Brendel, Utah - Still Moving Around on the Map
In April 2012, I visited Crescent Junction
(pop. 0), and Brendel, Utah (pop. 0). Although the derivation of the
name Crescent Junction requires some research, today it designates the
intersection of Interstate I-70 (Dinosaur Diamond Highway) and U.S.
Highway 191. Although there is no obvious crescent at Crescent
Junction, it is the main I-70 exit to Moab, Utah, which lies thirty-one miles to the south.
Since my previous visit in 2010,
not much has changed in Crescent Junction. The big transformation in
“town” since then is a fresh paint job on Papa Joe’s Stop & Go gas
station and convenience store. I have never met Papa Joe, but his name
appears on the only business at Crescent Junction. Unless someone is
living in the back of the gas station, the permanent population of Crescent Junction remains zero. In my 2010 photo of the place, regular gas was a nostalgic $2.95 per gallon. According to another source, in 1946, a service station opened
at that site. Based on the architecture of the Stop & Go, it
appears that little has changed there except for signage and the price
of fuel.
By convention, most people assume that Crescent Junction and Brendel
are one-in-the-same. Many sources, including some official government
documents use Crescent Junction and Brendel interchangeably. In
December 2010, I first wrote about this case of conflated identity.
Running east and west, and parallel to I-70 at that location is the current Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) Central Corridor between Grand Junction, Colorado and Ogden, Utah. Once owned by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway
(D&RGWR), many current maps still identify that now defunct
railroad as owning the tracks. Without its long association with the
railroad, the nearby place called Brendel would have disappeared into history.
In 2010, I challenged the editors at Wikipedia to do their due diligence
and identify Brendel and Crescent Junction as two different places.
The Wikipedia 2012 entry for Crescent Junction uses the phrase “or Brendel” to identify the place. In Wikipedia, there is no separate entry for Brendel,
itself. Wikipedia now indicates that Brendel appears on most railroad
maps and that Crescent Junction appears on most highway maps. However, a
Wikipedia reader might assume that both places are indeed the same.
Geographically,
Brendel can be difficult to pin down. Wikipedia says that “Brendel is
the name of the rail siding and junction at the same location” as
Crescent Junction. Different mapping authorities place Brendel in
slightly different places, none of which physically overlaps with
Crescent Junction. Bing.com places Brendel where the UPRR Potash Branch line crosses the Old Cisco Highway (Frontage Road). Google Maps places "Brendel, Thompson, Grand, UT"
on what they call “Railroad Road”, about two hundred feet north of the
UPRR Central Corridor. In my DeLorme Utah Atlas, that same road is
designated Floy Canyon Road. MapQuest.com erroneously calls the road
"Foy Canyon" and Google Maps designates only the first hundred yards of
Floy Canyon Road as “Railroad Road”, which seems dubious, at best.
In the early days, the railroads gave names only to landmarks or
facilities that had something to do with railroad operations. In the
D&RGWR route maps dating from 1899 to 1904, only “Little Grand”
and “Solitude” stood between Thompson Springs and Green River. A 1930 route map deleted Little Grand and Solitude, replacing them with “Crescent” and “Floy”. From other sources, we know that the former construction camp of Little Grand later became Floy (Floy Station). Solitude, as it has in so many places, disappeared completely from later maps.
Prior
to 1930, U.S. Highway 50 followed a more southerly, crescent shaped
route between Green River and Thompson Springs. Around 1930,
realignment of U.S. 50 relocated the Moab turn-off farther north, at the
current Crescent Junction. With the disappearance of Valley City,
the longer route through there was no longer necessary. Although that
crescent shaped route disappeared, the new intersection received the
name, Crescent Junction. According to a 1990 book of Utah place names, "the name comes from the crescent-shaped configuration of the Book Cliffs near the junction".
Also in 1930, D&RGWR mapmakers put “Crescent” on an updated railroad
route map. The main function of railroad route maps was to help
passengers identify whistle stops and stations. With the advent of
Crescent Junction, it was logical for the railroad to use “Crescent”
for its whistle stop near there. The 1930 D&RGWR route map is the
latest one published on the internet. After that, I do not know what
happened to the railroad’s “Crescent” designation. The town of Crescent, Utah (near Salt Lake City), had appeared in a 1908 national directory of railroad stations.
To avoid confusion between identical place names, it is likely that
the D&RGWR later dropped the “Crescent” in Grand County, Utah.
Perhaps it was then that the railroad designated the place as Brendel.
A 1940 U.S. Department of the Interior book lists “Brendel (Crescent), D. & R. G. W. R. R.” at an elevation of 4908 feet. A 1964 Interstate Commerce Commission Report
indicates that the Texas-Zinc Minerals Corporation planned to ship
copper ore concentrates in bulk from Mexican Hat to “Brendel, Utah, the
railhead at or near Crescent Junction, Utah”. Apparently, Texas-Zinc
prevailed, since a railroad spur still stands near the consensus
location for Brendel, Utah.
From the scant documentary evidence above, we see that Crescent Junction
was not an official place name until about 1930. By 1940, we see
Brendel having its own place name, but with reference made to
“Crescent”. By 1964, we see the clear distinction between Brendel, as
the railhead and Crescent Junction as the highway intersection. With
its “at or near” designation for Brendel, even the Interstate Commerce
Commission equivocated. 
Who was Brendel? In all of my research about this, I found no historical
reference to any such person in twentieth century Utah. The person or
circumstances that inspired “Brendel” as the place name for this lonely
railroad spur remain unknown. Unless someone can bring the mysterious
“Brendel” into the light, that place shall remain an historical
footnote to Crescent Junction. If any reader knows who Brendel was,
please comment below or send an email. I would be happy to set the
record straight, giving Brendel a firmer place in Utah history.
On November 2, 2012, a local resident of Crescent Junction helped me set the record straight.
Hi Jim:
If you get to Crescent in April, my story is that Brendel is NOT north
and east of Crescent Junction, but north and a bit WEST. If you walk
the railroad track and look at the tiny silver buildings from the track
side you will find one named Brendel where the rail crosses a large
wash. I will verify this next chance I get. Crescent is in our blood.
Later, Keven Lange.
By James McGillis at 04:01 PM | | Comments (1) | Link
No comments:
Post a Comment