Town #26: ALTON est. 1907

Alton is a little town tucked away in a mountain valley a few miles from Highway 89. It was a beautiful little place, but I bet it gets really cold in the winter. I didn't even know that it existed before we drove up there. As you can see, all the kids wanted to get out of the car to have their pictures taken this time. I guess they were inspired.

I thought it was nice that the town posted its own history right below the welcome sign. Now I don't have to try to dig up any information about the town for this post. If you want to know, just read the sign like I did. Now you know as much as I.

Town #25: ORDERVILLE est. 1874

The small town of Orderville lies just north of Mt. Carmel along highway 89. It was named after the United Order which was a church sponsered communal living society that was experimented with there when it was first settled. All the settlers donated their property and money to the Order, and each family was given a responsibility in the community for the betterment of all involved. I'm not sure that I explained that very well or that I understand it correctly, so don't quote me on that. Several communities in Utah experimented with the United Order at that time, but Orderville had the most success. I have a great-great grandfather who loved the idea and moved his family to Orderville. He was in charge of the orchards. Unfortunately, he didn't consult with my great-great grandmother before he sold their home snd store up north out from under her. She did not like living in Orderville. When the United Order started falling apart, they left Orderville to start new out in Giles, a ghost town near Hanksville.

Town #24: MT. CARMEL est. 1864

Just outside the east entrance to Zion National Park along highway 89 lies the small town of Mt. Carmel. Mt. Carmel was first settled in 1864, but it was abandoned during the Black Hawk War for safety reasons. The settlers came back in 1871 and moved in for good. It is named after the mountain near Jerusalem. The artist Maynard Dixon had his summer home in this sleepy little farming community.