The mining camp of Frisco was located in Beaver County, Utah, some seventeen miles west of Milford and fifty miles northwest of Beaver, in the San Francisco Mining District. This district, organized on 12 August 1871, embraced approximately seven square miles on both flanks of the San Francisco Mountains. It became an important producer of silver and lead beginning in the mid-1870s.

Frisco developed as the post office and commercial center for the district, as well as the terminus of the Utah Southern Railroad extension from Milford. In 1880 Frisco's population numbered some 800 people.

The Horn Silver Mining Company, incorporated on 17 February 1879 (the mine had been discovered in 1875), was the main mining enterprise in Frisco. While there were a large number of other mines in the district, the Horn became the largest producer. From 1875 to 1910 the mine produced ore having a value of $20,267,078.

With the success of the Horn Silver mine in the mid-1870s, the Frisco Mining and Smelting Company expanded its workings in July 1877 by constructing a smelter that included five beehive charcoal kilns-- the only substantial remnants of Frisco's glory years. Other mines located in the district included the Blackbird, Cactus, Carbonate, Comet, Imperial, King David, Rattler, and Yellow Jacket.