Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Brigham City Restoration Project


When the Mormon pioneers arrived in Norther Arizona, they first established four small forts or communities. Brigham City (Ballinger's Camp), Obed (Lake's Camp), Sunset (Smith's Camp), and St. Joseph (Allen's Camp). Of these four settlements, only St. Joseph, later Joseph City survive to the present day. There is presently a restoration effort directed at preserving the location of Brigham City. Quoting from the blog about the project:
As a small, but significant piece of church history, located in Northern Arizona, Brigham City was designated by the Arizona Governor's office as part of Arizona's Centennial Celebration in 2012. On July 17, 2006, while visiting Winslow on a Support-Your-Candidate stopover, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano was invited to visit the old Mormon fort located just outside of Winslow on the edge of the Little Colorado River. She liked what she saw and agreed to support the restoration of the Fort as part of the Arizona Centennial Celebration.

An Arizona Centennial Celebration Portfolio, issued from the Governor's office, now includes "Brigham City" as part of the statewide celebration in 2012. Because of this, all donations for the Brigham City Restoration project could possibly be matched by state funds allocated by the state for "Restoration of Arizona's Historical Sites".
Having spent time driving around Joseph City, I think it would be helpful to have a historic map of the locations to visit and see what is left of this monumental pioneer effort. The project is also mentioned on the Winslow City Website.

5 comments:

  1. My grandmother was born in Brigham City on March 9, 1880...Her parents were some of the early Mormon Pioneers that tried to settle this area.

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  2. My Grandfather, Charles Edmond Richardson and his brother Sullivan Richardson were boys when they entered the United Order in Brigham City in the mid 1800. John Richardson johner149@comcast.net

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  3. My Grandmother was born in Brigham, Arizona in Feb. 1882 She was a Jones, Joshua Jones and Susan Mariah Elmer, were her parents. She married into the Hamblin Family. Jacob Hamblin was My Grandpa's Uncle.

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  4. My great grandfather Fernando T. LaPrade bought the settlement in 1897 and built a farm and dairy which was in our family for over 50 years.

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  5. Jacob Hamblin was my Great, Great Great grandfather.

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