Monday, August 10, 2009

Towns #12, #13 and #14: ABRAHAM, SUTHERLAND & SUGARVILLE

We hit the jackpot of town signs just northwest of Delta. There is a cluster of small farming communities here making the desert blossom if not as a rose but as alfalfa. They are obviously proud of their ability to grow the stuff. Abraham started as a "church farm" that was land bought by a company of Salt Lake men such as Wilford Woodruff and George Q. Cannon in the late 1870s, but it soon broke up into a group of smaller farms. During World War II, the government bought up most of the farm land for the Japanese internment camp of Topaz. Sutherland was established in 1910. It was named after the U. S. Senator George Sutherland. Sugarville was established in 1911. It was named after the sugar beet factory that was there in its early years. It was also briefly called Alalfa and Omaha. There was also another community between Sutherland and Sugarville once called Woodrow that was named after President Woodrow Wilson.

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