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Show r final fFSB .1 L JJLiijL I 1 TTT Dr U.J yxiu Park Record Thursday, January 30, 1986 Page B1 bv DAVID HA.MPSIHKE Record contributing writer Bill Blonquist has put the coal back in Coalville. Blonquist answered a seven-year-old challenge Saturday when a truck rolled into Coalville and dumped a t0n of coal in the middle of Main Street It marked the first time in 14 vears that coal had been mined in ihe vicinity of this town 25 miles northeast nor-theast of Park City. Seven years ago, he said, he and a distant relative, Alma Blonquist, were sitting in a local coffee shop. Bill was talking about trying to reopen the old Boyer coal mine, 12 miles east of Coalville, which had been closed since the late 1930s. Alma was skeptical. He says. Til give you $100 for the first ton of coal that comes out of that mine,'" Bill recalled. Alma Blonquist was true to his word. On Saturday, he was there with a $100 bill as the truck dumped the coal at his feet. According to local historian C.B. Copley, exploration for coal began soon after the first Mormon pioneers arrived in the area in 1847. In 1854, the territorial legislature offered a $1,000 reward to any citizen who could open a vein of good quality coal at least 18 inches thick within 40 miles of Salt Lake City. In about 1857, coal was discovered near what later would be known as Coalville and the first mine opened in 1859. But the reward was never collected: The discovery was more than 40 miles away and the quality of the coal was poor. Nevertheless, exploration con tinued and a number of other finds were made north and east of Coalville, and even in the heart of town. Copley said the present North Summit High School is built near the entrance to one of the mines. Railroad lines were built, and much of the coal found its way to Park City, where it fueled machinery such as the huge Cornish Pump in the Ontario Mine. Blonquist said competition from other areas and the increasing cost of meeting safety regulations contributed con-tributed to Ihe demise of , hepfi.l , mines. One by one, they closed, with the Chappell Brothers mine being Ihelast to go. The year was 1972. Copley said he can figure out the date by digging through his first natural gas bills. He heated his home with Chappell Brothers coal until the mine finally closed. "I was one of the last to use coal and convert to natural gas. " Mine owner Ernest Chappell said declining demand and continued low prices also contributed to the deci sion to close. All in all, we felt that was the best thing to do," he said. "The most e ever got for a ton of coal was .f)0." Shortly after 1972, prices started to soar. Today coal can cost as much as $80 a ton delivered, Chappell said. uemand is also up, in part because of the increased use of wood stoves. 'All this coal around here is good wood-burnine stoves because it has very little smoke to it," he said. Enter Bill Blonquist. Blonquist is a wpll-Vnnwn businessman both in Coalville and in Park City. He built the original silver King Lodge (since torn down) at the base of the Park City Ski Area' and operated if fnr in i.j ua . .v .w. xyj J Lll J. flllU 11. as develonprt a businesses in the Coalville area. nut he readily admits that his ex igence in mining coal has been "united. ' All I know about a coal mf is that it's awful dark and it's aful hard work." WerthelPKR ho ,,i,i't r,vi lle DOtenl i :il nr i u i j r . . i"c uiu ouyer mine. ? drilled it anri WP fnroH it nnrl !?Jig"red lnere was about a million d"aa half tons 0f coal (still) there." Then came the hard part. Blon- flllict A- t "covered that a half interest oh Ju'ne had lon8 ago been pur- "lased bv a nnlvn,;,.. j it.-.. permission to resume opera- hie. 101 Uc,u l" iracK aown ... "iLenuanis. took He Went through 125 hpirs anri it me seven years to doit." " j i t5?!5! I ; ' , "" ' N I V . . , fT(t;hyrt - V . . 'v L; l . . I C-,. '' , r j i t ; N i r " ,-. , J l . - . - b - 's ' ' , . '? - f ,: f ' ' Vt - ' , "y - : t -: , ' ,5 f-'' ? . 'iTXV Z " . , , . t. ' - ' .1" "S . s f i " v - ' 5'"' ' : ' A J l ' - ' ' ' Vr , f ' ' ' ' ' " ; ' Vttriimm:mi mm -m-'i t' -tt i r -T -n in i Y fiiyittr nrtiiiMlimftri nfciaKi af i fi r iml m'i ilft mr rtil Bill Blonquist celebratedthe opening of Summit County Coal Saturday by dumping a ton of coal on Coalville. - ' ' ' t ' f '-"LZ-' '' " 'I P" : it i' 1 J i k . f . X, '' ( Ml," ' V "? t - i ' 1 I " v -r"" s - t 371 S S K M t J1 t i.? il f, k 'S..I& - f f 1 U-Q I : 1 r 1 4. .( .... V- n Coalville residents decorated storefronts on Main Street to herald the opening of the mine. Alma Blonquist (left) finally paid off on his seven-year seven-year bet with his relative, Bill Blonquist. J of himself in Salt Lake City sla'eageneiesPermitS V3ri0US engineer i f PrtnerS' includinS Sum2 r nard Make- he formed some !s2,U"t-y-Coal- They bought wenttoSkmining ecluiPment and CeSfout75 People preser.i for Wst's ParkSrier? S6Veral r' Blon" AnneBowm y fnends- "Eluding ''It iSVerKin8 Lodge, said old hme week," she Bown!anhaIeKben wondering why of cal in carrying a lump h"cause . Purse this week. it's not TC s een naughty. j v Maclain Bennett, 3, and George Bennett watched the festivities. f: t t r M ' ' ..' J A look dowM Coalville's .Main Street Coal put Coalville on the map and it's back. photos by Neal Palumbo |