Newton Reservoir

Newton built the first storage reservoir in Utah, and it took three tries to make it hold. Begun in 1871 to bank the creek's spring runoff for the dry months, the earthen dam failed and washed out three times before the settlers finished it, enlarged, in 1886 — twenty-eight feet high, holding a reservoir a mile and a half long. It cost ten thousand dollars, raised by a valley with little money and no margin for error. The idea it proved, storing water against the dry season, would remake farming across the West.

What the plaque says

Located three and one half miles north of this marker the first storage reservoir in Utah was begun in 1871 and completed in enlarged form in 1886. After going out three times length of dam, 127 feet, height 28 feet, made of earth and rocks, cost $10,000. Reservoir length 1½ miles capacity, 1566 acre feet. Original building committee, Bishop William, F. Rigby, Franklin W. Young, Stephen Catt, Swen Jacobs and John Jenkins. First caretakers and watermasters, John Griffin, A.P. Welshman and Jonas N. Beck.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• American West Heritage Center — 11 mi
  A living history farm spanning 160 acres of Cache Valley
• Logan — 12 mi
  A vibrant college town tucked into a stunning mountain valley
• Wellsville Mountains — 16 mi
  The steepest mountains in North America for their height
• Hyrum State Park — 17 mi
  A family-friendly reservoir at the mouth of Blacksmith Fork Canyon

More markers nearby

• Martin Harris Gravesite — 5.4 mi
• Pioneer Home and Granary — 6.4 mi
• Hansen Dairy — 7.1 mi
• Hampton's Bear River Crossing — 7.9 mi