Town #49: RUSH VALLEY est. 1856

For those of you who may be following these posts, just so that you know, I am posting these photos a year after they were taken. I hope to be able to catch up and have more up-to-date posts on our progress through Utah soon. This is the last photo taken last year.

Rush Valley is situated south of Tooele in the middle of sagebrush country. Rush Valley is made up of the two towns of Clover and St. John which were combined at sometime into one town. It covers a large area. It also included the town of Vernon for a while. This area was also its own county for a short time. I don't think students are any longer memorizing the name of Shambip County.

This is one of the more interesting old buildings in town. I believe it was used as a firestation at some point.

Town #48: CASTLE DALE est. 1880

Our last stop on this trip through Utah was at Castle Dale just north of Clawson. Castle Dale is the county seat for Emery County. It is a coal mining town. They also have a natural history museum and a big pioneer museum. It was the last area that Brigham Young sent pioneers to settle before he died in 1877. Castle Dale was also the first community to have a high school in Southeastern Utah. I was just happy that all the kids decided to be in the picture this time.

Town #47: CLAWSON est. 1897

A few miles north of Ferron, we came across the town of Clawson. Clawson was originally named Kingsville after the King family, some of the original settlers. In 1904, the name was changed to Clawson to honor the apostle Rudger Clawson. When we found the town sign, we were surprised to find that the name had changed once more to Cla On. Sometimes gravity likes to play jokes. As you can see, John tried to find the missing letters, but he didn't have any luck.

Town #46: FERRON est. 1877

North of Moore is the bigger town of Ferron. Ferron couldn't be called big except in a comparison with Moore. Ferron's big celebration is Peach Days. The town is named after Augustus Ferron who surveyed the area in 1873. One of my great-great grandfathers lived here with his family for about a year in the early days of settlement before moving on to Giles. Ferron looks a lot greener than Giles. What was he thinking?

Town #45: MOORE est. 1895

It may be stretching things to call Moore a town. It is more of a spot on the map where there are a few farms. It was originally called Rochester after the town in New York, but it was changed to Moore in the 1940s. Moore was the name of the local postmaster. I think their town sign needed more paint.

It could have also used a few more buildings. Perhaps they should change the name to Less.

Town #44: EMERY est. 1883

Emery is one more little farming community in Central Utah. It was originally called Muddy Creek. It is named after Governor George Emery.

What amazed me about Emery was that it was so green compared to the bare desolation that surrounded it. I was impressed that anyone could grow anything in this.