The Salt Lake Tribune Kennecott Sells Housing Townsites To End Role as Employe Landlord Garfield, a 50 year old townsite in the heart of Utah copper smelting and refining industries, will be abandoned by owners Kennecott Copper Corp. and American Smelting & Refining Co. Employes may buy homes for off site removal. Employes of Utah Copper Division, Kennecott Copper Corp. at Copperton in Bingham Canyon will be able to buy attractive homes as result of sale by Kennecott Copper to the John W. Galbreath & Co., Columbus. Bingham may annex. Buyer Maps Homes Sales To Workers By Robert W. Bernick Tribune Business Editor Kennecott Copper Corp. announced Wednesday it would cease being landlord to thousands of employes in four western states as result of a 5 million deal with an independent realtor. As a consequence, many employes in company housing in Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico will be given an opportunity to own their own home. C. D. Michaelson, general manager of western mining division for Kennecott at Salt Lake City, announced new owner of the townsites is John W. Galbreath & Co., Columbus, Ohio. Areas Affected Affected are the company towns at Copperton, Magna and Garfield in Utah; Ruth, New Ruth and MeGill in Nevada; Ray and Hayden in Arizona and Hurley and Santa Anita in New Mexico. Employes of the company in the four states were notified of the changes and their purchase rights at end of the day shifts at mines, smelters and mills. Some 11,000 persons work for the Kennecott Copper Corp. in western United States. The transaction with John W. Galbreath & Co. is regarded as the single largest housing deal in history of non ferrous metal mining in the nation. Millions in Assets The Utah sale, involving about 1 million in assets, will see houses at the modern community of Copperton in Bingham Canyon sold outright by Galbreath to employes. Houses near the Arthur and Magna mills and the Garfield townsite homes will be offered by the Galbreath organization for sale to employes for removal. The community of Garfield, in which American Smelting & Refining Co. has one third interest, was established 50 years ago last month through negotiations by D. C. Jackling, founder of Utah Copper, with AS&R and the old Boston Consolidated Mining Co. Will Disappear As a consequence of the sale announced Wednesday, the townsite, which is now located in heart of a growing milling, mining, refining, smelting and fertilizer production area, will disappear probably without much lament. Several months will be needed by the Galbreath Co. to work out details of the program, said L. F. Pett, general manager of the Utah Copper Division, Kennecott Copper Corp. It is not expected that the sale of the houses will start until sometime after the first of the year, he said. The Kennecott official indicated six months probably will be required by Galbreath to complete the entire program.