Warm Creek-Fayette

This town drank from a warm spring and took its name from a distant one. Joseph Bartholomew, James Mellor, and others settled here in 1861 and turned the warm creek onto their fields; the place was simply Warm Creek at first. When they organized a church branch, they renamed it Fayette — after Fayette, New York, the hamlet where the Latter-day Saint church had been founded in 1830. John Metcalf built the first gristmill in 1863 on the stream from the warm spring, cutting and setting the millstones himself. The Fayette Ward followed in 1877.

What the plaque says

In 1861 Joseph Bartholomew, James Mellor and others settled here and diverted the warm creek for irrigation purposes. A branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in 1862 with Branch Young as President. The name of the settlement was changed from Warm Creek to Fayette, honoring the town in New York where the Church was first organized. In 1863 John E. Metcalf built the first grist mill on the stream flowing from the warm spring one mile east of this marker. He fashioned and used these mill stones. Fayette Ward was organized July 4-1877.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Gunnison — 5.1 mi
  Sanpete's southern hub, home to Utah's oldest operating theater
• Sterling — 9.0 mi
  A highway hamlet and the doorway to Palisade State Park
• Palisade State Park — 10 mi
  A pioneer-built lake turned central Utah's favorite state park
• Mayfield — 11 mi
  Gateway to Twelve Mile Canyon and the Skyline Drive high country

More markers nearby

• Dover Cemetery — 2.5 mi
• Gunnison Honor Roll — 4.8 mi
• Gunnison Valley Veterans Memorial — 4.9 mi
• Gunnison Pioneers — 4.9 mi