Discovering Small Town Utah Door-to-Door

On first inspection, the exit off the freeway to Mills looks like a giant factory rather than a town. I pulled off and entered the main factory office and the ladies working there told me that the town of Mills is actually a few miles down the small road behind the giant plant that renders cow parts into lard, grease and bone meal. “I think there are still a few homes back there, but I’ve never been there.” said the secretary for Juab County Rendering.

I proceeded down the road and saw just a few houses. Then appearing out of the blue sky were three Union Pacific locomotives with freight in tow. I met Tim Branham, who recently moved back home from North Carolina. Branham won a bid on a job to clean out Navy fuel tankers. After staying on the job for two years, he says he prefers small town life. “It’s nice and quiet here.” Mills is listed as a ghost town, but I can report living souls thriving there.

Dogs Louie and Kiki enjoyed Mills’ nice dirt roads that led to a watering hole. Kiki (top) entered the mud and soaked for five minutes. Half her body covered in thick mud I made her run more, hoping to she’d run off as much mud as possible before heading back down the highway.