Rock asphalt was first mined at the top of Whitmore Canyon, fifteen miles northeast of this location, in the early 1890s. The mine closed in 1898 and reopened in 1903. It operated erratically until 1915, when it was forced to close due to the development of sheet asphalt. In 1927 another company tried to develop a rock asphalt industry, spending over one-half million dollars on equipment including a three and a half mile gravity powered aerial tramway. To promote the use of rock asphalt for paving, it was sold for $8.00 a ton even though production costs exceeded $16.00 a ton. This company went bankrupt in 1931, and the Rock Asphalt Co. of Utah took over in 1932. The mine operated only about two months out of the year and eventually closed. Interest was rekindled in the 1970s, but nothing ever developed.