Latuda, about 1940, photo by William Shipler.
The old townsite of Latuda is located about seven miles West of Helper. The settlement began when Francisco Latuda and Charles Picco, both of Trinidad, Colorado, bought approximately 326 acres of coal lands on August 1, 1917. They then began developing the Liberty Mine and forming the Liberty Fuel Company. They sent the first shipment of coal from a temporary tipple in January 1918.
Initially, the settlement around the mine consisted of only a few houses, with the rest of the town comprised of tents. However, new structures began to replace the tents in 1918, and the camp became known as Liberty. When a post office was built, the name was changed to Latuda in honor of the mine owner.
In 1920, a stone mine office was built; its top floor housed a hotel for visiting executives and a doctor’s office. A school building was constructed in 1921 and used for meetings and social functions. Additional homes were built in 1922 to house the miners i
Liberty Fuel Company Office in Latuda’s heyday.
Coal production increased steadily as the company continued to make improvements. In 1926, it was one of the first mines to utilize mechanical loading inside the mine.
One of the town’s earliest problems was water, which had to be hauled in from Helper until a small spring was tapped some distance away and piped into the town. Another problem for the “city” was snow slides. Surrounded by mountains at an elevation of some 6,700 feet, Latuda was subject to snow slides, two of which occurred on February 16, 1927, killing two miners and burying a row of houses and nearly a mile of railroad track.
In 1928, the Liberty Fuel Company built a new “modern” four-track steel tipple, increasing capacity to 1,500 tons daily.
By the mid-1940s, production had fallen to about 1,000 tons per day, and by 1954, the company had shut down much of its operation.
Liberty Fuel Company Mine Office in Latuda, Utah, after the town shut down.
In 1966, the mine was closed permanently, and the entrance was blasted shut. The town’s population peaked at about 400 people, but by 1967, no one was left.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated September 2026.
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