Frisco Ghost Town – Frisco, Utah - Atlas Obscura

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Frisco Ghost Town

Frisco, Utah

Only ruined buildings and abandoned charcoal kilns remain of this once bustling Wild West boom town.  

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Founded in 1875 as a silver mining town, Frisco earned a reputation for being one of the wildest towns in the western frontier. The town was often labeled, “Dodge City, Tombstone, Sodom, and Gomorrah all rolled into one.”

At its peak, the town had a population of roughly 6,000 people and over 23 saloons, brothels, and gambling dens. A sheriff by the name of William Pearson was eventually brought in to bring law and order to Frisco by “any means necessary.” Pearson warned the town’s outlaws that he had zero plans to build any jails and to either leave town or be shown out. It was reported that on the night of sheriff Pearson’s arrival he killed six people.

In 1885, the Horn Silver Mine collapsed and was rebuilt, however, Frisco never returned to its original prosperity. By the 1920s, the town was officially abandoned. A cemetery, the charcoal kilns used to smelt the silver, and many abandoned structures are all that remain today. 

Know Before You Go

Just off of highway 21 east of Milford, UT. A short dirt road from the highway will get you to the kilns. Note that that the kilns and various abandoned buildings are accessible to anyone; however, other buildings and mine shafts are explicitly marked as no trespassing.

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