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Son,erse~ coat :~;n; were d~.covered by Ira Q. Sanborn in 1883 and sub- <br />sequently sold to ranchers including Edd Hanson, a pioneer investor and \ <br />• rancher friend of Enos Hotchkiss, in 1900. htaking considerable profit, <br />Hanson sold the rights to the Utah Fuel Company in 1902, the year the <br />DRGW completed its •;,ur f: cm G~l~a to Somerset. <br />5 <br />r <br />I <br />, <br />i~ <br /> <br />The town below the mine was begun in 1902 as a "tent" city. In 1903 <br />the company began to erect the first of forty frame homes for company <br />employees. Somerset (named after Somersetshire, a prosperous coal <br />"county" in England) remained a company town until the 1920s, when the <br />homes were sold off, new investors entered the city, and company owner- \ <br />ship was phased out amidst an industry depression. <br />Today, the town retains the earlier general layout, with expansion <br />made difficult by terrain and the mine properties. However, the town <br />retains little of the aura of a one time "company town". Several of <br />the unpretentious wood frame homes originally built by the company re- <br />main but they have intermingled with other building types and modern ~ <br />services. Most of the pretentious "company structures" are gone, <br />including the saloon and social club and the bachelors "barracks" built <br />in 1912. Gaily colored, this attractive mountain town has changed its <br />uniform, dust covered, off-white coal mining town personality for a <br />recreation facility serving residents and tourists alike. ' <br /> <br /> <br />