WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)

ST. GEORGE, UTAH

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Miscellaneous

Histories

In October, 1861, Mormon Church President Brigham Young called 309 families to settle the St. George area. They had the express purpose of growing cotton, grapes, and silk for the territory and to export to the Civil War torn northern states. The area became known as "Dixie" because of the warm climate, southern location, and the products the area was able to produce. The area is still referred to as "Utah's Dixie". St. George was officially chartered as a city on January 17, 1862.

George A. Smith, a first cousin of Brigham Young, affectionately earned the name of "The Potato Saint" when he urged the early pioneers to eat raw, unpeeled potatoes to cure a troublesome bout with scurvy. Since potatoes contain a high amount of vitamin C beneath the skin, the early settlers were cured; thus, the name "St. George".

LOCATION

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HISTORY

Commentary by Mary Phoenix:
St. George was settled on December 6, 1861, as a result of a direct call from Brigham Young. He had visited the area in the fall and had prophesied "There would be between the volcanic ridges, a city with spires, towers and steeples and with homes containing many inhabitants."
It was one of the most difficult colonizing attempts the world has ever known. Because of the faith the early Mormon pioneers had in Brigham Young they made his vision a reality.
How St. George received its name has remained somewhat of a mystery. The Smith family have often insisted that it was named for their ancestor George Albert Smith. Smith along with Erastus Snow was appointed as an apostle in charge of colonizing southern Utah. Many say Brigham Young would not allow the term "Saint" to be used by any mortal man. Another opinion holds that it was named for Phillip St. George Cooke, the army officer who had been so kind to the members of the Mormon Battalion on the famous march across the country and who at that time was in charge of Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City and was present at the meeting when Brigham Young made the call to Dixie. A third opinion is that it was named for St. George, the national hero of England. Brigham Young was a direct descendant of English yeomen and had been on a church mission to England.
Strangers to St. George always wonder where the term Dixie, used everywhere, came from. Brigham Young's early scouts told him that in the warm region of the southern part of the territory cotton could be grown. Because Brigham Young was determined to make his people self-sufficient and because of the increasing Civil War, he issued a call for the Cotton Mission. Many people from the southern states with their knowledge of the cotton culture were called here - thus the name of Dixie!

HISTORIC SITES

St. George Historic District
St. George Historic Sculpture Garden
St. George Homes

PHOTOS

VIDEOS

A Nostalgic Walking Tour of Downtown St. George With Dale & Jeremy Larkin

REFERENCES

Official St. George city website
St. George Chamber of Commerce
Wikipedia article about St. George
A history of St. George
A history of St. George
A history of St. George
A history of St. George
A history of St. George
A history of St. George
Dixie Beltway
St. George Historic Preservation Commission

The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, May 1941, Pages 22-28
The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, Fall 1958, Pages 29-35
Mountain States Telephone, October 1961, Pages 31-37
Mountain Bell, September 1972, Pages 85-98

Where Did St. George Get Its Name?
By Bart Anderson

Washington County Chapter, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, " Under Dixie Sun".
1950 with 1978 Supplement.
Pages 291-343, Supplement Page 24-39.

"Immortal Pioneers: Founders of City of St. George, Utah"
Book by Albert E. Miller
1946

"St. George: Outpost of Civilization, A Sesquicentennial History"
Book by Richard Kohler
See the information page.

"St. George: Early Years of Tourism"
by Lisa Michele Church and Lynne Clark
Utah Historical Quarterly (UHQ), Volume 80, Number 1 (Winter 2012)
Pages 44-53

"Growin' Up in Sandtown"
Book by Wesley Atkin; Sara Atkin
St. George: Privately printed by Carl Rich, 2004

"The Wrong Car Came: An Account of the Oil Well Explosion South of St. George Which Occurred on March 7, 1935"
Book by Ellen Raye Cottam Brown
St. George: Privately printed by Ellen Raye Brown, 2003
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54770695&referer=brief_results

"The First Christmas in St. George - 1861"
By Mary Pheonix
In http://www.dixietoday.com/history.html

"Settlement of St. George, Utah"
In http://www.dixietoday.com/history.html

St. George and Santa Clara Centennial Celebration 1861-1961
Program - Souvenir Edition

St. George Tax Book 1968

History reveals intriguing origins of unique place names in Southern Utah
Article by Ammon Teare, St. George News, 6/12/2021