Bingham Canyon, Utah

Bingham Canyon
Bingham Canyon in 1914
Bingham Canyon in 1914
Bingham Canyon is located in Utah
Bingham Canyon
Bingham Canyon
Location of Bingham Canyon within the State of Utah
Bingham Canyon is located in the United States
Bingham Canyon
Bingham Canyon
Bingham Canyon (the United States)
Coordinates: 40°33′30″N 112°07′50″W / 40.55833°N 112.13056°W / 40.55833; -112.13056
CountryUnited States
StateUtah
CountySalt Lake
Founded1863
IncorporatedFebruary 29, 1904
Became a cityMay 23, 1938
Abandoned1972
Named forThomas and Sanford Bingham
Elevation5,938 ft (1,810 m)
GNIS feature ID1425580[1]

Bingham Canyon was a city formerly located in southwestern Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, in a narrow canyon on the eastern face of the Oquirrh Mountains. The Bingham Canyon area boomed during the first years of the twentieth century, as rich copper deposits in the canyon began to be developed, and at its peak the city had approximately 15,000 residents. The success of the local mines eventually proved to be the town's undoing, however: by the mid-twentieth century, the huge open-pit Bingham Canyon Mine began encroaching on the land of the community, causing residents to relocate. By the 1970s, almost the entirety of the town had been devoured by the mine, and the few remaining residents voted to disincorporate and abandon the community. No trace of Bingham Canyon remains today.[2]

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bingham Canyon
  2. ^ "City of Bingham Canyon". Utah Division of State Archives. Salt Lake City, UT. July 2, 2003. Retrieved May 5, 2017.