Royal Coal Mine

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This page was last updated on February 15, 2025.

Overview

The mine was located at Cameron, later known as Rolapp and Royal, which was located just south of the north end of the Castle Gate valley, with similar Castle Gate formations at the north end and the south end, separated by about 1.7 miles. The site today is across the highway from the Price City water treatment plant.

"Originally known as Bear Canyon, it was shortly called Cameron, for Frank Cameron, the mine owner. After Cameron sold his claims to Henry H. Rolapp in 1917, the town which had grown considerably took the new owner's name." (Stephen Carr, Utah Ghost Towns, page 72)

When the post office was established in March 1922, the name chosen was Rolapp. The railroad station remained as Cameron until some time in late 1922 or early 1923, when it was also changed from Cameron to Rolapp. The railroad station was changed from Rolapp to Royal in July 1936, based on available timetables.

The following comes from the 1930 "A Brief History Of Carbon County, By The Teachers, Pupils, and Patrons Of Carbon District."

Rolapp is picturesquely located at the root of Castle Rock, at the junction of the Bear River and Price River canyons on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.

In 1913 this district attracted the attentton of Mr. Frank Cameron, who had previously developed the Heiner property. The first work began in Rolapp with thirty-five men employed. Because of its location the camp was appropriately named Bear Canyon. As the population increased and the mine prospered, the camp was given the name of Cameron, in honor of Mr. Cameron. In 1917, Frank Cameron sold his interest to Henry H. Rolapp. Again the name of the camp was changed in honor of the new manager. The Royal Coal Company owned the property until 1930 when they sold their interests to the Spring Canyon Coal Company.

Rolapp is not incorporated and is, therefore, governed by the County. There are no parks, amusement halls, libraries or churches. All public meetings and gatherings are held in the school building.

Cameron Coal Company

January 30, 1909
"Frank N. Cameron, formerly with the Utah Fuel company as general superintendent, and Sam C. Shelterer, building contractor for the same company, have purchased the coal interests of David J. Sharp, in Panther canyon, between Helper and Castle Gate, Utah." (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 30, 1909)

(Read more about Frank Cameron)

The Cameron coal mine was located at the north Castle Gate rock formation, and two miles northwest of Frank Cameron's previously developed Panther coal mine, which he had sold to United States Smelting, Refining & Mining in July 1912.

September 26, 1913
Cameron Coal Company was incorporated on September 26, 1913. The corporation was involuntarily dissolved on April 29, 1965. (Utah corporation, index number 10303, or 10313)

November 6, 1913
Cameron Coal Company was organized by F. N. Cameron for new mine at Castle Gate. (Coal Index: Eastern Utah Advocate, November 6, 1913)

April 15, 1914
The new tipple was completed during early April 1914, having been built by Sam C. Sherill of Salt Lake City. The coal company owned 360 acres and was producing about five to six hundred tons per day. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1914, p. 28, "The Cameron Coal Mines")

July 30, 1914
The company store and twenty-two new worker's cottages were completed in late July 1914. (Salt Lake Mining Review, July 30, 1914, p. 32, "Coal Notes & Personals")

October 20, 1914
The following comes from the October 21, 1914 issue of the Ogden Daily Standard.

Ogden Men Buy A Big Coal Mine In Utah - The Cameron coal properties, owned principally by F. N. Cameron of Salt Lake and located one and one-half miles west of Castlegate, Utah, in Carbon county, have been sold to M. S. Browning and associates of Ogden. The deal, which involves more than $355,000, was consummated yesterday afternoon.

The officers and the new directorate of the company is as follows: M. S. Browning, president; E S. Rolapp, vice president and general manager, J. M. Browning, H. H. Rolapp, Frank Rolapp, all of Ogden, and F. N. Cameron of Salt Lake, directors. Mariner Browning is the secretary of the company and L. R Weber is the treasurer. The name of the new organization is to be the same as that of the old one, the Cameron Coal company. The new company also took over the Cameron Store company.

The coal properties comprise 400 acres. The mine is fully equipped with all of the modem appliances for the mining of coal, and at present is producing approximately 300 tons per day. Due to the development work that has been done, the new management is of the opinion that the mine will produce in the neighborhood of 600 tons of coal per day in the near future. One interesting feature in connection with the property is the fact that the view of the rock entitled in the Denver & Rio Grande folders, "Castle Rock," was taken on the property.

(H. H. Rolapp was also a District Judge in Ogden, and an officer in the Amalgamated Sugar Co.)

October 30, 1914
"Cameron property recently purchased by the Browning interests." (Salt Lake Mining Review, October 30, 1914)

November 19, 1914
"Moves To Salt Lake. - Coal Manager Decides Zion Is Best Place For Office. - Ogden, Nov. 18. -- E. S. Rolapp, who recently was made vice president and general manager of the company which took over the Cameron coal properties, has moved to Salt Lake, after living in Ogden for the past twenty-five years. While Ogden men are the principal stockholders in the company now operating the Cameron properties, Mr. Rolapp asserts the affairs of the company can be best administered in Salt Lake. Prior to the time he interested himself in the coal business, Mr. Rolapp was assistant secretary of the Amalgamated Sugar company, in charge of the company's general offices. A controlling interest in the Cameron coal properties at Castlegate was recently purchased by M. S. Browning, H. H. Rolapp, E. S. Rolapp and other Ogden capitalists."(Salt Lake Tribune, November 19, 1914)

Royal Coal was a brand name being used by the Cameron Coal company to sell its coal in Ogden and Logan, Utah, starting in late 1914 and early 1915. The sales manager was S. Fred Baliff, Jr., with offices in the Newhouse Building in Salt Lake City.

November 20, 1914
"Rolapp Takes Over Cameron Coal Firm - Control of the Cameron Coal company passed yesterday into the hands of Emil Rolapp of Ogden. Mr. Rolapp purchased the interest held by F. N. Cameron for $550,000. This property is the only coal property that has been worked every day since it was opened. The mine is near Castle Gate on the main line of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad, and is the deepest mine in the state, as it is 1000 feet from the surface, at a grade of 35 percent to the coal. The company has 400 acres of coal land. The cola is much harder that that mined from near the surface and as a consequence is specially valuable for its gas qualities. The capacity of the mine at present is 250 tons a day, but it is planned to double this capacity within the next year. Included in the purchase is control of the company's store near Castle Gate." (Salt Lake Telegram, November 21, 1914, "yesterday")

December 5, 1916
"We are receiving a fairly good supply from the Cameron mines, which is known as the Royal coal. This mine is owned by Ogden capitalists and they are endeavoring to look after Ogden in particular." (Ogden Standard Examiner, December 5, 1916)

December 22, 1916
"'Royal Coal, Mined At Castle Gate, Utah. Solves the Burning Question' is the trade mark in neat design adopted by Cameron Coal company. M. S. Browning is president of the company and E. S. Rolapp, general manager. Both are from Ogden, but general offices are maintained at Salt Lake City in the Newhouse building. These properties are working four and five days a week." (Sun Advocate, December 22, 1916)

1917
"Henry H. Rolapp bought the Cameron interests, after which the Royal Coal Company was the owner." (C. H. Madsen, "Carbon County, A History," 1947, page 54; repeated in Reynolds' "Centennial Echos")

(After selling his interest in his Cameron Coal company in 1917, Frank N. Cameron organized, also in 1917, the Liberty Fuel company with Frank Latuda at Latuda in Spring Canyon. Cameron was elected vice president and general manager of Utah Fuel company in March 1922.)

1917
"After Cameron sold his claims to Henry H. Rolapp in 1917, the town which had grown considerably took the new owner's name." (Stephen Carr, Utah Ghost Towns, page 72)

1917
The mine was sold in 1917. (Sun-Advocate & Helper Journal, January 2, 1975)

September 13, 1917
The Cameron Coal company announced that henceforth, its coal would be distributed by the Royal Coal Sales Agency, and not by the coal company itself. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 13, 1917)

August 1918
Production for August 1918 for the Royal coal mine was reported as 12,000 tons. (Salt Lake Mining Review, September 15, 1918)

November 1919
"In November of 1919 the coal property was sold to Henry Rolapp, and the town's name was changed to Rolapp. Then it was changed to Royal, the name derived from the Royal Coal Company. This mine had become one of the deepest coal mines in Utah. In 1919 the Royal Coal Company sold the properties to the Spring Canyon Coal Company." (Frances Cunningham, Driving Tour Guide, Selected Abandoned Coal Mine Sites, page 15)

Royal Coal Company

March 15, 1920
"The Royal Coal Company. - Franklin H. Rolapp and S. F. Bailiff, Jr., and associates, have acquired the holdings of the Cameron Coal Company at Castle Gate, Utah, and have organized the Royal Coal Company which will operate the Cameron and one other Utah coal mine, and two coal properties located in Wyoming. The officials of the Royal Coal Company are: Franklin H. Rolapp, president and general manager; S. F. Bailiff, first vice president. Mr. Franklin H. Rolapp, president and manager for the company, is an experienced coal mining operator, having been in the business since 1911, while his associates in this enterprise are all men of prominence in the business and industrial world." (Salt Lake Mining Review, March 15, 1920)

(This same issue of the Salt Lake Mining Review was also the first advertisement for "Royal Coal, Mined at Castle Gate, Utah, by the Royal Coal Company.")

(The Royal coal mine was purchased by the Baliff-Rolapp Brokerage house of Ogden. The principals were Judge Henry H. Rolapp, and his partner Serge F. Baliff, both living in Ogden. The Baliff-Rolapp Brokerage was organized in December 1913. S. F. Baliff's son, S.F. [Fred] Baliff, Jr., married Rolapp's daughter Mable in June 1913.)

(S. F. Baliff -- In 1913, S. F. Baliff became partner in the Baliff-Rolapp Brokerage company, located in Ogden, and became president and general manager of the new company. The same year [1913], Mr. Baliff and F. H. Rolapp formed a coal jobbing firm known as F. H. Rolapp company, and in 1916, the headquarters of these companies were moved to Salt Lake City. During 1918, Mr. Baliff formed a coal sales company, later purchasing with Mr. Rolapp controlling interest in the Royal Coal company which he sold during 1929. -- Deseret News, December 21, 1929)

April 23, 1920
The Royal Coal Company was incorporated in Utah on April 23, 1920. "The company is to take over the entire holdings of the Cameron Coal company, another property in Utah, and a mine at Kemmerer, Wyo., according to Franklin H. Rolapp, who is president and general manager of the new company." "The Cameron company was formerly headed by M. S. Browning of Ogden and E. S. Rolapp of Salt Lake." Besides F. H. Rolapp as president, S. Fred Baliff was vice president. Directors included bankers in Ogden and Logan, including S. F. Baliff, Sr., also of Logan. The market for the company's coal included points in Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada, with the mine producing 1000 tons per day. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 24, 1920, "yesterday") (H. H. Rolapp is not mentioned)

(This is also the first reference with both Royal Coal and Rolapp in the same query results.)

December 16, 1921
The following comes from the December 16, 1921 issue of the Sun Advocate newspaper. (Note that the Cameron Coal name was still in use.)

Despite the general slump in business the Cameron Coal company producing Royal coal at Cameron has worked about 80 per cent of full-time during the past year with an average output of a thousand tons a day. The company has lately acquired, under the new lease law, some twelve hundred acres of exceptionally good coal lands adjoining its own property, and has gone ahead with developments and improvements for the production of more coal.

Within the past few months an extra loading track has been put in the yards and new scales installed above and below the tipple. A forty thousand volts sub-station has recently been completed, capable of transferring a thousand horsepower. Changes have been made in the haulage system and new hoists installed, which will make it possible to increase the daily tonnage to eighteen hundred or two thousand tons. Changes are now under way for increased capacity and better preparation of the coal at the tipple.

In addition to the mine improvements the company has also built more houses for its employees. The camp has been given a bright new coat of paint and its appearance generally improved. Plans are under way for a new store and office building as well as an amusement hall. It is the intention of the management to make Cameron one of the best camps in the district.

(Throughout 1921, 1922 and 1923, the newspapers continued to reference Cameron Coal company at Rolapp, as part of their coverage. But at the same time, other newspaper stories, especially the coal fraud case of October 1922, referenced only Royal Coal company, with no mention of the Cameron Coal company.)

March 9, 1922
The U. S. Post Office approved the request of the Cameron Coal company to add a post office in its company town. The new post office was to be named "Rolapp," in reference to the controlling interests of the coal company and company town. The first postmaster was Mark Grow. Previously, town residents had to travel to the Castle Gate post office to get their mail. The railroad station for the town and coal mine was to retain its previous name of Cameron. (News Advocate, March 9, 1922)

(Cameron was shown in railroad timetables until July 1920, but had been changed to Rolapp by the time the next timetable was issued in October 1923. Regardless of the name, the station was always a flag stop station. By 1932, Rolapp, at mile post 631.6, was shown as the only station between Castle Gate, mile post 630.3, and Nolan, mile post 635.1, four miles closer to Salt Lake City.)

The Bear Canyon mine was referred to as the Royal mine in 1924. (Coal Index: The Sun, February 15, 1924, p. 1)

February 26, 1925
"Rolapp, Feb. 24 - The Royal Coal company has placed a siren on the tipple, which helps to keep us right on time by singing at regular hours." (News-Advocate, February 26, 1925)

October 1, 1929
The Royal Coal Company was sold to James B. Smith and his associates in San Francisco, the group that also owned the Spring Canyon Coal Company. The sale took place on September 30th, and became effective on October 1st. Smith and his associates had purchased control of the Spring Canyon Coal company less than seven years before, on December 27, 1922. S. F. Baliff was president and general manager of Royal Coal, and he would retain a block of shares in the company and remain on the company's board of directors. James B. Smith would become the company's new president. Baliff and H.H. Rolapp had purchased control of the Royal Coal company from Frank N. Cameron, who had opened the mine 20 years before. The Royal Coal company would remain separate from the Spring Canyon Coal company, but the two companies would share a common management. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 2, 1929)

(C. H. Madsen, on page 54 of his 1947 history of Carbon County, stated that the Royal Coal company was sold to the Spring Canyon Coal company in 1930.)

(The last reference to James B. Smith being affiliated with the jointly owned Spring Canyon Coal and Royal Coal companies was in August 1935. Smith was elected several times over the years as president of the Utah Coal Producers Association from 1922 to 1933.)

The Royal mine was operated by the Spring Canyon Coal Company from 1930 until the mine was closed in 1962. (Sun Advocate & Helper Journal, Special Edition, January 2, 1975)

April 25, 1941
Spring Canyon Coal, Standard Coal, and Royal Coal companies were shown as being under joint management. The subject of the news story was that more than 1000 miners across Carbon County had been on strike since March 31st, and that they would be returning to work on April 25th. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1941)

November 1944
Spring Canyon Coal, Standard Coal, and Royal Coal all shared the same owners and managers. In the November 1944 issue of Coal Age magazine, Leonard E. Adams is shown as having been promoted to president and general manager of all three companies. Previously he had been vice president. (Coal Age, November 1944, Volume 49, Number 11)

June 1945
The following comes from the Condensed Mining Handbook of Utah, June 1945.

Royal Coal Company, 820 Newhouse Bldg. , Salt Lake City, Utah. President, L. E. Adams . Mine at Royal, Carbon County, Utah. Production about 730 tons a day.

Spring Canyon Coal Company, 820 Newhouse Bldg. , Salt Lake City, Utah. President, L. E . Adams. Mines (Spring Canyon Nos 1, 2 and 2-1/2 at Spring Canyon, Carbon County. Production about 1,200 tons a day.

Standard Coal Company, Newhouse Bldg., Salt Lake City, Utah. President, L. E . Adams. Mine at Standardville, Carbon County. Production about 425 tons a day.

In 1947, the stated capacity of the Royal mine was 1,000 tons per day. (Madsen, p. 54)

In 1951 the Royal mine at Royal was still being operated by the Royal Coal Company. (D&RGW: Traffic Circular 36-E, p. 86)

October 3, 1958
Control of the Spring Canyon Coal company, the Standard Coal company, and the Royal Coal Company was sold to the Van Horn Gas and Oil company of California. (Deseret News, October 3, 1958)

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