Discovered in 1865. By 1876 almost 300 people lived here. Another town was soon built by Jacob City and was called Gisborn. I have no info at this time on Gisborn or how long the towns lived. I was informed by the person who sent me this photo that Jacob Citys hotel has either been tore down or has fallen to the elements but is no longer standing.
Submitted by Bob Bezzant.

UPDATE: The old hotel in Jacob City fell down about six or seven years ago. I visit there regularly and was last there this past October. There are still one or two small wooden structures standing along the canyon walls, though they wont be around much longer as Jacob City is high up in the mountians and the snow takes a heavy toll on the old buildings. I assume this is what caused the old hotel to fall as not to long ago it was still possible to walk around on the upper floor. Some of the roads in Jacob City are quickly washing away and getting in by vehicle is a more difficult but can still be easily done by walking only a short distance. For quite some time the only way to get ore out of Jacob City was through Dry Canyon, a route that even in a jeep is very slow and rough. Ore had to be hauled down the canyon in small carts. For a while an arial tramway was built but was also slow. A man by the name of Matt Gisborn owned the Mono mine south of Jacob City. Matt Gisborn carved a long toll road up from the Dry Canyon across the face of the mountain on a gentle grade eight miles northwest to the town of Stockton. (1) A small town grew up around the Mono mine and was given the name of the mines owner, Gisborn. The mining around Gisborn reportatly lasted a bit longer than that of Jaboc City but was not on the same scale.(1) Some more recent mining has been done in the area but nothing I would consider modern. While it is possible to reach Jacob City by two wheel drive vehicle, a person would be much better off in a four wheel drive vehicle. As I mentioned the road from the toll road down into Jacob City is deteriorating at a fast pace, there are several roads that go all over that mountian and it is possible, via a dirt road to reach the town of Ophir on the other side of the mountian, though a person would definatly want a four wheel drive vehicle to do so. Personally I have only attempted this on my off road motorcycle. About a month ago there was a news report that they (BLM or some other agency, I forget which) was going to be blowing the old mine entrances closed for safety reasons. Personally I feel this is not needed as Jacob City is out of the way of anyone who would simply be on a "Sunday drive" and anyone entering the old mines should know the great risks they are taking and make sure that all precautions have been taken. Mine entrances are scattered all over the canyon and many open up right on the side of the roads. - Brian Snarr

UPDATE: 6/10/00 We visited Jacob City, Tooele County, Utah this weekend. We met the new owner of the property, who says he is going to close all the mines down and started putting "no trespassing" signs up. There are two ways to get there, one is from the Stockton side and one is from a road that goes to Ophir, which splits at the very beginning of the road and heads up to the canyon to the left. There is very little left, as you can see from the pictures. The new owners said there were other buildings over the hill, but the snow is still blocking many of the higher roads. We will keep you informed. Robert Mair and Maida Murphy

UPDATE: There is one older cabin that I know off at the top of the canyon of Jacob City (over Commodore Pass). I don't have a estimate of its age at this time. As to accessibility of the ghost town: We had intended to come into Jacob City from Ophir (using Serviceberry Canyon). [25 Oct. 2000] The road had been posted (it was not as of last week). We then decided to approach from Stockton. We were able to get up to the main trail into the Site. It had been improved but was now gated and posted. The next week [2 Nov 2000] we attempted to reach Jacob from Dry Canyon (the bottom entrance). We were turned back by snow but saw no postings. However, upon driving down the canyon we noticed two holes had been excavated at a narrow in the road. Based on its location (it can't be bypassed) we believe these to be in preparation for a gate. By Summer 2001 it is likely that Jacob will be inaccessible by vehicle and foot access will likewise be prohibited. Is this the owner's attempt to limit his liability or is development planned? I see that Robert Mair has spoken to the new owner. Perhaps he knows what is planned for the site. Mont Andersen