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Show , Ihe first copper furnace at the Tooele Smelter. Icq than a month later, the first slag was dumped. The event was forever marked in the minds of many as one of the workers was lulled during this first dumping In 1941 a new slag treatment, zinc fuming plant went into operation. Tire skeleton of Ihe mat liiue shop rises from the ashes, one of ses eral buildings dest rosed in I lie In'g fire of 1912. Tooele Smelter: Monument To Ingenuity The roster of personnel connected with the operation of the International Smelting and Refining Co. reads like an old time city directory. that time, the majority of householders in Tooele made their living at the hill top industry, and there are still many men, some old timers" and some not so old, who have fond memories of their hours and years spent riding the TVRy" up the grade to the smelter. The smelter was more than just an industry that furnished a livelihood for the families of the area. During its 63 years of life, it stood as a monument to the ingenuity, industry and toil of its creators - a feat unparalleled in modem times. And its coming changed not only the face of the land but the makeup and At destiny of a city. Before the advent of the smelter, Tooele was for the most part an agricultural village, prosperous in its own way with a small but thriving business district, wide streets and homes laid out on large lots each geared to the lifestyle sd necessary In those post pioneer days. To furnish labor for the new industry, Anaconda Copper, the parent company of IS&R, held a land sale east of the existing town and sold over 250 lots in one afternoon to labor recruits who had lreen "brought in on the new Tooele Valley Railway. The result was a sizeable instant ethnic" community called New Town bonded to Old Town by the railroad. The impact of this sudden influx of mostly immigrant. Catholics on the hitherto Mormon-dominate- d community was immediate and complete. The tiny railroad spur was a marvel of ingenuity as was the const met ion of the smelter itself. The whole project begun in 1909, took less than three years a feat impossible to match in todays construction world of unions and red tape. What the local community could not furnish in supplies and materials was shipped in from other smelters. What machinery they could not supply, they built. The history of its construction ensures the smelter a unique status in the annals of mining and smelting. In addition to the railway and the smelter which eventually was comprised of a lead smelter, blast furnace plant, concentrators, and slag treatment plant with all their accouterments, the project -- included an aerial t railway 20,00(1 feet long. The history of the IS&R Co. is as var- ied and dramatic as the men who manned it. Volumes of conflict and action filled its days. For a tantalizing glimpse into its drama, we once again turn to the diary and photographs of Howard M. Smith, clerk, who arrived here with the first contingent of planners and whose photographs and records furnish us with an overview of those exciting days. In fact, this legacy along with his own recollections of life in Tooele in the early 19005, have lieen compiled into an book by Wilber H. Smith, son of the early clerk and photo- From time to time, II. M. Smith would record the panoramic s icw from atop the stack as it rose from das to day. Bv Nov. 1909, the slack had reached 125 feet. The view shows the completed power house, copper plant structures and ore bin structures. grapher. The volume entitled Railroad Through the Middle of Town (a history of Tooele, Utah and the building of the Tooele Smelter and the Tooele Valley A ) Railway, Boy Crows up in a Mormon Community, could serve as a source of history of Tooele during that fera. In addition, Mr. Smith, along with Claude Atkin and others, is working to create a museum with pictures, history and artifacts in order to preserve the history of the smelter which played such a vital role in the life of the community for nearly three quarters of a century. The smelter does indeed have a history that needs to be told as well as pre1909-1940- served. There were the many court cases involving farmers and IS&R. There was n the struggle to construct the smelter and the imaginative ways the super-huma- early builders met those needs. There were those more than exciting E. P. Mathewson, first general superintendent and our source, photographer Howard M. Smith - the Mutt and Jeff of the project, pose atop the big stack, 350 feet up. The date was Feb. 1910. moments like the time a train loaded with bricks broke loose and careened through town at a breakneck speed, the fire of 42, the blizzards that closed down the railroads. The lives of individual workers each comprise a necessary chapter in the annals of IS&R, such as those who found summer or part time employment there. The smelter sent many a lad to college. The demise of the smelter in 1972 did not sound its death knell in the hearts and memories of the men and families whose lives were entwined in the happenings on the hill. Surely, we cant just wipe the memories of the big smelter off the slate. The Middle Canyon Trestle was a feat of engineering genius. Designed by one J. B. McIntosh, the framework (bents) were built on the ground in sections. It was then laid out in proper position and a crane (driven over the existing sections) was used to pull the bents into upright position in concrete footings. After the connecting timbers were installed, short sections of rail were quickly laid so that the crane could be moved ahead. With the railroad in the foreground, and the aerial tramway in the background, we can get some idea of the scope of activities at the old International Smelting and Refin- i nf C' operation which stood opera tion for over 60 years. on the hillside east of Tooele. The smelter was in Smith set up this self photograph in the offices of the IS&R Co. in 1910. As one of the first employees on the scene, he supervised clerical and related activ ities, and kept track of construction. |