continued to boom, and in 1906 the company erected 48 new employee cottages and located a second branch of the company store in the southern section of the town. The company also installed a new water system which accommodated both sections of town. In 1916 the town was incorporated. Prosperity reached its peak in the early 1920's, but by 1930 a decline had begun in the coal industry and the oncethriving community began to dwindle rapidly. In 1940 the population was down to 424.
By the beginning of World War II, Sunnyside had become practically a ghost town, but the economic stimulus of the war suddenly brought new life to the community. Demand for high quality coking coal led to rehabilitation of the mines. One mine was leased to Kaiser Company, Incorporated, forerunner of the present Kaiser Steel Corporation. Realizing that the old homes were not adequate for modern needs, Utah Fuel Company erected a new $2 million, modern housing area one mile from the old townsite, calling it Sunnydale. Sunnydale became an attractive, well-built residential area with all modern conveniences. Since shopping and civic facilities were still located at Sunnyside, the company instituted a bus service which made scheduled trips to the shopping center and theatre. The round-trip fee was 10 cents. A branch of the company store was later established at Sunnydale. So attractive were the new housing facilities that old residents at Sunnyside quickly put their names on a waiting list to move into the new section. By 1947 additional community improvements made the new settlement of Sunnydale even more desirable. These included cement walks, curbs and gutters, and asphalt topping on all streets. In that year also the painting of the 240 new houses was completed.
In 1950 Kaiser purchased all assets of Utah Fuel Company, which included the Utah mines at Castle Gate, Clear Creek, and Sunnyside, as well as three Colorado mines. The purchase also included such subsidiaries as Wasatch Store Company, Sunnyside Improvement Company (which owned the homes at Sunnyside), Utah Grazing Lands Company, and Castle Gate Coal Company (a retail firm). The area of Sunnyside and Sunnydale continues to operate today as a company-owned community named Sunnyside. Coal mined at Sunnyside is coked there and shipped to Kaiser's steel plant at Fontana, California. (The latter, incidentally, receives most of its iron ore from a mine adjacent to another town owned by Kaiser Steel Corporation, Eagle Mountain, California.)
One of the most unique company towns in the West was the little settlement of Copperton, not far from the famed open-pit copper mine at Bingham. Copperton was built in the 1920's by Utah Copper Company to house employees at the Bingham Mine. Previously, workers had been housed at scattered locations in the canyons surrounding the mine. But with expanded mining activities it became necessary to pre-empt these sites, and the company decided to build a townsite at a more desirable location three miles from the mine. In the new town homes were provided primarily for supervisory and skilled personnel.
Since the new community was located on the main highway to the mine, which attracted many visitors, the company decided to make a show place of Copperton by using the "everlasting metal" wherever possible in the construction of the homes. Specifications called for copper-clad strip shingles to be fastened with copper nails; copper valleys, hips, ridges, and downspouts; copper gutter straps, downspout stays, and chimney saddles; copper vents; bronze hardware and screens; and brass pipes, pipe fittings, and shower fixtures. It was estimated that the copper-clad town cost only four per cent more than it would have if more common perishable materials had been used. One house was built almost entirely of copper, with even the walls made of heavy copper sheathing.
Copperton was strictly a residential community, and residents traveled to Bingham or other nearby towns to shop. Utah Copper was a subsidiary of Kennecott Copper Corporation, and in 1955 this firm sold all of its company towns, including Copperton, to a real estate firm which, in turn, sold the homes to individuals.
Jesse Knight, one of Utah's most prominent pioneer mining men and industrialists, was the founder of Spring Canyon, a town which was almost unique among company towns as far as its management was concerned. Even before building this community, however, "Uncle Jesse," as he was traditionally called, had had some experience with paternalism. In 1896 he had opened a copper mine in Juab County called the Humbug, and the community built around the mine was named Knightsville. He did not own the homes and business establishments, but without question he took pride in and controlled the town. At his own expense he built an L.D.S. chapel, which also doubled as a school. When he received word that there were not enough children in Knightsville to qualify for county school funds, Knight proceeded to the town of Diamond where he hired James Higginson, who had eight children, and this addition provided a schoolage population sufficient for county support. "Uncle Jesse," attempting in his own way to enforce Mormon standards of morality in his community, did not allow saloons to operate and immediately discharged anyone who was known to be spending his earnings for liquor, neglecting his family, or living a licentious life. He even closed his mines on Sunday to encourage his employees, all of whom were Mormons, to attend church. To offset possible dissatisfaction at the loss of a day's work, he paid them 25 cents per day more than other mine operators.
A second town with which Jesse Knight was involved was Silver City, where, in 1907, he built a smelter. A small boom hit the town and it grew to a population of about 1,500. For the benefit of his employees Knight built 100 frame homes in Silver City. These houses apparently were arranged in the typical company-town fashion, with uniform architecture and neat rows of houses. "Uncle Jesse" did not have the same control over the town, however, and it must have rankled him not a little to see several saloons operating in the community.
Later, in Carbon County, the Mormon industrialist had his chance to build and control his own town. Apparently it became a model community, and it represented almost better than any other company town the local Mormon traditions. In 1912 Knight organized the Spring Canyon Coal Company in order to exploit 2,000 acres of good mining property he had acquired. Even before mining began, however, he started to build his town, and 60 modern homes were constructed of sandstone. At first the community was called Storrs, after Knight's friend and company superintendent, George A. Storrs, but it was changed to Spring Canyon in 1924. Since Jesse Knight owned the town, he had complete control over what kind of businesses could be established, and he absolutely forbade saloons and gambling houses. By 1914 a school building and a meetinghouse were completed. As in Knightsville, most of the employees were Mormons. The manager of the company store became the first bishop of the Storrs Ward. The town provided the first school and church building in the district, and residents at other new camps came to take advantage of these opportunities until they could be provided at home. Homes at Spring Canyon were well built; good water and sewage systems were provided; and the elaborate Storrs hotel was a prominent landmark in the well-planned model community. At its peak 200 men were employed in the Spring Canyon Mine, and the town reached a population of close to 1,000 people.
In 1922 Spring Canyon Coal Company was purchased by James B. Smith and Associates. Mining continued until 1958 when the cost of mining the remaining coal was considered prohibitive. The mine closed and 140 miners were left jobless. The once bustling community was soon abandoned and Spring Canyon became virtually a ghost town.
THE COMMUNITY AND ITS FACILITIES
If there was anything which characterized most company-owned towns throughout the nation, at least in the early years of this century, it was the drab uniformity of every settlement. All houses were of similar color and architecture and arranged along rectangular lines of survey. Streets were usually wide and house lots were fairly large, which were advantages, but roads were unpaved and sidewalks were a rarity. Beautification of the town through the planting of trees, grasses, and shrubs was largely neglected. Many of Utah's company towns seemed to follow the same general pattern.
On the other hand a number of companies took some pride in creating more attractive communities. By the 1920's a number of "model" communities were being erected throughout the country, as well as in Utah, and owners of older towns were beginning to beautify their settlements. Trees and shrubs were provided free of charge to residents who would plant them. Regular contests were held and prizes awarded for the best yards, thus providing an incentive to help keep the community beautified. Some companies even painted their homes a variety of colors, rather than the uniform drab grey or red which typified older settlements. Some of Utah's well-planned model mining company towns included Dividend, in Utah County; Keetley, in Wasatch County; and the Carbon County communities of Hiawatha and Standardville. Each of these towns received high praise in 1925 in The Mining Congress Journal because of the planning which had gone into them and their generally attractive appearance.
Top: Eagle Baseball Team of Tooele, photographed in 1908. Photo by Utah State Historical Society Bottom: Utah Fuel Company First Aid Day at Winter Quarters, Utah, July 24, 1914 Photo by Independent Coal and Coke Company
In large towns the company sponsored community clubs and various recreational activities. Baseball was frequently a chief pastime. Another activity which brought competition between towns was first aid-with first aid teams sometimes traveling long distances in order to participate in well-publicized contests.
In addition to providing housing, company stores, and other normal community services, some companies went so far as to operate slaughterhouses, icehouses, and even ranches in order to provide goods needed for the town. Near its model community of Hiawatha, for example, United States Fuel Company established a dairy farm with a herd of registered Holstein cows. The mine inspector reported in 1924:
Space does not permit a discussion of company housing, employee welfare, and other social aspects of the company town, but a few brief generalizations should be given. The adequacy of company housing naturally varied with the company. But it appears that at least by the 1920's most companies were beginning to provide substantial frame homes with adequate water, plumbing facilities, and frequently electricity. General maintenance was the responsibility of the company, but upkeep and appearance depended largely upon the initiative and social sensitivity of individual tenants. In large towns the company usually provided recreation halls and sponsored community clubs and various recreational activities. Baseball was frequently a chief pastime, and it was not uncommon for companies to put professional players on the payroll during the ball season, not to work in the mine or plant, but to make sure that the town team made a good showing in the intense competition. Another activity which brought much competition between towns was first aid — with first aid teams sometimes traveling long distances in order to participate in well-publicized contests. Churches and schools were encouraged, and frequently the company participated financially in the support of both. In short, life in the company town was not necessarily as drab as some have viewed it, in spite of some of the problems suggested below.
THE FOREIGN IMMIGRANT
When vast numbers of Greek, Austrian, Italian, and other coal miners from southern Europe began to migrate to America, they frequently found the great "melting pot" to be a hostile environment. This was as true of the coal fields of Utah as elsewhere. Foreign miners did not settle exclusively in company towns, of course, but an interesting report of the United States Coal Commission in 1923 suggested that the company town had a particular attraction for them. Said the report: "It is only in sections which have a large portion of foreign born that relatively large numbers of mine workers are found living in company communities when normal communities are within a practicable distance." Undoubtedly one reason for this was the fact that the immigrant usually arrived almost penniless, and the paternalistic situation in the company town immediately gave him a home as well as credit in the company store.
In 1900 approximately half the population of Carbon County was foreign-born, as compared with less than 25 per cent in the rest of the state. In 1905 approximately half the employees of Utah Fuel and Pleasant Valley Coal companies were foreign-born. In 1914 only about one-third of the men employed in Utah's coal and hydrocarbon fields were native Americans. The dominant Europeans were Greek, Italian, and Austrian, in that order. It is assumed that the same approximate ratio applied in the company-owned coal towns.
While the immigrant was not unique to the company town, his very existence did have an effect upon the town. In Sunnyside, for example, the Europeans huddled together in one section of town, while the Americans lived in the other. The immigrant's Old World social customs, as well as the fact that he was used to a far different standard of living than some native-born Americans in Sunnyside, made for strained relations between the two groups. One long-time resident of Sunnyside reported that southern European immigrants simply would not take care of the premises provided by the company, even going so far as to keep barnyard animals in the house and slaughter pigs in the bathtubs.
The foreigner was a fertile field for the labor agitator and union organizer, and this apparently had much to do with the unfortunate attitude of coal company management toward the immigrant worker. During the costly strike for union recognition in 1903 and 1904, Utah Fuel Company was seriously considering ways and means of getting rid of the foreign worker in favor of native Americans. Mormon farmers had been brought in to work the mines as strikebreakers under the assumption that their religious training would make them impervious to union organization. In January 1904 the state mine inspector talked over the situation with J. R. Sharp, superintendent at Sunnyside, who explained the company's attitude toward foreign workers and its hopes to replace them:
These company efforts were not successful in the long run; the foreignborn population continued to increase and eventually the union, which also appealed to native American workers, had to be recognized.
THE COMPANY TOWN AS A POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TOOL
The Constitution of the State of Utah declares that "The Legislature shall prohibit: . . . The political and commercial control of employees," but this provision apparently has not been rigidly enforced. Employeetenants living in company-owned towns sometimes found themselves under almost feudal conditions, as they were required to follow the dictates of company policy. It was not uncommon around the turn of the century for employees to be coerced into buying all their goods at the company store, or to be discharged if they failed to do so. Few companies saw the company store strictly as a beneficent service to employees. Since the store was necessary anyway, they also saw in it a need, if not a golden opportunity, to turn a profit. In the matter of company housing, employees were again at the mercy of management, for they could legally be required to leave the property as soon as they were not employed by the company. In this way the company town sometimes became a tool against unions, as organizers were not allowed on company property, and strikers were evicted from company housing. While such exploitation was not the whole picture in Utah, and what did exist apparently did not last beyond the first two decades of the century, a few examples will illustrate this aspect of the company town in the Beehive State.
In 1913 The Progressive, official organ of the Progressive party in Utah, ran a series of articles entitled "Carbon County and Corporate Greed." The series was primarily a bitter attack upon the coal companies and their methods of exploiting the miners. Labeled the "invisible government," Utah Fuel Company was charged with controlling not only every employee, but also the county government and the local press. /An extreme example of anti-company propaganda is seen in the attack printed on February 8:
The language of The Progressive was obviously exaggerated. There is no evidence that the kind of house a miner would build for himself or rent three miles away from town would be any better constructed than a company house in camps such as Sunnyside, Castle Gate, or Clear Creek, or that it would cost him less. Rentals in this period for company houses seemed to vary from $6.00 to $12.50 per month. It is true that prices in company stores were higher than elsewhere, although probably not as much as suggested, but this is partly accounted for by the fact that company stores usually dealt in the best quality goods and also allowed credit against earnings, which was not true elsewhere. It is also evident that certain companies had a rebate arrangement with saloons which were allowed on company property, but these saloons nevertheless prospered, and it was still up to the worker's own sense of values as to where he spent his money. The Utah Fuel Company town of Winter Quarters sported a privately owned saloon which, in 1904, was called "one of the swellest houses of its kind in the state outside of Salt Lake City."
There is evidence, however, that in some cases Utah workers were coerced into trading at the company store. At Sunnyside it was reported that men lost their jobs if they did not patronize the company's store, at least in the early years. Later the company said little about it if men traded at stores below town, as long as the trade was kept at a minimum. In the 1890's a strike took place at Mammoth, a company-dominated town in Juab County, over the policy of requiring employees to live and eat at the company "beanery," or boardinghouse, and trade at the company store. Even married men were expected to board at the beanery.
The strike of 1903-04 provides a good example of a supplementary advantage to management of owning a company town; i.e., its use as a tool against the union. When the miners struck against Utah Fuel Company, their right to enter company property and to live in company houses was automatically terminated, for they were no longer employed by the company. Accordingly, the strikers were paid off in full and eviction notices were issued ordering them to vacate company property. The company, it was said, wanted the houses for new men that were eventually to take their places. The strikers, most of whom were foreign-born, were forced to pack up all they owned and move elsewhere.
Four days after Christmas, 1903, a special offer went into effect as part of the company's effort to eliminate the trouble-making miners from the county. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, which owned Utah Fuel Company, offered the strikers passage out of Carbon County to other points in Utah or Colorado at the special rate of one cent per mile, with the provision that this would be only a one-way ticket. This was a 75 per cent reduction over the usual fare. The offer was apparently made expressly for the "benefit" of the strikers, and notices were printed in a dozen different languages and posted at various camps.
Miners who did not immediately leave the county were forced to find lodging for themselves and their families. Some moved in with friends who lived off company property. Others lived in tents provided by the union. These tents were fairly comfortable, as tents go, being floored with wood and equipped with stoves, but they provided little real protection against the winter cold. Fortunately there was no bloodshed before the strike was over. The same tense conditions of strikes, strikebreakers, evictions, and tent colonies were involved in the tragic Ludlow massacre in Colorado only 10 years later.
There were several miners who had been allowed to build their own homes on company property, but Utah Fuel demanded that they, too, vacate the premises. The miners were able to get legal counsel, and a compromise agreement was reached. Essentially, it provided that the striker had to leave the property, but the company agreed to lease his house for six months, or until he moved or sold it. If the house were not sold at the end of the six months it was to be forfeited to the company. Strikers were not allowed to enter the property except to move the houses or conduct monthly inspections. All of this was part of the company's bitter effort to thwart and discourage union activities, but demonstrates that mere ownership of the property where employees lived provided a convenient tool against the organizers. This tactic was not peculiar to Utah, of course, for it represents a general policy of antiunion action throughout the country.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE COMPANY TOWN
Only a handful of company towns remain in Utah today, and none of these is as fully controlled or paternalistic as in former years. The company store is a thing of the past, and any effort to exploit the worker through his residence in the town is absent.
Utah's company towns have disappeared in a variety of ways. Some, such as the little community of Rains in the Spring Canyon area about nine miles northwest of Helper, were simply abandoned when it became apparent that coal could no longer be mined profitably. In other cases companies simply felt no continued need to own a town, for modern transportation facilities made it practical for employees to commute from other places. The attractive little village of Bacchus, which once had 200 residents, came to an end after Hercules Powder Company simply decided it was too expensive to maintain. Only six houses remain standing on the spot.
Contributing to the disappearance of the old company town is the appearance of a new kind of company town. The New Park Mining Company, which owned the well-planned little town of Keetley, decided in 1947 to build a new town, named Cranmer, for its employees. The new town was to be built expressly for the purpose of selling homes to employees so that, instead of a company-owned town, the company would have created an attractive village of homeowners. Although the town of Cranmer was never built, the idea is typical of the direction taken by many western companies in recent years. San Manuel, Arizona, is an example.
Perhaps the most interesting sidelight to the story of the disappearance of the company town is the work of an Ohio real estate firm, John W. Galbreath & Company, which for many years has been in the curious business of buying and selling entire towns. The first western town purchased by Galbreath was Dragerton, Utah. Other Utah towns handled by this firm include Columbia, Copperton, and Garfield. The general pattern followed is to negotiate with the original owner, who has decided that it is no longer economically feasible to operate a town, and decide on a fair purchase price. Galbreath then takes over the entire town, becoming, in effect, the landlord. Community facilities are donated to the town, and the Galbreath Company then begins to sell the homes, with the original tenant having first choice on the purchase. In the case of Copperton and Garfield, Galbreath purchased these communities from Kennecott Copper Corporation in 1955 as part of a package deal in which Kennecott got rid of all eight of its company towns in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. The site of Garfield was eventually abandoned completely, as the company retained ownership of the land the new homeowners were required to move their dwellings. Most of them were eventually moved to sites in Salt Lake County.
The story of the company town in Utah has been, in part, a reflection of certain economic developments in the state. The company town grew in the early years of the twentieth century, when mines or processing plants in remote locations made it necessary for companies to provide living quarters and community services. It became involved in the tense struggle for union organization which characterized the first three decades of the century. The company town was most important in Utah's coal fields, and began to disappear in the 1920's and 1930's with the decline of the coal industry. Some new, modern company towns made their appearance with the economic stimulus of World War II. Today, modern transportation has largely eliminated any need for the company town. As a newsman commented, in writing of the disappearance of Garfield,
"The company town is as passe in most areas as the mule-drawn mine car."
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