Terrace, Box Elder, Utah Genealogy

History
Terrace is a class 3 railroad ghost town, close to the Park Valley area of west central Box Elder County and was established in 1869. The largest of the last few construction camps built by the Central Pacific Railroad, Terrace went from a tent city to a town that settled down to become permanent. The railroad sustained the city with many Chinese remaining after the completion of the railroad to become permanent settlers, while other Chinese returned to San Francisco or back to China. The Chinese lived on east ridge, in dugouts or shanties, a small "China Town" in Northern Utah.

In 1904 the Southern Pacific Railroad, successor to the Central Pacific, completed the Lucin Cutoff across the Great Salt Lake. The new route bypassed Terrace, the railroad closed its facilities at Terrace, moving the division point to Montello, Nevada. Many of Terrace's houses and buildings were moved to Montello. The railroad line through Terrace was finally abandoned in 1942, and no buildings remain in the town today.


 * Central Pacific Railroad
 * Southern Pacific Railroad

Location

 * GPS Location: 41°30′13″N 113°31′01″W

Maps

 * 1895 Map of Box Elder County

Time Line



 * 1869 April 1 Established
 * 1900 Main railroad shops moved to Montello and Carlin Nevada
 * 1900 Fire burned through city destroying many buildings
 * 1904 Railroad constructed a new route by way of the Lucin Cutoff across the Great Salt Lake bypassing Terrace
 * 1944 Rails were taken up and donated to the WWII war effort.

Neighboring Communities
Promontory | Park Valley | Snowville |Rosette | Lucin | Etna | Grouse Creek

Cemeteries

 * Terrace Cemetery: One-half mile northeast of the Terrace site, the cemetery can be found.
 * Terrace Cemetery Findagrave.com Transcriptions
 * Terrace Cemetery

Check cemeteries in neighboring communities.


 * Box Elder County Cemeteries
 * Box Elder Utah Gravestone Photo Project
 * Findagrave.com

Historical Newspapers

 * Box Elder News

Vital Records

 * The Chinese were generally excluded from the census, and some tallies counted registered voters only.

Marriages

 * Marriage information may be located at the Western States Marriage Database searchable by bride or groom.

Death
50 years ago Choices of search types - name, date of death (year, month, day, or any combination) and county. Images of actual death certificates.
 * Utah Department of Archives 1903 to
 * Utah Death Certificates 1904 - 1956 -A free internet access to the 1904-1956 death certificates can be viewed on the Family Search Historical Records. Utah requires a death certificate before a burial is completed.  A death certificate may contain information as to the name of the deceased, date of death, and place of death, as well as the age, birthdate, parents, gender, marital status, spouse and place of residence.  For information on death prior to 1904 you can search the Utah State Burial Index.

Suggested Reading

 * The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns.
 * Some Dreams Die: Utah's Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures
 * ''Connecting the West : historic railroad stops and stage stations of Elko County, Nevada

Websites

 * China Emigration and Immigration
 * Ghost Town of Terrace
 * Central Pacific Transcontinental RR Grade
 * First Transcontinental Railroad
 * Utah Ghost Towns