The Old Fort

On this ground in March 1876, colonists sent by Brigham Young under William C. Allen threw up a fort of cottonwood logs and mud and called it Allen's Camp. They lived communally under the United Order, pooling labor and property, then renamed the place St. Joseph for the Mormon prophet before it became Joseph City in 1923. Of the four settlements Mormons planted along the Little Colorado that year, this is the only one to survive the floods and drought that erased the others. It is Arizona's oldest continuous Mormon community.

What the plaque says

A group of colonists called by Brigham Young, under the leadership of William C. Allen settled here March 24, 1876. They erected a fort of cottonwood logs and mud on this site. It was first known as Allen's Camp. In 1878 the name was changed to St. Joseph, in honor of Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet. The people occupied the fort for several years during which time they lived the United Order. In 1923 the name of the town was changed to Joseph City. It is the oldest Mormon community in Arizona.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Holbrook — 9.9 mi
  A Santa Fe railroad town once too tough for women and churches, now the seat of Navajo County, gateway to the Petrified Forest, and home to the concrete teepees of the Wigwam Motel.
• Winslow — 22 mi
  The town an Eagles lyric made famous — and the home of La Posada, the last great railroad hotel and Mary Colter's finest work, at the southern doorway to Hopi and Navajo country.

More markers nearby

• Jack Rabbit Trading Post — 6.3 mi
• Wigwam Village #6 — 9.4 mi
• Henry R. Holbrook — 9.8 mi
• Navajo County Courthouse — 9.9 mi