Settlement of Eden

The town of Eden was named after the biblical Garden of Eden. Before Eden was surveyed and laid out in 1865, the valley was the summer hunting grounds for Shoshone Indians. As early as 1825, trappers of the Hudson Bay Fur Company, led by Peter Skene Ogden, followed Indian trails throughout the valley, then known as Ogden’s Hole.

Brigham Young, president and leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sent a group of cattlemen to the valley in 1854. They found the valley excellent for their cattle, corralled naturally by the mountains with plenty of feed and water. Erastus Bingham and Joseph Hardy built cabins in 1857 on the slopes below what was later called Geertsen Canyon. Sydney Teeples built a cabin on the North Fork, and Stephen K. Wilbur settled in the area that later became Eden. The first permanent settlers came over North Ogden Pass in 1859. The winters were long and harsh, with the snow reaching six feet deep in places and the temperature as low as 46 degrees below zero.

The Utah Black Hawk War in 1865 caused the pioneers to move closer together. They settled into the area between the Middle Fork and the North Fork rivers and named their new town Eden. The center block was the public square. The population soon grew to 250 people.

A one-room log school house was built across from the square in 1866. It was used until 1884 when a larger frame building was built. A bell called the children to school, announced the noon hour and the end of recess, and also warned the people of fires or other emergencies. When a new yellow brick school replaced the smaller structure, the bell was mounted on the roof. The bell is now mounted on this monument.

Daughters of Utah Pioneers historic marker #538, located in Eden Park at 5509 East 2200 North in Eden, Utah.

• D.U.P. Historic Markers