Tag Archives: Wayne County

Hanksville Rock Meeting House

04 Saturday Dec 2021

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Hanksville Rock Meeting House

This buff-colored rock building was constructed by Franz J. Weber, rock mason. It is believed that John G. Ekker, a church official in 1919, and others helped Mr. Weber with the rock work. The rocks were hauled in wagons by men of the community. The building was probably completed in 1920.

Don McDougell and Clive Mecham laid the hardwood floor and constructed benches. A stage was built in the west end of the building with a bell tower over the east double doors. The bell was rung 15 minutes before meetings began. Wood burning stoves heated the building.

Although the building was owned by the LDS Church and used for church meetings, it was also used for weddings, dances, plays, socials, and civic meetings until 1959. The Church deeded the building to the Hanksville Canal company, who gave it to Wayne County, who returned it to Hanksville Town when it was incorporated in 1999.

This building is listed on the register of the Utah State Historical Society and located at 10 South Center Street in Hanksville, Utah.

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First Public Building

03 Friday Dec 2021

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In the year 1878 William Wilson Morrell and William Taylor erected this structure, the first public building in Wayne County. It was 20×30 feet, built of logs, and used by the people of Fremont community as a church, school house and public meeting place. Years later it was moved to the site of the new school house on the public square and used only for church purposes. In 1894 the building was again moved to its present location. Plastered, painted, and covered with siding. It is the home of the Relief Society.

This historic marker is D.U.P. marker #242, located in John C. Fremont Park in Fremont, Utah

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The First Sawmill

30 Tuesday Nov 2021

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In 1877 William Morrell brought a water-powered sawmill into Rabbit Valley (Fremont) from Kamas, Utah. The mill was located near Mill Meadows, three miles northeast of Fremont and was operated successfully for several years by William, his sons Silas, and Danial G. Brian. Logs were dragged by oxteam from Pole Canyon to the mill, and the milled lumber was used to build some of the first buildings in Rabbit Valley, much needed in the new settlement. When a serious accident disabled Silas, the mill was sold to Hans M. Hanson and Hiet E. Maxfield, who operated it until it burned down. These mill wheels, bearing the manufacture date of 1862, were buried in the ground below Mill Meadow Reservoir. In August of 1972 they were rescued, restored, and brought to this site by Eldon Morrell, William’s grandson, and several great grandsons.

This historic marker is D.U.P. marker #414, located in John C. Fremont Park in Fremont, Utah

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Bicknell, Utah

21 Saturday Jan 2017

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Bicknell Posts:

Bicknell was originally called Thurber, or “Thurber Town”, for A.K. Thurber, who in 1879 built the first house in the area. In 1897 the town moved to a new location due to sandy soil and poor water conditions.

In 1914 Thomas W. Bicknell, a wealthy eastern author, historian, and Education Commissioner for Rhode Island, offered a thousand-volume library to any Utah town that would rename itself after him. The town of Grayson also wanted the library prize, so in a compromise in 1916, Grayson took the name of Blanding, Mr. Bicknell’s wife’s maiden name, as a tribute to her parents. The two towns split the library, each receiving 500 books.