Soldier Summit

One of the worst places in Utah to put a town, a railroad put one here anyway. In 1919 the Denver and Rio Grande moved its operations up to Soldier Summit, seventy-five hundred feet up, to save money — and spent the next decade regretting it. Families lived first in tar-papered tents, then in cramped 'squat houses' barely bigger than sheds. Snow lay six to sixteen feet deep for half the year, and the twenty-five hundred residents dug tunnels between the buildings to reach the outhouse. In 1929 the railroad gave up and moved back to Helper.

What the plaque says

In 1919 the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad decided to move their operations from Helper to Soldier Summit to cut their operating costs. This proved to be a horrible idea. The first housing provided by the railroad was nothing more than thin wood framed canvas tents on cement foundations wrapped with tar paper. Eventually the housing would become the well-known company "half salt box houses" or "Squat houses," most of which were not much more than a 850 square foot shed divided into smaller "rooms." It was common to have between 6 to 16 feet of snow for up to 6 months of the year. The 2500 residents would have to dig actual tunnels between buildings, including their outhouses, to get around. This continued until 1929 when the equipment and buildings were moved back to Helper because of the costs associated with the harsh conditions. A few hardy souls remained to keep the town alive for many more decades. By 1979 complaints from passing motorists about a speed trap caused the state to legally dissolve the police force. This took away the towns revenue source and effectively ended Soldier Summit as a town. Today there are a few residents and a gas station/convenience store. Dedicated September 8, 2018 (6023)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Thistle Landslide — 22 mi
  The ruins of a town destroyed by a massive landslide in 1983
• Prehistoric Museum at USU Eastern — 27 mi
  A small-town museum punching way above its weight in dinosaur science
• Price — 27 mi
  A gritty coal mining town with a surprisingly excellent dinosaur museum
• Fairview — 28 mi
  The north gate of the Heritage Highway, home to a near-complete Ice Age mammoth

More markers nearby

• Pleasant Valley Junction — 6.7 mi
• Pleasant Valley Coal Company — 18 mi
• Utah's Coal Industry — 18 mi
• Castle Gate Mine Disaster — 18 mi