During the era of westward
expansion into the U.S.’s frontier, a shortage of iron was a major issue to the
pioneers who began settling in the Utah area around 1847. When a cache of iron
ore was discovered to be in the grounds of southern Utah, the Mormon leader
Brigham Young called for volunteers to colonize the Cedar City area in 1851. Roughly
ten months later, the newly-established colony had completed a blast furnace
and thus began to operate an iron foundry, bringing new business opportunities
to the area.

Hoping to preserve and
interpret the history of these events for future generations, citizens in the
area spearheaded a movement to establish the Iron Mission State Park in 1973.
(Now Frontier Homestead) The Iron Mission Foundation was organized in 1989 to
serve in an advisory capacity and provide the necessary financial support for
museum operations at the park.

As one would expect,
the main goal of the Frontier Homestead Museum and Park is the education of its
visitors. The park hopes to celebrate the history of the southern Utah area. Guests
can learn of Cedar City’s pioneer history as well as the legacy of its early
industrial period. The museum also features a wide variety of exhibits,
including the collection of horse-drawn wagons, several historic buildings, the
ever-popular Native Heritage exhibit, the old sawmill and the replica blast
furnace, which harkens back to a day gone by. The park also offers a variety of
hands-on events, including Iron Mission Days, Archaeology Day, the cemetery
tour, and Christmas at the Homestead. The museum is open year-round, and
tourists are encouraged to stop by and learn and connect with one another.

A view of the entrance to Frontier Homestead.

Website

More Info

Video

Brochure, for those who'd like to become members.

Located in Cedar City, Utah, the Frontier Homestead Museum and Park is a museum that hopes to educate visitors on the long-gone days of the pioneers of Utah, and of Cedar City’s early industrial history, tied to the discovery of iron in the area in 1847. Offering a multitude of exhibits, such as the Native Heritage exhibit and the sawmill, and a variety of events, including several hands-on activities, the Frontier Homestead Museum and Park hopes to help visitors look through a window into the past, of settlers and pioneers. 

Frontier Homestead Museum and State Park

This short drive through Cedar City begins at the Frontier Homestead Museum and State Park and includes several historic homes, museums, churches, and other landmarks. 

George Henry Wood was one of the first residents of Cedar City to have been born there. His parents, George Lamar and Mary Davis Wood, were early pioneers in Iron County. The elder George Wood was born in 1822 in Leagley, Staffordshire, England and migrated to America after joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the LDS or Mormon Church). He was among the group of Mormons who settled in Parowan in 1851. His log cabin, said to be the earliest home built in Iron County, was moved from Parowan to Cedar City. The elder Wood later built a new home and store for his family downtown, opposite the Escalante Hotel location, and ran a boarding house for a number of years. In 1921, the children of George L. and Mary Wood presented their parents' pioneer cabin to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers; the cabin was moved to a city park in 1927. It is said that 24 children were born in this cabin. The son, George H. Wood, had the saltbox house built in 1889 on N. Main Street in Cedar City. He married Elizabeth Ann Bryner and the couple went on to have 14 children. Their eldest, George Albert "Bert" Wood, was born in October 1878 in New Harmony, Washington County, Utah and died in Cedar City in 1964. Bert became a building supervisor for the Union Pacific Railroad and supervised building of the El Escalente Hotel in town and the Utah Parks Company Lodge at Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. A daughter of George H. and Elizabeth, Verena, was born in Cedar City in April 1894. George H. Wood once served as a Cedar City Councilman and also owned a ranch. A reunion of the family of George H. Wood was an annual event. Seventy-seven people attended in July 1948; the event was held at the Wood Ranch in Cedar Canyon. When the George H. Wood House was documented for listing in the National Register in the late 1970s, the house, of light salmon-orange brick, had a one-story, gable-roofed addition of the same brick built onto its northeast corner. An outbuilding in the yard east of the house, a combined milkhouse and summerhouse, was constructed of the same kind of brick and was one-and-a-half stories tall, facing east. An exterior stairwell on the east side accessed the upper level of the outbuilding, which was rectangular and covered by a gable roof. The main block of the house featured two rooms on each floor, with each room being two rooms deep. Mantels were wooden and floors were fir in the simply-designed home. The window sills and lintels were wooden; door bays featured transom windows and raised panel doors. Two brick chimneys extended upward from the south wall. It was one of only a handful of Saltbox style homes in Utah that survived into the 1970s. Toadz Bar and Restaurant has been in town for fifty years, according to their website, although it's unclear if all of those years were in this 432 N. Man St. location, or if the current buildings incorporate any remnants of the Wood house or outbuildings.

The George H. Wood House used to stand at 432 N. Main in Cedar City but is no longer present in this spot, which is now Toadz bar and club. The two-story brick house was built in 1889 for the son of a pioneer settler in Cedar City named George L. Wood. The house was designed in an I-shape and was intended to be double the size, but only the south half was built. George H. Wood (1856-1940) lived until his 80s and died in the house. His descendants continued to own the house when it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

George H. Wood House (former)

Colonel A.W. Hamilton, a mining expert, remarked that the "iron deposits of Utah are measured in mountains and the coal measured by counties." John S. Newberry of the New York School of Mines described the southern Utah area as having the "most remarkable deposit of iron yet found" on the continent. The region had plentiful juniper trees (no, not cedar - the town name is a misnomer) for making charcoal to fuel the iron furnace. Brigham Young disapproved of Mormons mining for precious metals like silver and gold but he recognized that ironworking was a different matter and necessary for pioneer settlers in remote Utah to obtain and replace tools. The location for the iron works along Coal Creek was settled in November 1851 by a group of Mormons called "iron missionaries," sent from the base camp of nearby Parawan. The iron works in what became Cedar City were initially successful, and the operations were renamed the Deseret Iron Company in 1852. The furnace keeper was named David Barklay Adams. The first coke oven and blast furnace were finished in 1852 and some of the first iron items created that September from several hundred pounds of iron were a cast bell, nails, hooks, and rods. The settlers ran up against many obstacles. Floods, freezes, and crop shortages tested the pioneers. Financial difficulties and unrest with the Native American population added to the misery. The iron works was closed in 1858 and many residents moved elsewhere. The settlement became an agrarian town. Decades later, a son of David B. Adams described the layout of the iron works to his own son, R.D. Adams, who painted a bustling scene based on his father's recollections. The image pictures a wood frame office, a pattern makers shop, a test furnace and the larger blast furnace, a line of coke ovens, and a holding shop. Another iron foundry was founded in 1868 twenty miles southwest of Cedar City and christened Iron City by the Mormon settlers. The Union Iron Company was organized, headed by Ebenezer Banks, a successful merchant. A town was laid out in the typical Mormon way, similar to Cedar City, with blocks 240 rods square, lots 12 by 6 rods, and streets 4 rods in width. The heat-resistant fire brick needed to line the interior of the blast furnace was hard to come by, and the operations didn't begin until 1871. Transportation problems from the remote new town to Salt Lake City and the proliferation of railroad lines across the nation resulted in competition and decreased freight rates. Iron became cheaper to buy from the Eastern U.S. than from Iron Town. To solve this disadvantage, a railroad spur was proposed to connect Iron City with Salt Lake City in the mid-1870s, but it did not happen. Another issue was a lack of skilled workers of the Mormon faith; non-Mormons were brought to town as iron workers and consultants. Some of the iron workers who moved to Iron Town had been the Cedar City iron workers, including the furnace keeper, David B. Adams. Adams had been a Mormon bishop in Beaver and served as the head of the LDS Church in Iron City. Other locals who worked at the new iron works included Ebenezer Hanks and brothers Chapman and Homer Duncan. Iron production ceased around 1876 and Iron City has become a ghost town. The Old Iron Town ruins are listed in the National Register and include a beehive-shaped kiln of brick, the stone foundations of the foundry, and a circular feature called an "arastra" where sand was ground into fine particles to use in the furnace molds. The ruins were fenced off by the Sons of Utah Pioneers and are now open to tourists under the management of Iron Mission State Park.

Near this historical marker along the east side of N 100 E, opposite the T- intersection with E 400 N, stood a blast furnace. A lack of iron objects and the expense of importing them from "back East" concerned Mormon leader Brigham Young so much that he called for volunteers to work the iron deposits found in southern Utah. A site near Coal Creek was chosen for the iron works in November 1851 and became the start of the Cedar City settlement. It took ten months for the pioneers to build and begin operation of a small blast furnace and an iron foundry. The Deseret Iron Works operations came to end in 1858. The ruins of a similar ironworks have been opened to visitors as Old Iron Town, about twenty miles southwest of Cedar City.

Pioneer Iron Works Blast Furnace

Representatives of the Union Pacific and Oregon Short Line Railroads began touring southern Utah in 1916, scouting out potential routes to the area's majestic scenic natural wonders. In 1920, it was announced that a spur line from Lund to cedar City was going to be built. The new rail line served the Zion National Park region and catered to the burgeoning tourism trade. The railroad coming to town affected Cedar City even before the Union Pacific passenger depot officially opened, resulting in a building boom in 1923. Besides the passenger depot, a freight depot was built as well as the Doolittle forwarding warehouse, and oil tanks. The Union Pacific bought the El Escalente Hotel that had been built in town from 1918 to 1923. The renamed Union Pacific Hotel was still under construction in late 1923, with its opening planned for 1924. The Iron County Record newspaper proclaimed that people began to hurriedly arrange to build homes in town as soon as the grading for the road bed reached the city limits. A few frame houses were moved from the desert into town. Building materials and excavations began for new homes and their walls were standing within weeks. By November, fifty-seven new homes had been built in Cedar City, more were under construction, and plans were being made to begin to build more homes in the spring of 1924. To be able to be ready for the President Warren's western trip schedule, the Union Pacific built the line at a rapid pace, completing forty-seven miles of track in only eight-seven days! It is said that the final push to finish the line before the President's arrival caused the work to go on for forty-eight hours straight; the exhausted workers likely were asleep when the President's train arrived in town. The Presidential party drove in automobiles from the depot to visit Zion National Park, but the president was honored in a special ceremony upon his return to the depot that evening. The golden rail to commemorate the late President Harding was manufactured in Salt Lake City and was to be inscribed "The Harding memorial rail, laid by the citizens of Iron County, Utah, to commemorate the opening by President Warren G. Harding of the Union Pacific national park line to Cedar City on June 27, 1923." Besides increasing the tourist dollars flowing into southern Utah, and doubling the receipts at the Cedar City Post Office, the railroads were a boon to the local livestock industry. Before the coming of the railroads, sheep had to be herded across the desert to be sold, The irregular feeding, change in water, a dry country caused the sheep to lose weight and lose value. With railroad cars for transport, the sheep could be kept fat and well fed. By 1935, the Union Pacific Company was the largest employer in Iron County. Even though tourist traffic increased dramatically to the southern Utah parks in the decades after the spur line opened, as more people came to own automobiles, the new roads to the parks filled with private cars. Rail passenger traffic into Cedar City was discontinued in 1959; the Utah Parks Company sold the rail line and depot to Trans world Airways (TWA) in the 1970s. The Depot Grill re-opened in the depot building in mid-2017 under the direction of Jim Fontano. One of the special touches the Depot Grill offered its diners was the addition of a chocolate miniature train engine aside their chocolate cake dessert. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed in November 2019 and announced its permanent closure in February 2020. Before the Grill, the location held Depot Pizza. The next tenant is being determined.

Also known as the Union Pacific Railroad Depot, the Cedar City Railroad Depot is a long, rectangular, one-story brick building built in 1923 for a new rail line spur. In 1851, the first boy to arrive in what became the town of Cedar City was David Bulloch. In 1923, Bulloch rode the cow catcher on the front of the test train on the incomplete line. U.S. President Warren G. Harding and his wife rode the first train to arrive at the station on June 27th 1923, just weeks before his death. An inscribed golden rail was installed on September 12th 1923 at the depot's official opening ceremony to honor the late president. Passenger service stopped in 1959 and freight service ended in the 1970s. When the depot was documented for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the vacant building had been boarded up but the structure retained its exterior architectural integrity. The depot has been renovated and in recent years contained a restaurant, The Depot Grill, which closed permanently in 2020.

Cedar City Railroad Depot

The statue of Francis Webster watches over Main Street in Cedar City, Utah. &nbsp;Erected by Jerry Anderson, this statue is loccated in front of Bulloch Drug and was dedicated on August 30, 2008. &nbsp;The statue is a favorite stopping point of those visiting and current residents of Cedar City. &nbsp;Residing almost on the edge of the street, it is the imposing figure that initially catches the eye of passersby. &nbsp;However, it is the plaque in front of him, detailing his history, that further draws people in. &nbsp;He was instrumental in the creation of Cedar City when he initially arrived in 1856. &nbsp;He was the Mayor twice, served on the City Council, and eventually went on to serve on the lower house of the Utah Territorial Legislature. Francis Webster was born in England in 1830, but he always knew he was destined for greater things in life. &nbsp;His transformation into the man who would become a key player in Cedar City history began while he was a part of the Martin Handcart Company which trekked across the plains into Utah. &nbsp;This trek was one of the most dangerous and destructive journeys that the Mormon pioneers would go on to free themselves from religious persecution and it was the origin of Francis Webster’s faithfulness and ever-growing love for the church. &nbsp;He and his pregnant wife left Iowa and went together to Utah so they could practice the LDS religion without fear of being shunned for their beliefs or worse, killed for those very beliefs.&nbsp; The handcart company seemed doomed from the start; they began late in the summer which would spell trouble for them, as an early winter plagued the company. &nbsp;On top of early winter, Francis Webster suffered from a terrible case of diarrhea. &nbsp;However, he did not let this stop him. &nbsp;Webster pulled his handcart as far as he could each day, until one day he felt that he could not pull any further. &nbsp;He sat upon the ground and had a blessing administered by the Elders in the trek. &nbsp;For him, this gave him “renewed vigor,” and he was able to continue on the journey, relieved of all symptoms that had once plagued him.1&nbsp; While on the trek, Webster’s wife Ann Elizabeth--better known as Betsy--brought their first daughter into the world on September 27. &nbsp;While Francis’s earlier journal entries make no mention for his choice of taking his almost seven-month pregnant wife across the plains, Betsy accepted his decisions full-heartedly and wanted to serve the best interests of her husband.&nbsp; Their sacrifices preceding the trek, as well as during it, are remembered with respect. &nbsp;Leading up to the Martin Handcart Company’s journey across the plains, the Websters had enough money to cross in a wagon from Francis’s success mining for gold in California. &nbsp;Wagons often had better luck when making the perilous journey to Utah, and with his wife as pregnant as she was, Francis greatly considered using his money to travel by wagon. &nbsp;However, both of them agreed that it was better to use their money elsewhere. &nbsp;Therefore, Francis and Betsy opted to travel by handcart and donate the funds they would have used to other pioneers who were not as fortunate with money as they were.&nbsp; <blockquote>During the early portion of the journey, they also evidenced a different attitude than some in the company when things did not go according to plan. While they may have had as much or more reason to feel sorry for themselves as any other member of the company, they instead looked for ways to better the situation rather than dwelling upon the negative.2 </blockquote>Francis also is mentioned in another man’s journal as they continued on the horrible trek to Utah. &nbsp;James Godson Bleak, a fellow member of the Martin Handcart Company, noted, that he was unable to pull his own handcart, so he was persuaded to leave it. &nbsp;Bleak wrote, “Br Francis Webster very Kindly persuaded me to get on his handcart and drew me 17 miles. &nbsp;For which Kindness I feel grateful, and pray God to bless them with health and strength.”3&nbsp; The trek did not arrive in Utah until November 30, due to the excessively early winter that had struck while they were trekking across the plains. &nbsp;Almost immediately following, Francis, Betsy, and their newborn, Amy Elizabeth, continued on their journey from Salt Lake City south to Cedar City, Utah. Francis Webster never regretted his trek across the plains by handcart because of the lessons that it taught him and how it strengthened his testimony in his beloved religion. &nbsp;It was this testimony given during a Sunday School lesson that would mark Webster as a prominent figure not only in the history of Cedar City but in that of the LDS church. &nbsp;He spoke of the connection he made with God through his suffering, thereby becoming a greater man because of it.4&nbsp; When studying his personal accounts he lists the date and event that was prominent for himself. &nbsp;He included the different elected positions he held within the community. &nbsp;Webster was elected Mayor twice in Cedar City, served on the City Council, was a member of the Cedar Cooperative Sheep Association, sat on the Quorum of the Seventy for the LDS church, and was often the president of the Agricultural Society of Cedar City.5 As one of the builders of Cedar City and a very important figure within the LDS religion, Francis Webster was a natural choice for local commemoration. &nbsp;The requirements to have one’s likeness made into a statue surrounding Cedar City were hefty: &nbsp;“the statues will be limited to figures who made a significant contribution in the years between the City’s founding and the arrival of the railroad in 1921.”6&nbsp; His contributions--and those of three other members of the community--were made everlasting through this project as Cedar City memorialized him on Main Street.

The life-sized statue of Francis Webster stands in front of Bulloch Drug. Created by Jerry Anderson, this statue shows Webster dressed in the typical wear of the time period (a leather three-piece suit). Webster traveled to Utah in 1856 where he became instrumental in the development of Cedar City as a business leader, member of the City Council, and mayor. 

Francis Webster Statue

Prior to the post office building being built, the Cedar City Main Post Office operated out of another building in town. For a time, the post office was within the Golden Rule store; in 1931, it moved to the Cedar Lumber and Hardware building. The federal government paid $45,000 for the Tabernacle building and land in 1931 for construction of the Cedar City combined post office and federal office building. Some of the funds were raised by local residents through the efforts of the Chamber of Commerce. A new church construction committee received $29,000 of the proceeds. The post office building's architects were a Utah firm from Salt Lake City. Lewis Cannon of Cannon &amp; Feltzer was a Salt Lake City native born in 1872. John Fetzer was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1882 and emigrated to the United States in 1905; he settled in Salt Lake and soon was designing stations for the Union Pacific Railroad. The pair designed a number of major buildings in Utah; the National Register significance of the post office is partly due to the association with the firm. A Salt Lake contractor, Norman Jacobson, finally began construction of the foundation after delays due to unexpected soil properties; the cornerstone was laid on June 15th, 1933. The building cost $100,000 to build and used $12,000 of Utah granite and marble. The Forest Service moved into its new offices in the building in early January 1933, followed by the Postal Service at the end of the month. The building is one of the most impressive monumental structures in the city. Only one other building in the city's commercial district - the First Security Bank Building on the corner of Harding and Main - exhibits the Neo-classical style. The Classical Revival style building is two stories tall, of red brick on a raised basement. The west side of the structure features six fluted terra cotta Ionic columns framing a central entrance. The columns support a terra cotta entablature as wide as the building. The projecting cornice with dentils is below a terra cotta belt course which supports a brick parapet wall topped by terra cotta coping. The incised lettering on the center of the frieze reads "United States Post Office." A loading platform on the rear of the structure was expanded in the mid-1960s with similar but not identical red brick. The bronze statue of Henry Lunt is the work of Jerry Anderson, a local sculptor, and rests directly on the sidewalk. Lunt led a group of Mormon pioneers to the area in 1851 and founded Cedar City. He was a prosperous farmer and merchant. The Post Office location formerly contained the 1885 Mormon Tabernacle. Anderson is an artist in residence at the town's college, Southern Utah University.

The Post Office building at 10 N. Main Street was built to serve Cedar City in 1932 to 1933 by architects Cannon & Fetzer. The Depression-era project established federal office space and the post office space in the town's first federal government building. Granite steps lead up to the main entry. A bronze statue near the sidewalk is of the founder of Cedar City, Henry Lunt (1824-1902), and was added in recent years. Behind the statue sits an historical marker on Lunt, near another set of stairs leading to the main entrance. The Cedar City Post Office was listed in the National Register in 1989. The building currently contains city offices including the Police Department.

Cedar City Post Office Building and Lunt Statue

The Cedar City Tabernacle was supposed to be built in 1872, but laborers were needed for the St. George Temple; workers postponed construction until 1877, and the building was completed in 1885.&nbsp;&nbsp;Laborers cut and hauled lumber in from Deep Creek, and bricks were made just south of Cedar City.&nbsp;&nbsp;After constructing the Tabernacle, the locals regularly held meetings and church services inside.&nbsp;&nbsp;Church members added a gallery in 1887, serving to enhance the reputation of beauty associated with the Tabernacle.&nbsp; Located across from a school, children were able to see the Cedar City Tabernacle and feel a sense of peace and inspiration. &nbsp;The
Cedar City Tabernacle was demolished in 1932 in favor of a post office.&nbsp; The U.S. government approved the demolition
of the Tabernacle, citing eminent domain, and reimbursed the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints for the property.&nbsp;
The U.S. government is authorized, under Article I Section 8 of the
United States Constitution, to establish post offices and exercise exclusive
legislation over the erected post office.&nbsp;
The Church was justly compensated, as required by the Fifth
Amendment.&nbsp; Fair market value for the
Tabernacle grounds in 1932 was around $29,000. &nbsp;Later that same year, the LDS Rock Church was
built, costing around $85,000.&nbsp; Though
financially outdone by the U.S. government, the Church took it all in with
dignity, and the LDS rock church serves the Cedar City community to this day.

The Daughters of Utah
Pioneers, an organization dedicated to marking and preserving historical
monuments, surveyed the site of the Cedar City Tabernacle on 10 May 1995.&nbsp; They erected a stone tablet next to the Cedar
City LDS rock church, upon which is inscribed “Holiness to the Lord.”&nbsp; This is in reference to the stone tablet
originally a part of the Cedar City Tabernacle, inscribed “Holiness to the
Lord.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Cedar City Tabernacle, built in 1885, was the center of activities for the locals of Cedar City, Utah for 47 years.  A testament to Utahan independence and ingenuity, the Tabernacle was constructed of all local materials, except for the glass used for windows.  Demolished in 1932 in favor of a post office, locals built a “rock church” next to where the tabernacle had been located, and is practically a replica of the old Cedar City Tabernacle.

Cedar City Tabernacle

Of
course, anything memorable must needs undergo a period of tribulation before
being brought to fruition. The process began late in the 1920’s, when the U.S.
government presented the idea to build a Federal Building in Cedar City. This
idea filled the locals with excitement for “it meant added revenue and an
opportunity for growth. There was a consensus reached to build the Federal
Building directly where the Cedar City Tabernacle stood, though the decision
was “not the government’s, but one made locally after months of negotiation.”
One local Latter-day Saint congregation, the First Ward, met in the tabernacle
to worship, but seeing as it “was in need of some extensive and costly
repairs…it was agreed upon by everyone to sell [the] ground to the government.”

This decision to sell the property meant that a new
meetinghouse must replace the old to accommodate the First Ward. Bishop
Franklin B. Wood, local ecclesiastical leader for the First Ward, headed the
project, and he and his counselors “were determined to build on the lot east of
the tabernacle.”
However, approval from church leadership in Salt Lake City was necessary before
proceeding.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

On
May 13, 1931, as announced in the Iron
County Record, church authorities approved the chapel plans.
Bishop Wood and his building committee consisting of “Geo. A. Wood, Charles R.
Hunter and William B. Adams, William V. Walker, Wallace Lunt, Warren M. Cox,
Thomas Thorley, John Hopkins, Lafe McConnell and Alex H. Rollo…discussed plans
and procedures for commencement of work.”
They came to the conclusion that the chapel should be

<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>Built out of local
stone, a gray granite found near Iron Springs, to be used as trimmings for the
arches, doorways, and windows. The other vari-colored rocks…found within a half
mile of the chapel site…for spaces between and above the windows, and gable
ends. It was also decided that local timber, yellow pine and spruce, would be
used for all interior supports, joists, and rafters as well as sheetings and
first floors. </blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>George H. Wood, a local
contractor and builder, was to supervise the work. Around
the same time, the Great Depression hit the United States, and Cedar City was
not exempt. Still, the U.S. government purchased the old tabernacle site, and
the Church received $45,000,
which then “appropriated [$29,000]…to be used on the new chapel.”
Not only this, but “contributions from individuals of the [First] Ward pledged
with the total amount of $14,000.00.” Helen
Foote, who spent some of her childhood in Cedar City, explained that “people
who [were] dedicated members of the church would stretch themselves as much
they could...Church was important.” 

The First Ward banded together during this time. Because
money to buy materials was a struggle, Bishop Wood declared that there would be
an event for the congregation known as “Rock Week” from June 15-20. This event
would be “a campaign of hauling rock for the walls of the chapel…and every
member of the Ward…[who was] able to work single handed in assisting to load
the wagons, [was] on hand to contribute their time and energies to this end.”
The majority of the rock brought in came from “Bottle Rock,” in Coal Creek
Canyon, almost two and a half miles away from town. This they did because the “material
[was] all cobble rock of various hues and colors,” making it so that when “each
rock…[was] broken in two, [it made] an excellent face…for laying in the wall.” 

There was a good deal of energy and excitement for those
involved, as well. Men who were working were “determined to bring in the most
colorful rock…vieing with each other, and claiming…that the rock they deliver
will be superior to that anyone else might bring in.” Despite
the enthusiasm, most members did not work entirely for free, nor were they
expected to. Helen Foote, whose father—Franklin B. Woffinden—assisted in the
building of the chapel, remembers that her family and the community were paid
in kind most days: 

<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>Anybody that had anything to share, they’d share it
around and if you had fruit you’d trade it for vegetables…and there were people
who had a little more money. And the ones that I ever heard of were very
willing to share and make sure everybody had some food on their table. People
were willing to trade food, or vegetables, or money for work. </blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>Other processes went on to make sure the chapel neared
completion. Iron was “mined locally for chandeliers and hinges were also used.
Women wove wool carpets from homegrown wool dyed to harmonize with the cedar
trim and pews.”
“Bazaars, music concerts, bake sales, and auctions” took place to help finance
the remaining costs of the chapel.
Children “from nine years old up to 14 years,” sawed lumber−under supervision,
of course−to make “a pretty fern stand or double deck table.” The children sold
their works and contributed their earnings to the building fund.
As well, the clock from the now vanished tabernacle—bought from Switzerland in
1861—now became a permanent reminder of the past, lying in the steeple of the
new chapel.

The congregation laid the corner stone on November 15,
1931,
and the opening day for the chapel held on February 22, 1934 where “over 1,200
people [attended] .”
Dedicated by President Heber J. Grant on May 27 of the same year, he said in
his remarks: “The Lord can only be pleased with the hard work, sacrifices and
determination of everyone involved.”
Bishop Wood also had the opportunity to speak, proclaiming, “I hope and pray
that this chapel and Recreation Hall will always be used for which it was built
for, the worship and wholesome recreation of all who enter, not only ward
members, but strangers who may come seeking knowledge, also to be enjoyed by
our friends, neighbors and our children for many generations.”

Today, Bishop Wood’s hope is living strong. To this day,
the Cedar City First Ward continues to meet in the building, along with Twelfth
Ward. Both of these congregations worship and use the recreational hall for
many purposes, including “town meetings and wedding receptions.”
The Rock Church stands as a beautiful monument to the dedication of the
faithful residents of Cedar City not only to their God and leaders, but also to
each other. Bishop Wayne K. Hinton of the Cedar City area in 1990 explained it
best when he said:<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>

The Rock Church is
rather awe-inspiring, particularly when you think of the dedication of those
people who built it in the midst of the Depression and the hand-labor that went
into it…That causes us to contemplate and wonder at their commitment and
dedication, to reverence the building and to be committed ourselves. It’s a
unique, beautiful building with marvelous woodwork, and it’s also comfortable.
That helps with the reverence as we worship.</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>

The Cedar City Historic Rock Church sits on a lot prominently behind the local police station. Rocks from the surrounding area compose the building’s structure, which glow warmly as the sun descends over the hills. The church, still attended by local congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is still being used in various fashions throughout the week. Completed by locals of the Cedar City area and dedicated on May 27, 1934 by LDS President Heber J. Grant, the Rock Church stands as “a monument to ingenuity born of the Depression years.”

Historic LDS Rock Church

In 1897 the citizens of Cedar City Utah were delighted to discover that a Branch Normal School would be placed in Southern Utah. They eagerly petitioned for the school to be placed in their town. The official reasons for choosing Cedar City as the location pointed to its central location and good educational record, however, the lack of a pool or saloon in the town influenced the decision.The State gave the community the news in May via a telegraph. Because telegraph was the fastest method of communication at the time, the news arrived quickly and the people of Cedar City immediately began to build Ward Hall. The community bore the full responsibility for building the school. They worked tirelessly, and the building was completed that fall. In September 1897, the doors of the Branch Normal School opened for the instruction of teachers. The community met this event with joy, but that joy would be short-lived. 

Only two months after the start of its first year as a teacher training institution, it looked as though Cedar City might lose the school it had so desperately wanted. The Attorney General determined that the law’s requirements had not been met; the law required that a school must have its own building, and that building must be erected on land set aside by the State of Utah for schools. The Attorney General informed the people that if the new building was not completed on the proper land by September 1898, they would lose their school. &nbsp;

Winter had already set in, lumber had been used up for the building of Ward Hall, and the mountain mills already covered with snow. Many members of the community were dejected. They could not see how to accomplish this seemingly impossible task. A community member, Neil Bladen, led a group of men up to the sawmills. This group included Sim Simkins, Randall Lunt, Daniel G. Perkins, J.J.G. Webster, Richard Bryant, John Perry, Renz Adams, and Orson Tyler. It took them four days to reach their destination, so the men had to sleep in the snow. After arriving, cutting, and loading the lumber, they found that the carts they had brought could not carry the lumber back down the mountain to Cedar City. The men then hooked the lumber up to an old sorrel horse, who diligently blazed the trail and pulled lumber back to Cedar City. Old Sorrel saved the mission. 

The rest of the town also sacrificed to ensure that the school stayed in Cedar City. From the fabric for horse blankets to furniture, community members donated every material that could be spared. They broke apart cabinets and ripped up wood floors for extra lumber. They gave every scrap of metal. Expeditions up the mountain and building efforts continued in earnest through the spring and summer of 1898. By September, enough of the first official school building, Old Main, had been completed ensuring that Cedar City retained the privilege to have the school. Old Main&nbsp;was built entirely of donated materials and labor.

These sacrifices were later echoed in the constructing of the Science building in 1904. The campus includes many statues, including&nbsp;Old Sorrel, by Jerry Anderson, which honors the people of Cedar City who pulled together to build the school. During his Inauguration Address in September of 2014, President Scott L. Wyatt lauded these sacrifices: “In the dead winter… miners, ranchers, and farmers, who could never enroll at the Branch campus, went back up the mountain risking their lives and jeopardizing their fortunes. These people who dared greatly inspire. How do we follow? These founders of our community and university should be an inspiration and appeal, summoning us to show that we too have courage and strength, that we too are ready to dare great.”

Also commenting on the founding of Southern Utah University, former university president Gerald Sherratt said, 

“There has probably never been a more dramatic founding of any school in America. The first building was literally torn from icy crags and molded by the hands of more than a hundred men and women. The community of Cedar City had met the greatest test and [Southern Utah University] was given a heritage that few educational institutions possess… the early founders, although undoubtedly people of great vision, probably never realized the ultimate results of their labors.”

Southern Utah University has come far since that time. In 1913, it achieved an accredited college position. The university has been known under five different names: Branch Normal School (1897-1913), Branch Agricultural College (1913-1953), College of Southern Utah (1953-1969), Southern Utah State College (1969-1990), and Southern Utah University (1991-Present).

<div><div>

</div>

</div>

The second oldest building on the Southern Utah University campus, Braithwaite Liberal Arts Center was built in 1899. The university was founded in 1897 as the Branch Normal School with the dedication of Old Main (located just north of this building) occurring the following year. The building is named in honor of Royden C. Braithwaite who served as president of the university from 1951 to 1978. At the time of Braithwaite's death in 1991 the size of the campus had nearly doubled and many of the campus's signature programs, such as the Utah Shakespearean festival, had become traditions that elevated the status of the university. 

Braithwaite Liberal Arts Center, Southern Utah University

This natural history museum offers a variety of exhibits about the natural world, as well as programs for children, families, and educators. The museum is located on the first floor of Southern Utah University's Science Addition Building

Cedar City Utah Heritage Trail

Frontier Homestead Museum and State Park

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information