Although the first settlers came to the Tremonton area in 1888, it remained largely uninhabited until just before 1900, when land agents started promoting the Bear River Valley as a place for Midwestern farmers to relocate. Small groups from Nebraska and Illinois began to arrive in 1898. These settlers were a diverse blend of Protestant faiths, in contrast to their mostly Mormon neighbors. Then an Apostolic Christian Church group came in 1901–1904. The main body was from Tremont, Illinois, joined by a few families from Ohio and Kansas. Mostly of German descent, this group was referred to as the “German colony”.

When a townsite was laid out in 1903, the new town was named “Tremont” at the request of the German colony. Within four years, the post office had it renamed “Tremonton” due to confusion with the central Utah town of Fremont. Around 1907 the congregation was caught up in a larger schism of the Apostolic Church. Some moved back to the Midwest, and the German colony came to an end. But the church left a permanent mark in the name of Tremonton, and a nearby cemetery filled with German names.

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