Mercur Cemetery and Ghost Town

Gold was first found in the mountains above what would become Mercur in 1870, drawing enough prospectors to establish a camp called Lewiston. The initial rush peaked around 1873 and then faded as silver prices fluctuated; the community stagnated through the early 1880s. The decisive change came in about 1890, when the mine began using the new cyanide process: a gold ledge found in 1883 could not be recovered economically until then because the grains were too small to concentrate. By 1897 the Golden Gate mill at Mercur was the largest cyanide mill in the United States, and it was one of the first successful cyanide mills in the country. The breakthrough attracted capital and workers from across the West, many of them Italian immigrants, and the population climbed toward 5,000.

The 1902 fire began in the business district and burned nearly the entire city. The community rebuilt and resumed operations, but the mines were in decline. By 1913 the ward was discontinued as the population scattered. One building reportedly stood in 1916; by 1930 nothing was left above ground.

Barrick Gold reopened the mine in 1985 and operated it until 1997, using open-pit methods that removed the last surface traces of the original townsite. The cemetery, located on a hilltop separate from the mining footprint, survived. It holds approximately 100 graves — some with hand-cut stone markers, others unmarked. A memorial plaque at the entrance documents the town's history. The cemetery is maintained informally by Tooele County and occasional volunteer work parties. The Utah Cemeteries Program lists the cemetery as abandoned and TORQ Resources as its owner, and notes that Barrick Gold attempted to restore the site.