By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News | Photo Courtesy of Layne Miller

Following a lengthy appropriations process, the Utah State Legislature has approved a funding request by Rep. Christine Watkins to purchase the historic East Carbon Coke Ovens.

The remains of a bygone era, the historic coke ovens in East Carbon serve as a reminder of the area’s rich coal-industry history. Originally under private control, the state’s purchase will keep the area open and accessible to the public.

“We were able to secure funding for our East Carbon Coke ovens, and so it’s a done deal,” expressed Watkins. “I’m so happy. And we’ll be able to start doing some restoration and make this a really great destination place.”

The purchase was a focus of Watkins’ entering the 2026 legislative session after learning that East Carbon did not have control over the ovens. 

In a previous interview with Castle Country Radio, Watkins explained,” I wrote a letter to the people there in New York, and they signed for the letter. So I kept waiting to hear back from them and never heard a thing, until November of last year, and they called me. I was in New Orleans at a women’s conference, and they said we are just in the process of finalizing the sale of all the land around this, but we have carved out 180 acres for you in Carbon County and East Carbon. And of course, they’re not going to donate the land, so we had some interesting conversations about the price … And so I said, OK, let me see what I can do.”

The request sought $242,700 to purchase 181.4 acres in the East Carbon/Sunnyside area, a move which Watkins described as a bid to “save the historic Coke Ovens.”

“I’m just relieved. I always thought they belonged to somebody in the county. I didn’t know that they belonged to someone in New York,” shared the Representative. “I am truly thrilled. People in Carbon County should be doing the happy dance that this is going to be back in our hands, and we’re going to be able to control what happens up there.”

Looking to the future of the landmark, Watkins stated,” Scott Strong, who’s the Director of the State Parks Department, we’ve been talking about the process, what we’re going to be doing, working with the city, and the things that they would like to have done. But to purchase approximately 180 acres, the state will own it; it’ll be Utah’s. It will be Carbon County’s. It will be East Carbon’s. It’s going to be back in our hands.”

“I’m so happy,” added Watkins. “We’ll be able to start doing some restoration and make this a really great destination place.”