Delle is a small unincorporated community in Tooele County

Tooele County, Utah

Tooele County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2000, the population was 40,735 and by 2005 was estimated at 51,311. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele....

, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, along Interstate 80

Interstate 80 in Utah

In the U.S. state of Utah, Interstate 80 runs east–west through northern part of the state, passing through the Bonneville Salt Flats, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the Wasatch Mountains and Echo canyon. In western Utah the highway was built along the corridor of the Victory...

 near the Bonneville Salt Flats. The town has never had more than a few residents and has served primarily as a filling station

Filling station

A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...

 along the I-80 corridor (and U.S. Route 40 corridor before it). Since the completion of the freeway, the town has essentially become a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

.

Delle was established in 1880 as a railroad village along the Western Pacific

Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)

The Western Pacific Railroad was formed in December, 1862, by a group led by Timothy Dame and including Charles McLaughlin and Peter Donahue, all associated with the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, to build a railroad from San Jose north to Vallejo's Mills , east through Niles Canyon, north to...

 line, primarily as a water depot

Water stop

A water stop or water station on a railroad is a place where trains stop to replenish water. The stopping of the train itself is also referred to as "water stop". The term originates from the times of steam engines, when large amounts of water were essential...

 for steam engines in preparation for the trek across the famous salt flats. It was originally named Dalles Spring, from a French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 word referring to water, but railroad personnel later shortened the name for telegraphic

Telegraphy

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...

 efficiency. It possessed a water tower, a reservoir and numerous homes where railroad employees and their families resided from at least 1920 until 1940. The inhabitants were primarily Irish, Scot and Greek immigrants. Water was obtained from springs located as far as twelve miles away in nearby mountains (Delle Ranch located along the east bench of Skull Valley

Skull Valley

The Skull Valley Indian Reservation is the Goshute Indian reservation located approximately 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah. It belongs to the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah, a federally recognized tribe....

 being the primary) and piped to the site. After diesel powered engines were introduced, Delle continued as a site station for railroad employees in charge of track upkeep between Wendover, Utah

Wendover, Utah

Wendover is a city in Tooele County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Elko Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,537 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 estimated population of 1,632....

 and Salt Lake City. As of the 1950 United States Census, the population was 174.

During the 1950s a filling station and small motel were constructed. The railroad homes were demolished, and the railroad abandoned the site.

Delle was owned by local businessman Karl Wm. Winsness Jr. for most of the 1970s, and water was hauled in by truck from Grantsville

Grantsville, Utah

Grantsville is the second most populous city in Tooele County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,015 at the 2000 census. The city has grown slowly and steadily throughout most of its existence, but rapid increases in...

. Karl was injured in a propane explosion while remodeling the motel and cafe in the early 1980s.