A Proposed Railroad Would Have Connected St. George To California
Something you see what seems like every city in the nation never made it to St. George. Although there were several attempts, Washington County was never par of the train tracks that connected the rest of the nation.
Failed Attempts: Tracks That Never Reached St. George
The transcontinental railroad drove the golden spike in Utah in 1869 that connected the eastern and western lines. After that, tracks were laid to Lund, Nevada to move cattle. Another spur eventually made it to Modena and then Cedar City.
Despite attempts, those lines never got any closer to the St. George area. When railroads were the main way to move freight, it would have helped miners and cattlemen get their goods across the country, but it never worked out.
Attempts Were Made to Build a Railroad Through Southern Utah
In 1908 a company gained financing from Los Angeles to build tracks from that would go through Mesquite and Beaver Dam, Arizona into St. George bypassing the Virgin Gorge. It would eventually connect to the tracks in Cedar City.
Residents were excited to ship coal and fruit to California according to an article from 1908. Interest grew with the discovery of oil in the County, but the oil fizzled out and so did the railroad. The company never got it together and the tracks never got started.
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Same thing happened to a proposed spur from Cedar City to New Harmony where they hoped to ship coal. It kept going through different proposals. In 1909 they even began to survey the land and spirits were high, but it just never panned out.
Those wanting to move goods continued to drive to Cedar City and Modena to get it on a train. Eventually roads improved and the railroad became less important. This is why you don't see train tracks here, something that is so common in the rest of the country.
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