Just beyond Latuda, Utah, at the upper end of Spring Canyon, are the remains of three small mining camps – Rains, Mutual, and Little Standard. These were so closely grouped that the towns blended into one another. Rains started in 1915 when prominent mining engineer Leon Felix Rains garnered the interest of  P.J. Quealy, a coal operator from Wyoming, in investing in the coal lands west of Standardville.

Soon, the Carbon Fuel Company was organized, the land was purchased from the government, and Leon Rains served as the company’s president. Interestingly, Rains had been a grand opera singer until he became interested in the coal industry, first gaining experience selling coal in California. Later, he served as the general manager of the Standard Coal Company from 1913 to 1914, then founded the Carbon Fuel Company.

The 18-foot coal seams in this area were so thick that the company had little development work to accomplish before taking out its first load, which was shipped in November 1915. The coal camp that grew up around the mine took on the name of its president, and the company built houses for its employees, a school, a boarding house, a store, and a bathhouse for the miners. The school and post office also served the nearby Mutual mining camp. While the mine was at the height of its operations, about 200 men were employed, and daily coal production averaged 1200 to 1500 tons.

By June 1916, the Carbon Fuel Company was shipping about 300 coal cars daily on its railroad spur built from the end of the line at Standardville. Later, the Liberty Mine at Latuda would use the spur. In 1919, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad bought the railroad property between Standardville and Rains.

In 1921, a 210-man crew produced 158,133 tons of coal, and the population of the town of Rains approached 500. However, when crews were temporarily increased, many additional single miners often lived in tents. The Rains Mine’s production peaked in the mid-1920s and gradually declined thereafter.

In 1930, the mine closed. However, in 1935, the Utah Carbon Fuel Company bought the property, extended its underground workings, and began working the adjacent Rains Mine and the defunct Mutual Coal Mine. This temporarily brought new life to the town. By 1951, the mines were operated by the Hi-Heat Coal Company. These operations continued until 1956.

Afterward, the buildings were torn down for materials or moved to other communities.

Today, it is difficult to determine what belonged to Rains and the other nearby towns of Mutual and Latuda. Some of Rains’ townsite remains are located on a private ranch. The most prominent remaining structures are the foundations of the Rains Bathhouse.

 

Compiled by Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated March 2026.

Also See:

Carbon County Ghost Towns

Ghost Towns Across America

Utah Ghost Towns

Utah Photo Galleries

See Sources.