Browse Items (55 total)
- Collection: Beehive Archive - Rural Utah at a Crossroads
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“Rich Diggins in Our Immediate Vicinity:” Brigham Young vs. Patrick Connor
Conflict between Brigham Young and US Army Colonel Patrick Connor personified the tension between mining versus agriculture as suitable ways of life in the Utah Territory. But the reality was not quite as stark as either man made it out to be.Mormon…
“The Most Noble Subject:” Utah’s Landscape Inspires Artists
Nineteenth-century painters used Utah’s impressive landscape to promote an awe-inspiring vision of the American West through their art.
For many people, thinking of the American West might conjure images of grandiose mountains, golden-orange…
Basque Community in Utah
Hailing from the mountainous border region between Spain and France, Basques are a tightly-knit and proud ethnic group. Find out how Basque immigrants to the Intermountain West maintained their identity, community, and traditions so far from home.
In…
Beauty in a Haystack
Artists have long idealized labor and land in the American West. But what motivates an artist to paint a haystack? The answer may surprise you.
Utah boasts a long history of talented artists. In fact, some of our state’s first settlers studied…
Boom & Bust: Topaz Concentration Camp
During World War II, a city of more than 8,000 people rose out of Utah's desert for three years, and then returned to dust.
After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, US President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the relocation and imprisonment of more than…
Brigham City Peach Days
Every autumn, large crowds descend on the small rural town of Brigham City for "Peach Days." It's the oldest harvest festival in Utah. And it all started with a one dollar investment in peach pits back in 1855.
Each September, in northern Utah, the…
Carbon College and Utah’s Educational Revolt
Back in the 1950s, Utah’s budget-slashing governor J. Bracken Lee wanted to close the first institution of higher education in eastern Utah – which he actually helped establish! But Utahns balked at his plan and stopped it.
Upon its approval in…
Coalville’s Old Rock School House
If you visit Lagoon Amusement Park, you may stumble across a modest stone building in the park’s Pioneer Village that used to be Coalville’s old Rock School House. In the late 1800s, this small structure supported a thriving rural community in…
Community Cookbooks
Before food blogs and Pinterest, Utah women shared their best recipes in community cookbooks. More than just recipes, these books kept rural foodways and food culture alive.
Today, home cooks can simply search the internet to find thousands of…
Dancing for Good: Community Aid in Rural Utah
In rural Utah, social dances were important events that brought townsfolk together, not only for fun, but to support each other and their community.Life in rural Utah in the late nineteenth century was tough! Utahns worked hard to support their…
Dinah the Dino
She’s big, pink, and has long beautiful eyelashes. Learn more about this unique rural Utah icon.
Looming large on the side of Highway 40 in eastern Utah, a sign reading "Vernal: Utah's Dinosaur Land" greets visitors as they enter town. It’s a…
Driven to Read: Bookmobiles Bring Libraries to Rural Utah
Most city dwellers live close enough to a public library to visit regularly. But for many readers in rural Utah, the library must visit them! Learn more about Utah’s history of libraries on wheels.Utah libraries grew rapidly in the early 1900s,…
Fistfight Between Old & New: The 1971 Park City “Riot”
Tensions between the old and new are not new to rural Utahns – but in 1970s Park City, these tensions erupted into an actual brawl between two seemingly opposite groups: hippies and miners.
Park City’s population rapidly changed during the…
Ghost Towns: An In-Person History Fix
Did you know that Utah is haunted? Our state has an estimated one hundred ghost towns. While reasons for their abandonment vary, ghost towns throughout rural Utah have one thing in common: our desire to idealize a lost past and try to connect to it…
Ghost Towns: Cisco
A former railroad and ranching hub, the tiny settlement of Cisco became a ghost town after highway travel through the remote area was rerouted. But is Cisco still a ghost town today?
On the eastern edge of Grand County, a few miles south of…
Ghost Towns: Dewey
There are only three roads in Utah that bridge the Colorado River, and only a handful of crossings. The ghost town of Dewey is one of those places and early settlers of the region made good use of this crossing.
Getting across the Colorado River is…
Ghost Towns: Sego, a Coal Town with a Colorful Past
Down a bumpy canyon road in the Book Cliffs of southeastern Utah, curious travelers can find the ghost town of Sego. Named for Utah’s state flower, it’s a dusty coal town with a colorful past.
The canyon where the ghost town of Sego sits has been…
In This Little Town of Ours, We Have a Literary Club
In 1928, a women’s club in Moab adopted an official song that crowed: “In this little town of ours, we have a literary club, and we derive from it everything good, it helps the town and public in numerous ways.” Learn more about these women and…
Logging in Kamas Valley
Industry in rural towns often relies on the markets of larger cities. But, such reliance means that rural communities may be vulnerable to shifts in public policy and opinion that impact long-standing ways of life.
Located in Utah's Summit County,…
Midway’s Swiss Party for their Rural Community
On the east side of the Wasatch Mountains, you can find a little slice of Switzerland right here in Utah. Learn more about Midway’s Swiss Days celebration.Midway City, located in the Heber Valley on the east side of the Wasatch Mountains, boasts…