Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Town #9: Woodside est. 1881


On our way home from Arches National Park, we stopped at Woodside in Emery County. It is on the highway between Green River and Price. John and I debated whether this small spot should be counted on our list of Utah towns. We decided that if there was a green town sign or other welcome sign and at least one person lives there we could count it. Woodside just barely qualifies.


We think someone lives behind this fenced off gas station. It is the only building in sight. There are no trespassing signs all over. Maybe an ogre lives there. If this counts as a town, it is the least friendly town in Utah.


Somewhere beyond the fence is the old ghost town of Woodside that was settled in 1881. It was a farming community and a livestock loading station along the railroad. Later on it catered to tourists with a cafe, a museum and a geyser that would go off every 20 minutes.The geyser appeared when the railroad was drilling a well in the middle of town. The cafe burned down in 1970, and the geyser was plugged up with rocks and debris which someone had thrown into it.

No comments: