In 1860 Samuel Edwards, George Horton, William Richards and David Miller with their families came from Parowan and Cedar City and settled Dry Creek. Soon others followed. Homes were built of logs, rock, and adobe. The meadows were covered with lush growth which furnished winter feed and summer pasture, hence the name of “Greenville.” A grist mill was built in 1865 by William Barton which served nearby communities. The first log school house was built on the site where a church was later erected. It was used for church and school until 1906. An L.D.S. Ward was organized in 1872 with Robert Easton as Bishop.
This is D.U.P. Historic Marker #243 (see others in the series on this page) located at 480 West Main Street in Greenville, Utah
The Unitah Stake Tabernacle was built from 1898-1907 under the direction of Uintah Stake President Samuel R. Bennion and counselors Reuben S. Collett and James P. Hacking. The architect was T.T. Davies with William Cook as the builder. Fathers and sons toiled long days and nights with primitive tools. Logs were hauled from nearby canyons; bricks were made locally by Swain Brothers; pine woodwork was painted and combed to look like oak; pillars were painted to look like marble. Of modest construction, the building featured stone window heads and sills, arched vestibules, a U-shaped gallery, and a simple cupola crowned the roof. The total cost was $37,000.
Invited by Stake President William H. Smart, Church President Joseph F. Smith dedicated the Tabernacle on August 24, 1907. Crowds filled the building for two days of services. Children sang and recited the Articles of Faith.
The building was used as a meeting house and stake tabernacle until 1949 when a new stake center was built. The original building was used thereafter until 1984 as a cultural center, political hall, and the scene of many spiritual events. On February 13, 1994, after the building had been vacant for several years, the First Presidency announced that it would be converted into a temple for use by the Latter-day Saints in the Vernal area.
This page is for the D.U.P. historic marker about the Uintah Stake Tabernacle, the marker is outside the DUP Museum which is the old tithing office located at 186 South 500 West in Vernal, Utah, see this page for the Uintah Stake Tabernacle/Vernal Utah Temple itself.
This rock building was erected in 1887 by Uintah Stake of the L.D.S. Church on ground contributed by Jeremiah Hatch Sr. for $1.00. Men hauled rock from which Harley Mowery and John Jacob Slaugh, experienced stone masons, constructed this office. The building was laid out by the north star. For many years the church members paid their tithing here. Which was one tenth of their increase in money or produce. The proceeds were used for general church purposes.
This page is for the D.U.P. historic marker on the tithing office that is located at 186 South 500 West in Vernal, Utah, see this page for the building itself.
This monument erected in honor of these pioneer men and their families who on September 15, 1856 founded the first white settlement in Cache Valley then known as Maughan’s Fort now known as Wellsville, Utah
Peter Maughan Mary Ann Weston Maughan Charles W. Maughan Hyrum Maughan Willard Maughan
George W. Bryan
Zial Riggs Emeline Knox Riggs Egbert Z. Riggs Celia K. Riggs Robert K. Riggs Delia K. Riggs
John Maughan Sarah M. Davenport Maughan Sarah A. Maughan Mary A. Maughan
William H. Maughan Barbara Morgan Maughan Ruth M. Maughan
Francis W. Gunnell Polly Ann Edwards Gunnell Francis C. Gunnell Sarah E. Gunnell
Lieutenant Henry Wells Jackson (March 10, 1827- May 27, 1864), was the only Utah battle fatality of the Civil War and the first known Latter-Day Saint to be killed in a U.S. national conflict. Jackson marched in the Mormon Battalion, Company D, musician; panned for gold at Mormon Island (now Folsom Lake), California; and used gold to pay for his wedding. He and Eliza Ann Dibble were married in Salt Lake on February 3, 1850, by Brigham Young. Henry and Eliza started a family and helped establish settlements in Tooele Valley and San Bernardino, California. In 1858, Henry carried mail for George Chorpenning on the Overland Mail Route, a precursor to the Pony Express. Due to bad management, Henry was owed $1,300 in back pay for his mail service. He decided to go back East to try and collect the money. Payment was delayed, so Henry took employment as a wagon master and was ultimately captured by the Confederate Army and held as a prisoner for three months. He was later released in exchange for Confederate prisoners. Because of the way he was treated, he decided to fight for the Union. Henry enlisted with the First Regiment, District of Columbia, Volunteer Cavalry and was commissioned as a lieutenant due to his previous service in the Mormon Battalion. On May 8, 1864, Henry took part in the Battle of White Bridge near Jarrett’s Station, Virginia, and was shot. Due to infection, he died on May 27, 1864, leaving behind his wife and three children. Henry Wells Jackson is buried in Hampton National Cemetery and is remembered for his great sacrifice and love for family and country.
The Willard Pioneer Cemetery’s first burial was August 1854 with the death of five-day-old John Memorial, Jr., son of John Memorial (Memory) and Samantha Wells McCrary. This site, selected by Willard’s first settlers, is located one block east of the first group of log houses erected in Willard in 1851.
The McCrary baby was buried in the southwest corner of the the cemetery. Subsequent burials were north of this gravesite in order of the date of death. Loved ones were not buried by their families unless death immediately followed the last burial. For this reason, a new cemetery was chosen in 1869 on the foothills north of the original location. One hundred and fifty settlers were buried in this cemetery, and one hundred ten burials have been documented. Names of the other forty are being sought. That last known burial in this cemetery was in 1905.
The Willard flood of 1923 devastated this hallowed site. Floodwaters, cutting a large trench, caused markers and some remains of the graves to be washed into the field west of town. Located remains were brought back to the cemetery and buried in a common grave. Headstones and markers were replaced as accurately as possible.
Fountain Green was settled in 1859 by George Washington Johnson under the direction of Brigham Young. It was dependent upon the water flowing from the springs to the west, known as both Uinta Springs, and the Big Springs.
This is the site of the flour mill built in 1867 by Bernard Snow and Samuel Jewkes and was run by Miller Ole Sorensen. The mill waterwheel was powered by spring water channeled through a flume that filled small wooden throughs on the wheel which turned the millstones insides the mill.
In 1871, the mill was destroyed by fire and replaced by a larger mill built in 1872. People brought wheat or a grist to the mill in exchange for bran, shorts, germade and flour. Fountain Green flour, Phoenix Rolling Mill brand, was of the highest quality and established Sanpete County as the “Breadbasket of Utah.”
1875 brought the addition of a narrow gauge railroad that stopped in Wales, Fountain Green, and Nephi. The railroad berm located to the southeast of the mill formed a commerce hub. The train transported flour and grist, coal from Wales, adobe brick made at the brickyard northeast of the flour mill, livestock, mail and passengers. Ole Sorensen served as the express agent and had the first telephone in Fountain Green.
In 1889, the mill burned again and was rebuilt with an up-grade to produce 40 barrels a day. The new company owners were Charles Foote, Lewis Anderson, A.J. Aagard and Ole Sorensen. Ole Sorensen continued to supervise the mill operations. The mill converted to electrical power in 1903.
Niels Hansen purchased the mill in 1904 and continued operations until 1918. It was then managed by Lawrence Hermansen and others. In the 1930s the mill closed and the lumber and machinery were moved to Gunnison.
This monument is D.U.P. Marker #589 (see others on this page) and was dedicated June 19th, 2021.
Related:
See this page for details on the dedication of this historic marker.
September 1886 Samuel R. Bennion was sent here to establish a banking institution called the ‘Ashley Co-op.’ In 1903 the first pioneer bank was opened for business. In 1916 W.H. Coltharp erected this building with Salt Lake City brick. A full car load of brick was used, each wrapped separately and sent Parcel Post U.S. Mail to Watson, Utah by train. From there they were hauled to Vernal by freight wagon and teams. It is known as the ‘Parcel Post Bank of the World,’ with N.J. Meagher, Sr. cashier, this bank has been a great factor in the development of Uintah Basin.
Across Mill Creek is the location of the five acre Farr’s Fort. It was erected in 1850 by Lorin Farr, Ezra Chase, Ambrose Shaw, John Shaw, Charles Hubbard and others settlers to protect themselves from Indian attacks. The fort was enclosed on the east, south and west by houses joined end to end, facing inward. The spaces between the houses were picketed with poles and extending upward some 12 feet, the north wall was never completed. Nearly all the settlers on the north side of Ogden River lived in this fort at one time. Lorin Farr moved into town in 1853 and shortly thereafter the fort was completely abandoned.
Hurricane had its humble beginning in the year 1906 with the coming of eleven families to establish their homes. These first settlers were the families of T. Maurice Hinton, Ira E. Bradshaw, Anthony Jepson, Thomas Isom, Bernard Hinton, Erastus Lee, Jacob Workman, Amos Workman, Nephi Workman, and Frank Ashton. However, the story of our city cannot be told without looking back to Palmyra, New York, where a new church was organized on April 6, 1830. These people (our forebearers) became known as Mormons. Because of “peculiar” beliefs and a new book of scripture brought forth and translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith, they were severely persecuted and mobbed. Being driven from state to state they finally ended up in Nauvoo, Illinois, their last stronghold in the United States at that time.
On June 27, 1844, a mob with blackened faces killed the Prophet. Hatred and malice steadily increased and by February, 1846, it was evident our people must flee again. Brigham Young, an apostle, now became the leader and gave orders for a mass exodus to begin. On solid ice the first wagons rolled across the Mississippi River toward an unknown land in the Rocky Mountains. Without shelter and being exposed to the bitter weather, many people died while others suffered greatly.
Brigham Young, with the first company of exiles, entered the Great Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. The next twenty years saw numerous covered wagon trains and hand-cart companies crossing the plains of mid-America. Many converts came from Europe to join the exodus. From 1846 to 1866 nearly 80,000 made the trek to Utah, and over 6,000 others were buried along the 1,300 mile trail.
Being so far from civilization the new Mormon empire must now become self-sufficient. Exploration parties were sent far and wide to find suitable places to colonize. This area became known as Utah’s Dixie because of its semi-tropical climate. During the Civil War cotton was desperately needed so the church leaders called families to come south to settle and raise cotton and other crops which could best be grown in this warm climate. With the coming of the railroad and establishment of peace with the U.S. Government, the need for the cotton industry gradually subsided.
The Virgin River Basin was now left with many little towns struggling for survival. Malaria fever, isolation and a turbulent, unconquerable river contributed to the extreme hardships. Large families and lack of land prompted the faint hearted to move elsewhere.
Our town was the last pioneer settlement of this area. Up to this time, the arid land, without water for irrigation, had little value. The conception and building of the Hurricane Canal is the real story of Hurricane. Bringing water from the deep Virgin River Gorge to the Hurricane Bench, through a canal, was dreamed about for many years. Most thought it impossible. There were some, however, with the necessary faith and tenacity to believe it could be done, who set out to fulfill their dreams. With handtools and dynamite our pioneers labored for twelve long years carving the 12-mile channel that would give life-blood to the valley. The canal, stretching hundreds of feet above the canyon floor, passing through ten tunnels of solid rock and over five trestled flumes, looms on the south side of the Virgin River Gorge. It is literally etched into a mountainside of pervious material. Only God and man’s constant vigil has sustained it there.
Our town was incorprated in 1912. Thanks be to God for these stalwart, dedicated, hard-working and religious people – the pioneers of Hurricane.
This is S.U.P. Marker #23-C, see other S.U.P. Markers here.
