No really, Eureka, we went there.
Steve is now gets every other Friday off, so we like to do something we normally wouldn’t have done on that day. So last last Friday we drove to Eureka. Where is it you ask? What is it by? Answer, I don’t know, and nothing. But can tell you how to get there. Drive down Redwood forever until it comes to a T intersection, way after you’ve been around the whole lake. Then make a right follow the signs, 9 miles to Eureka from there.
Neither of us had ever been there so we wanted to check it out. I wasn’t expecting much, but I was surprised. It was really cool, in a ghost-town sort of way.
This is what main street in Eureka looks like. It looks like it is all boarded up, and it is, except for one antique store. There are also two gas stations.
It is an old mining town, way past it’s prime, but still charming somehow. Maybe charming is too much, interesting anyway.
This is the mining head. It’s big. The coolest part is it continues underground. The sign says it goes under ground 3000 feet. They used to use it as a pulley system to haul men and mining equipment down into the mine.
We went inside one of the gas stations. It was like 1983 inside. Like stepping into a time machine. They sold candy and nachos and all likes of random things such as old green vases, Mr. Coffee maker, rubber cement, connect four. It was kind of like a living garage sale.
This is what most of the houses in Eureka look like.
There were some cool mining things to see. If we’d come on a different day we could have gone to the museum. The lady at the gas station said she would have called Hank or whoever runs the place to come open it and show it to us, but apparently, he was out of town.
As far as I can tell, the whole town relies on the traffic they get from the week-end warriors who pas thogh and buy gas on their way to the dunes. I guess you pass though there to get too Little Sahara. The gas station also sold a bunch of accessories for dune buggies.
Anyway…it’s totally worth seeing and is just under an hour’s drive from here. If you want to see something you’ve never seen before…Eureka is the place. I really see it as a destination on account of the totally awesome gas station there.
8 comments:
What the heck?? Follow Redwood north or south? Aren't you glad you didn't grow up in a place like this?? horror movie waiting to happen...
I went to Eureka once for scouts. We camped there and went rock collecting. If I remember correctly, there is a large deposit of minerals there (hence the mine) that make it one of the more interesting places to scavenge for rocks in Utah. I recall looking for and finding jasper arrowheads. We found lots of cool rocks down there. I bet my mom has them in a box somewhere in their basement...
It's a pretty fascinating place. At one time, it was one of the largest cities in the state.
All the gray rock you see all over town was brought down from up in the hills to cover all the contaminated soil produced by the mining activities there. The whole city was a superfund site (and may still be). They dug out peoples' yards 3 feet deep, replaced it with new soil, then replanted everything that had been there previously.
The hills around there are peppered with old mines and the ground all around there is pretty high in precious metal content. It's too bad the place isn't more appreciated. I'm glad you went out and got to know it a little.
Cool. Reminds me of the movie Cars.
I am from Juab County and I've never ever been to Eureka. Joseph said that he used to go there with his Dad a lot and that it is a neat place.
What a fun idea! I think that is great.
Lucky you and Steve for him to have Friday's off!
i dont know if i have even heard of eureka. you always find fun/weird/strange things to do!
You should try Ophir. But not Mercur.
Did you go say hi to Katie Mcqueen? Thats where her salon is . . . right by the antique store :)
Post a Comment