In Pioneer days the block on which this building stands was used for all community out-door gatherings. On the northwest corner the first schoolhouse in South Morgan was built, when, in 1866, the people taxed themselves to erect the building. In 1885, on the south half of the block, the first City and County Court House was finished. It was used for dances, entertainments, home of Weber College, as well as City & County Building. This building was completed March 12, 1950 and was dediated (sic) April 26, 1953.
Porterville was settled by the members of the Porter family. Sanford Porter, Jr., while on duty as a scout in the winter of 1857-58, rode into a canyon so rocky and difficult to travel that he named it Hardscrabble. Here he found a stream of water and abundant timber, ideal for a sawmill. In 1859 the family hauled machinery and supplies over the Wasatch Mountains by pack mule and built the first sawmill in Morgan County. In 1860 Sanford, Sr., and Nancy Warriner Porter built a cabin five miles east of the mill and spent the first winter there. During the following two years, four sons, Chauncy, John, Sanford Jr., and Lyman built log homes and moved their families into the valley. For several years after the settlers came, Chief Washakie and his band of Shoshone Indians returned each fall to hunt, fish, dry meat, and pick berries. In 1853 English converts began to arrive. In 1864 a branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. When the railroad was built through Morgan County, the Porter mill furnished ties to lay the track from Echo to Devil’s Gate.*
Porterville was settled by the members of the Porter family. Sanford Porter, Jr., while on duty as a scout in the winter of 1857-58, rode into a canyon so rocky and difficult to travel that he named it Hardscrabble. Here he found a stream of water and abundant timber, ideal for a sawmill. In 1859 the family hauled machinery and supplies over the Wasatch Mountains by pack mule and built the first sawmill in Morgan County. In 1860 Sanford, Sr., and Nancy Warriner Porter built a cabin five miles east of the mill and spent the first winter there. During the following two years, four sons, Chauncy, John, Sanford Jr., and Lyman built log homes and moved their families into the valley. For several years after the settlers came, Chief Washakie and his band of Shoshone Indians returned each fall to hunt, fish, dry meat, and pick berries. In 1853 English converts began to arrive. In 1864 a branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. When the railroad was built through Morgan County, the Porter mill furnished ties to lay the track from Echo to Devil’s Gate.
This log cabin is the birthplace of Charles R. Stevens, the first white boy born in Morgan County, Sept. 23, 1857. The cabin was moved from its original site in Peterson by the Morgan County Chapter of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. It was dedicated July 24, 1931 as a pioneer relic hall. The old mill burr mounted in this monument was taken from the first grist mill built in this valley in 1866. The other rocks in the monument are from historic places in Utah.
