Wahsatch, Utah
| Wahsatch | |
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| Ghost town | |
Foundation at Wahsatch
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 Wahsatch
Wahsatch
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| Coordinates: 41°11′57″N 111°06′47″W / 41.19917°N 111.11306°WCoordinates: 41°11′57″N 111°06′47″W / 41.19917°N 111.11306°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Utah |
| County | Summit |
| Established | 1868 |
| Abandoned | 1930s |
| Named for | Wasatch Mountains |
| Elevation | 6,824 ft (2,080 m) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1437714 |
Wahsatch (/ˈwɑːsætʃ/) is a ghost town in Summit County, Utah, United States. It lies along I-80 at the northeastern end of Echo Canyon some 23 miles (37 km) east of Echo, and 11 miles (18 km) west of Evanston, Wyoming. Wahsatch was established as a railroad camp, later achieving local prominence in sheep ranching. It was inhabited from 1868 until the 1930s.
Wahsatch was established in 1868 as a railroad construction camp, the first of many such camps set up in Utah by the Union Pacific Railroad in the process of building the First Transcontinental Railroad. From 1868 to 1869 a population of hundreds dug the 772-foot (235 m) Echo tunnel through the Wasatch Mountains west of town. Wahsatch soon became a major supply station and railhead, with its own roundhouse, workshops, boarding houses, and warehouses. When the transcontinental railroad was finished in May 1869, a meal station for waiting passengers was constructed.
During the tunnel construction in 1868–1869, Wahsatch was known as a wild and lawless place. Laborers spent their wages immediately in tent saloons. Shootings were common, and there is even record of a lynching. Lacking a formal cemetery, the town buried its dead in makeshift hillside graves. This violent period was short-lived; in the early 1870s Wahsatch's development was outpaced by that of nearby Evanston, Wyoming, and the railroad moved most operations to Evanston. The population sharply dropped, and most of the buildings were demolished. Wahsatch became little more than a point for loading .
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