Spring City is one of the historic treasures of Utah, but it is not a ghost town. I guarantee, however, that if you explore Spring City, a National Historic District, you will be as enchanted with it as I am and will be pleased it is in this book.
In the Latter-day Saint church, people certainly volunteer for various services to the church, but many are “called,” which to Mormons means that God, through his prophet on Earth (the church President), has chosen a person for a certain duty. A “calling” is, then, a great honor. Such an honor occurred in 1852 when Brigham Young called James Allred of Manti to create a settlement at a location where springs had been used for years by Ute Indians and white scouts. A group of fifteen families built a fort around the most prominent spring and occupied it for a short time, calling it the Allred Settlement of Springtown. But widespread Ute hostilities began shortly after, and the fort and other dwellings were abandoned and subsequently burned by the Utes.
With Indian uprisings apparently over, Allred returned in 1859 with a second group of settlers, mostly Mormons from Denmark, who established farms in a community this time known as Spring Town and, informally, as Little Denmark. But the community was again abandoned in 1866, when Brigham Young ordered residents of smaller communities to find refuge in larger towns (in Spring Town’s case, to Manti) because of renewed Ute conflicts known as the Black Hawk War.
The home of Niels Borresen is made of rubble stone, not the more elegant limestone blocks of many of Spring City’s homes. Built around 1864, the residence is one of the largest stone houses in the community.
The William and Margaret Osborne residence, made of polychrome brick, is one of the finer examples of Victorian architecture in this book. The home was later a hotel and now serves as a bed-and-breakfast inn.
Not to be confused with a better-known Black Hawk War that began in the Midwest in 1832, this war was the most serious conflict between settlers and Native Americans in Utah’s history. It began with the seizing, and consuming, of Mormon farmers’ cattle by starving Indians. A Ute war chief, Black Hawk, led a loose confederacy of desperate Utes, Paiutes, and Navajos against the settlers, resulting in the deaths of as many as seventy Mormons. Hundreds of Mormon militiamen retaliated by killing large numbers of Indians, including women and children. The conflicts didn’t entirely end until two hundred federal troops, who had been repeatedly requested by church authorities starting eight years earlier, finally made their presence in 1872. The show of strength forced the Native Americans into submission.
Spring Town, however, was deemed safe to return to much earlier, in 1867. It became a permanent community, with more substantial buildings, including a church and a general store, and an increased population, reflected in the name change to Spring City in 1870. The town took on a more urbane look after the discovery of nearby oolite limestone deposits; as a result, quarried stone became the building material of choice.
In 1890, Spring City became a major shipping center for quarried stone, cream and cheese from its Danish farms, and general agricultural products when the Rio Grande Western Railway extended tracks across the Sanpete Valley. By 1900, Spring City was at its apex, with a population of more than twelve hundred. Although primarily Mormon, the town also had Methodist and Presbyterian churches.
The lure of larger cities began Spring City’s slow deterioration, with the population decreasing every decade between the 1900s and the 1970s. The bypassing of Spring City by U.S. Highway 89 in 1957 contributed to this decline.
That decline actually helped save Spring City, because there was no need to destroy older structures to build new ones. When young families began to come to Spring City in the 1970s, they found lovely, solid buildings that could be restored, not obliterated. In each decade since the 1970s, the population has slowly increased, and additional historic buildings have been saved. In the 2000 census, 956 people resided in Spring City.
WALKING AND DRIVING AROUND SPRING CITY
Here is my cardinal rule for examining this wonderful town: You must drive every street and look carefully. Just when you think you’re in a modern residential area, you’ll see a century-old barn or outbuilding. Lovely historic homes are nestled among newer ones. A pioneer cemetery hides along a side street.
The structures of Spring City have a remarkable diversity. Many of the best are constructed of the locally quarried oolite limestone, but others are elegant brick, some are clapboard wood, some are adobe, while a few are hand-hewn log cabins. The varied architecture and building materials of Spring City make it one of the most interesting towns in the American West.
An outstanding booklet, “Spring City: A Guide to Architecture and History,” is available at the Horseshoe Mountain Pottery and Gallery at 278 South Main. The problem is that the establishment, located in the 1905 Arthur Johnson Meat Market, is only open on Friday and Saturday afternoons. It is worth timing your visit so that you can acquire the booklet because it gives historical details, with color photographs, of seventy-four of Spring City’s marvelous buildings, along with an accompanying map.
Naturally, I cannot include all those structures, so here are five favorites: Main and Center streets, which intersect, form the core of Spring City. Two blocks south on Main at 200 South Street are excellent buildings on all four corners. On the northwest side stands the graceful, oolite limestone Latter-day Saint chapel, constructed between 1902 and 1911.
On the southwest corner is the 1894 brick William and Margaret Osborne House, now a bed-and-breakfast inn. With its elaborate eaves, shingled gables, and multicolored bricks, the Osborne House stands as one of the finest examples of Victorian architecture in this book.
The Hyde House is across the street from the Osborne home on the southeast corner of Main and 200 South. Built around 1868, the two-story, limestone building served as the official residence of Orson Hyde, one of the Mormon Church’s twelve apostles, and Mary Ann Price Hyde, one of his eight wives.
On the northeast corner of the same intersection stands the Niels Borresen home, built around 1864. The two-foot-thick walls are made of rubble stone, not quarried blocks. Borresen, a native of Denmark, was a miller and a horticulturalist who had three wives. He was imprisoned twice for practicing polygamy.
The most dramatic building in town is the 1899 Spring City Public School, at 45 South 100 East. It was designed by the same architect as the Mormon chapel on Main, but they look nothing alike. The schoolhouse, like the Osborne home, features polychromatic masonry using locally fired bricks. The eight-classroom building is, at this writing, undergoing a complete restoration.
The Old Spring City Cemetery is on the east side of 100 East Street between 200 North and 300 North. Shaped like the state of Utah, the cemetery features headstones of Spring City’s earliest settlers. Despite the lack of markers, a sign explains that the cemetery is filled with graves, many of them for children. A more modern graveyard is a mile west of Spring City on 300 North Street.
The Spring City Public School, built in 1899, has only eight classrooms despite its imposing size.
WHEN YOU GO
The route between Scofield and Spring City is one of the most beautiful drives in Utah. From Scofield, drive 2.7 miles south on Utah Highway 96 to the junction with Utah Highway 264. Take Highway 264 for 15.2 lovely miles up into the Wasatch Plateau until that highway meets Utah Highway 31. Take Highway 31 for 8.3 miles down to the Sanpete Valley and the town of Fairview, where there is a junction with U.S. Highway 89. From Fairview, head south 6 miles on U.S. 89 to Mount Pleasant. At the south end of town, Utah Highway 117 heads south for about 4 miles to Spring City.