Mining towns were different than Mormon towns mostly because mining towns were focused on getting rich and mining, and Mormon towns were focused on religion rather than money. Mining towns were more 'rough and tumble' or 'wild west' than Mormon towns, which were more peaceful and civilized and had a lot more women and children.
However, in the west, some Mormon towns were also mining towns. Nevertheless, most Mormon towns were farming, ranching, or industrial communities.
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The boom in gold in silver brought miners to wherever said minerals were discovered. When the miners needed supplies merchants came too. They whould build whole towns called mining towns. Mining towns consisted of saloons, dentists, barbers, etc. Once all the minerals ran out the towns slowly went completely bankrupt, becoming ghost towns.
Most of the old mining towns are considered to be ghost towns now. Many of the mines went out of business and without the work, people had to move away and leave the town empty.
After the initial rush to gold mining towns, larger companies and mining corporations often took over mining operations. These entities had the financial resources and technology to conduct more extensive and efficient mining, surpassing the capabilities of individual miners and small groups. Additionally, as gold became harder to extract, these companies focused on more sustainable and organized mining practices, consolidating operations in regions with significant gold deposits. This shift marked the transition from small-scale prospecting to industrial mining.
The Mormon trail was very long and was inhabited by different people at different places. At times there were towns, mostly for mining or homesteaders. There were also fur trappers, Native Americans, and people working their way further west who just had to stop to winter over or gather supplies.
Mormon pioneers settled almost every city in Utah, with the exception of a few mining towns.
It is true that when mining was no longer profitable, and mines stopped producing, the mining towns became ghost towns. The reason was because the people that lived in the town had to leave the area looking for work.
I would definitely not call Cedar City the first non-Mormon town in Utah. Cedar City was established by Mormons in 1851 and has had a Mormon majority population ever since.Several other towns in Utah were "non-Mormon" towns, such as Ogden (established by fur trappers a year before the Mormons arrived) and Park City (originally settled by Mormons but became a mostly non-Mormon mining town in the 1860's).
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Large mining companies
Large mining companies
Pursued other opportunities
Ghost towns
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large mining companies.
Large mining companies