Thistle, Utah
Ghost town in Utah, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Thistle is a ghost town in Spanish Fork Canyon in southeastern Utah County, Utah, United States.[1] During the era of steam locomotives, the town's primary industry was servicing trains for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (often shortened to D&RG, D&RGW, or Rio Grande). The fortunes of the town were closely linked with those of the railroad until the changeover to diesel locomotives, when the town started to decline.
Thistle, Utah | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 39°59′29″N 111°29′54″W | |
Country | United States |
State | Utah |
County | Utah |
Established | 1878 |
Destroyed | 1983 |
Named for | Thistle |
Elevation | 5,043 ft (1,537 m) |
Zip code | 84629[2] |
GNIS feature ID | 1439662[1] |
In April 1983, a massive landslide (specifically a complex earthflow[3]) dammed the Spanish Fork River.[4] The residents were evacuated as nearly 65,000 acre-feet (80,000,000 m3) of water backed up, flooding the town. Thistle was destroyed; only a few structures were left partially standing. Federal and state government agencies have said this was the most costly landslide in United States history,[5][6] the economic consequences of which affected the entire region. The landslide resulted in the first presidentially declared disaster area in Utah.[5][7]
U.S. Route 6 (US‑6), U.S. Route 89 (US‑89) and the railroad (now part of Union Pacific Railroad's Central Corridor) were closed for several months, until they were rebuilt on a higher alignment overlooking the area. The remains of Thistle are visible from a view area along US‑89 or from the California Zephyr passenger train.