1885 Map of Salt Lake

About this map

The Wasatch Mountains dominate this late nineteenth-century survey, creating a sharp vertical divide between the burgeoning urban corridor of the Salt Lake Valley and the high-altitude mining and ranching districts to the east. Salt Lake City and Provo appear as established grid-iron hubs, connected by the Utah Central R. R. and the Denver and Rio Grande Western R. R., which skirt the eastern shore of Utah Lake. The map captures the era when heavy industry and extraction were transforming the landscape, visible in the high-mountain mining camps at Alta and Silver City. To the north and east, the Union Pacific R. R. follows the Weber River through Echo City, facilitating the movement of coal from Coalville and ores from Park City. This geography reveals a region transitioning from isolated agricultural settlements like Alpine and Kamas into a sophisticated industrial network driven by rail and mineral wealth.