I couldn't find very much information on Kannaraville. It is a small farming community just south of Cedar City. It was named after the Piute Chief Canarrah, and according to the town sign, it had an all women fire department in the 1960s.
Toquerville is a small town between Cedar City and Zion National Park. It is named after a Piute chief named Toquer. Chief Toquer was friendly to the Mormon pioneers, and some of them wanted to settle near his tribe. It was for a short time the county seat of Kane County until the county borders were changed, and it became a part of Washington County.
Beaver is the county seat of Beaver County. With around 3,000 residents, it is the largest town in the county. I couldn't find anything that said where it's name came from, so I am going to guess that there was a population of dam building rodents here at some point in time. This is me on my way to Zion National Park in May. I was regretting not bringing a coat. The breeze was cold.
Holden is a small farming community north of Fillmore in Millard county. It was also called Cedar Springs and Buttermilk Fork at one time. Holden was named for Elijah Holden, a member of the Mormon Battalion, who froze to death in a nearby canyon. John had some ancestors who settled here early on. One was a sea captain. I have always wondered how a man who had always made his living on the sea liked living in a desert.
Here we are in front of our hometown welcome sign. Tooele was settled by farmers, but when the smelter was built up the canyon in the early 1900s, many eastern European immigrants moved into town. The immigrants created a second downtown area near the railroad. A third group of people moved into town during World War II when an army depot opened south of town, and in the last 15 years a new influx came as young families moved to Tooele because of affordable housing. Tooele is an unique mix.
Stockton sits on the west side of the Oquirrh Mountains. It was originally called Camp Relief by the California Volunteers under the leadership of General Connor who camped here to keep an eye on the Mormons. They soon renamed it Stockton after Stockton, California from which they had come. They did mining in the nearby canyon which is now called Soldier Canyon. You can still see the kilns that the soldiers built to smelt the ore that they found.
Fairfield is several miles south of Cedar Fort. It was the home of Johnson's Army after the Utah war in 1857. While the army was in residence, it was known as Frogtown. The name was changed to Fairfield in 1861, which I believe was a great improvement. The army left with the beginning of the Civil War. Now it is the home of the Camp Floyd state park. They have pony express reenactments there every year.
Cedar Fort lies west of Lehi. I couldn't find very much information about Cedar Fort except that it was named for the local cedar trees. I also know that you have to keep your eye out for deer around this small community.
Lehi is the northernmost town in Utah County and the 6th oldest town in Utah. In its earliest days it was called Sulphur Springs, Dry Creek and Evansville. The settlers finally settled on the name of Lehi, named after the Book of Mormon prophet. Lehi's biggest industry for several decades was sugar beets. One of my favorite restaurants, Porter's Place, is in Lehi. They play turn of the century piano music there. Lehi also has some of the worst traffic in Utah.
The town of Lindon is located north of Orem. It was originally called Stringtown and was an outgrowth of Pleasant Grove just to the north. When the town applied for a post office, the town name was changed to Lindon. It was named after the linden tree where the mail used to be dropped off.
Orem, west of Provo, was originally known as the "Provo bench". It was incorporated in 1919, in order to secure water rights for the farms that dotted the area. Orem was named after Walter Orem who owned the interurban railroad between Salt Lake City and Provo at the time. Orem is now more urban than rural now, and it is the home of Utah Valley University. I found their sign to be slightly more interesting than Provo's. At least it was more substantial.
North of Mapleton is the city of Provo. Provo was the first city settled outside of the Salt Lake valley. It was named after the trapper, Etienne Provost. My grandfather was born and raised here. Provo is the home of Brigham Young University. I enjoyed going to school here, but their town sign is really boring. They should use all that university talent to come up with a better town sign.
