Delle, Utah facts for kids
Delle is a tiny place in Tooele County, Utah. It's located right next to Interstate 80. This area is also close to the famous Bonneville Salt Flats. Delle has always been very small, with only a few people living there. It mostly served as a place to get gas for travelers. Before I-80, it was a stop along U.S. Route 40. After the freeway was finished, Delle became almost like a ghost town.
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What is Delle?
Delle started in 1880 as a small village for the railroad. It was built along the Western Pacific line. Its main purpose was to be a water depot. Steam engines needed water before crossing the huge salt flats.
How Delle Got Its Name
The original name for Delle was Dalles Spring. This name came from a French word that means "water." But railroad workers later made the name shorter. They did this to make it easier to send messages by telegraph.
Life in Early Delle
Delle had a water tower and a reservoir. There were also many homes for railroad workers and their families. People lived there from at least 1920 to 1940. Most of the people living in Delle were immigrants. They came from places like Ireland, Scotland, and Greece.
Water for Delle came from springs. These springs were located far away in the mountains. Some were as far as twelve miles away. The water was piped from places like Delle Ranch to the village.
Delle After Steam Engines
When diesel engines were invented, trains no longer needed water stops. But Delle still stayed active. It became a station for railroad employees. These workers were in charge of keeping the tracks in good shape. They worked on the tracks between Wendover, Utah and Salt Lake City. In 1950, about 174 people lived in Delle.
Delle in Later Years
During the 1950s, a gas station and a small motel were built in Delle. The old railroad homes were torn down. The railroad also stopped using the site.
A local businessman named Karl Wm. Winsness Jr. owned Delle for most of the 1970s. Water had to be brought in by truck from Grantsville.
