Elizabeth Parnell and Dr. Richard H. Jackson, Geography Department

As suburbanization sweeps across the United States, creating a more homogeneous society, historians and geographers are interested in knowing the impact this is having and will have in the future on the “sense of place” that distinguishes small towns. Particularly in the state of Utah, questions have been raised about the future of the original settlements known as “Mormon villages”. Will suburban sprawl and city zoning ordinances result in the destruction of the distinctive architecture, organization and character of these communities, replacing their distinctiveness with faceless suburbia? Historic preservation is designed to protect specified historic structures and places of importance to a group or community. Federal Legislation (The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to maintain a National Register of Historic Places, including historic areas, sites, and buildings. State legislation allows local communities to establish historic districts and historic district commissions to both designate and regulate historic districts, including specifying their regulatory powers and the procedures necessary for regulating land use in designated historic districts. (Mandelker, Daniel R., Land Use Law, Fourth Edition, (Charlottesville, VA: Lexis Law Publishing, 1997), 462-463).

One Mormon village, Spring City, Utah, was made a Historical Area in 1980 because of the number of pioneer homes still standing. The purpose of this project is to determine whether defining it as such has enabled the leaders of the town to keep its historical identity in a rapidly changing West.

Using aerial photographs, I was able to determine that Spring City is a fine example of Joseph Smith’s original plan for Mormon settlements: five acre blocks, with one dwelling on each corner. Streets are wide and original houses are set back from the street.

In an effort to document the number of pioneer homes standing in Spring City, I took digital photographs of each home and, using the ArcView GIS program, mapped the dwellings and public buildings throughout the town. On the map, I considered pioneer homes as those built by the early 1900s. The map illustrates that roughly 35% of all dwellings, public buildings, and businesses were built during the pioneer era. In his book The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns, written in 1972, Stephen L. Carr included Spring City as one of the ghost towns. Today, approximately 75% of the remaining pioneer buildings are occupied.

There are three main groups working to ensure that buildings in town maintain true to the pioneer feeling: the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Friends of Historic Spring City, and the Spring City Council. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP) camps started raising funds to preserve the Old Spring City School in 1979. This beautiful building was built in 1899 and was used for schooling students until the mid-1900s. It is a significant part of the heritage of Spring City. In 1981, the Friends of Historic Spring City began to work jointly with the DUP, organizing a Home Tour each Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend to help raise money for the Old School. The designation of the entire town as a Historic District increases the interest and willingness of others to come and participate in the tour. Almost all funds raised by the Home Tour from 1981 to the present have gone toward the Old School. Many members of the DUP are also actively involved in the Friends of Historic Spring City.

A second pivotal group in the restoration of Spring City to the way it looked 100 years ago, is the Friends of Historic Spring City. This is a nonprofit 501C-3 corporation “dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the historic environment of the Spring City area through public awareness, advocacy and active preservation.” This group meets semi-monthly to discuss ways in which funds can be obtained to better preserve the heritage of the town. In recent meetings they have discussed and applied for three grants, one nationally-sponsored, and two state-sponsored. These grants are to aid the restoration and preservation of the Old School. The designation of the town as a Historic District increases the possibility that these grants will be approved.

The Friends have also obtained barn grants to stabilize those dilapidated, but historically significant, buildings. They encourage the placement of house plaques from the Utah Historical Society on each of the old pioneer buildings. Within the past year alone over six were placed at the entrances of homes or buildings. The Friends are currently compiling, with the help of a grant from the Utah State Historical Society, a library containing information about the history of Spring City. This will enable residents of the town to learn more about their heritage.

The City Council of Spring City has made efforts to preserve the heritage of the town while allowing for progress in many ways. First, it has created the Affordable Housing Plan which encourages the rehabilitation of abandoned homes to provide affordable housing. Second, the zoning of the town allows for few, if any, apartment complexes. These are limited to housing for Senior Citizens and Main Street (because this is consistent with the historic land-use patterns). The zoning requirement also requires those wishing to build new structures to have a full 1.0 acre of land . Finally, the official zoning document (1993) states that “anything done must coincide with the preservation of the ‘Mormon Village’.”

The West is changing. Business is booming on the Internet and people no longer need to live in the large cites to make a living. A larger number of people are moving out of the cities and into the country seeking a new style of living. This migration can directly influence the future of small communities. There has, in fact, been an influx of people moving to Spring City for the rural experience. Many of these people have become actively involved in the preservation of Spring City to help it retain its charming character. Both new and long-term residents feel it important to ensure that the identity of this Mormon village is not lost to a more homogeneous society. It is the responsibility of those living today to keep our heritage alive. We the living must choose what parts of our past will be preserved as historic memory. Some choose to forget it, some ignore it, yet others choose to take what they have and learn from it. When writing about the future of small towns in Utah, Jerry Johnston, Deseret News Staff Writer, said that “what happens to Spring City may well be a barometer for what will one day happen to us all” (Johnston, Jerry. “A New Day in Spring City.” Deseret News. 25 April 1999, pp. S1, S2).