Frisco

The Sackett Family headstones.

Row of ancient charcoal kilns.

The mining mill on the Frisco mountainside.

(NOTE: I  have recently received word that mining has resumed in Frisco, and some of the buildings have been torn down. I don't know if this is true. If you have any information or have been to the town site recently, please let me know.)

Frisco is, by far, my favorite ghost town in Utah.  Several buildings still stand which are scattered over two separate districts (business and mining).  I made it down there during the fall and was able to camp out smack dab right in the middle of the old business district.  Talk about being away from society.  There are many old photogenic buildings still standing - especially in the mining area.  Visit the cemetery and read the epitaphs and names.  You'll notice there are quite a few with the name Sackett on them.  The Sacketts were a family that came from San Francisco when Frisco was first started.  If you have ever read from the Louis L'amore series called 'The Sacketts', well then, you'll have a better appreciation for those names on the headstones.  L'amore based those novels on that family at Frisco.

Frisco was born in 1876 when silver was discovered.  It filled up quickly with miners and gamblers.  There were 23 saloons and shootouts were a daily occurrence.  Frisco came to be known as the wildest town in the Great Basin.  A sheriff was hired from Nevada to clean up the town.  Not many took him very seriously until he shot and killed five men on his first day on the job.

The mining brought much wealth to the prospectors.  In ten years the mines brought in nearly $54 million dollars.  The town prospered until a 900 feet deep mine caved in during a shift change. The town came to a halt.  A few people remained in the town until about 1913.

Frisco is located about 15 miles west from Milford.  Be sure to visit the old mill on the mountainside just above the mining district.  About 1/2 mile east from the cemetery and mining district is the business district.  Be sure you visit Frisco early in the day, so you'll have time to see all there is to see.  The place is pretty creepy once the sun goes down.

5 stars.