Harrisburg Residents (2) Markers (DUP & SUP)

Harrisburg was a town built of the rocks it stood on. Moses Harris led settlers to the Virgin River country in 1859, and after a flood in 1862 pushed them upstream, they found ground so thick with stone that they built everything from it: houses, barns, and miles of fences run up from the rocks they cleared to plant. At its height around 1868 some two hundred people lived here, many working the mines and mills at nearby Silver Reef. Then the floods kept coming, and by 1892 all but six families had gone.

What the plaque says

Harrisburg The town of Harrisburg was founded by Moses Harris in 1859. By 1868, twenty-five families had made their homes in this little valley along Quail Creek, located three miles south of Leeds and twelve miles northeast of St. George. The town thrived almost fifty years and included some thirty homes surrounded by vineyards and orchards. Cane for sorghum and molasses was raised by bringing water from Quail Creek. Wagon freighters, plodding from Salt Lake to St. George, made Harrisburg a favorite stopping place. When spring water diminished, or the once rushing water was diverted to other communities, many of the families were unable to continue farming and moved to other locations. They left behind a newly built dam along with the orchards and vineyards. Water, or the lack of it, spelled the fate of this community. Harrisburg also suffered much destruction by grasshoppers in 1869. The ruins of Harrisburg show evidence of homes, including two stone houses without roofs, and a little cemetery surrounded by a wrought iron fence. By 1928 there were only two families still living in the once thriving town of Harrisburg. No. 465 1993 Washington Company HARRISBURG RESIDENTS Named here are the Heads of the Families who settled in Harrisburg between 1859 and 1928: 1859 MOSES HARRIS 1860 JAMES LEWIS HOSEA STOUT 1862 WILLIAM LEANY ORSON ADAMS WILLIAM ROBB MOSIAH L. HANCOCK DR. PRIDDY MEEKS ELIJAH K. FULLER RUFUS ALLEN JOHN BRIMHALL SAMUEL HAMILTON ALLEN J. STOUT ALFRED J. RANDALL 1863 WILLARD G. McMULLEN DAVID ELLSWORTH SAMUEL GOULD JOHN McCLEVE WILLIAM TAYLOR JOHN NEWTON ALLEN TAYLOR 1865 HENRY E. HARRINGTON THOMAS ADAIR AL CARPENTER ROBERT RICHARDSON MILTON DAILY WILLBUR EARL JEROME ASA FRANK OWENS WILSON DAILY WILLIAM STIRLING Site No. 57 COTTON MISSION CHAPTER SONS OF UTAH PIONEERS April 1993

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hurricane Canal Trail — 6.4 mi
  The hand-dug canal that built Hurricane, now a walking trail blasted into the Virgin River gorge
• Snow Canyon State Park — 14 mi
  Red and white sandstone cliffs with ancient lava flows
• St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm — 14 mi
  Real dinosaur footprints preserved in ancient sandstone
• Grafton Ghost Town — 18 mi
  A photogenic ghost town used in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

More markers nearby

• Monument to Harrisburg Pioneers — steps away
• Harrisburg Historic Pioneer Cemetery — steps away
• Leeds CCC Camp — 2.3 mi
• Wells Fargo & Company Express Building — 3.5 mi