Welcome to the

Fort Harmony
Web Site

This is your information center
for the restoration project now
being undertaken in
Southern Utah

Sponsored by the
Fort Harmony Historical Society

Registered as Historic
Site #59 by the
Utah Pioneer Trails
and Landmark Association

Historical Sites of the
New
Harmony
Valley

The Fort Harmony Story
Here in the New Harmony Valley lies the remains of one of the few protective outposts built by our courageous pioneers. The concept and plans originated with Brigham Young in 1854; the actual construction project was supervised by John D. Lee. Fort Harmony took years of volunteer labor to complete and played an historic role in the settlement of Southern Utah. Over the course of eight years, this adobe-type structure provided shelter and protection for over 300 frontier settlers.

Why was it abandoned so early, and what were the tragic events that unfolded during this critical time in Utah history? We welcome you to explore these pages and share the experiences faced by these real pioneers as they endured the hardships of remote frontier life.

The Original Old Fort Harmony site has been Located !
Located on the south end of Harmony Valley there is a beautiful bluff that looks over Ash Creek Reservoir and fertile farm land. This site closely matches the descriptions from recorded history.
Read more here

Fort Harmony and Mountain Meadows
Recently there has been some news about the Mountain Meadows and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake Tribune, 3/29/08). When news breaks about the Mountain Meadows, often people make an association between the Mountain Meadows and Fort Harmony and the John D. Lee statue. FHHS is asking people to not make that association because there lies in the remains of Fort Harmony, fragile historical information for several hundred people that lived or visited the Fort and it is the goal of the FHHS to retrieve and document this history of ALL the people. We do not want the pioneer's historical information to become mixed up with Mountain Meadows controversial issues.

LECTURE SERIES
For those who are interested in learning more about Southern Utah's past history, we invite you to attend our lecture series at the New Harmony Library. These are open to the general public at no cost. Check HERE for the latest schedule. When the speaker permits, we do videotape the lectures and have these available for the public at the New Harmony Library or you can purchase your own copy at our Media Store.

About our Valley
The historically correct term for our valley is Harmony Valley. Harmony Valley is about 12 miles long by 5 miles wide basically from mile marker #36 to #48 at the Kannara overpass of I-15. The Native Americans named the valley "Somato" or "the cove".

New Harmony is a town, about 2 miles square. It is very small compared to the entire valley which is about 60 miles square. It is also the mailing address of everyone in the valley. Kolob Ranches, The Ridges, Harmony Farms, Harmony Heights 1 & 2 are located in Harmony Valley, not New Harmony. As the valley develops these distinctions will become more important.



The Fort Harmony Historical Society in Action.

October 24, 2009 marked a historical event for the restoration project for Fort Harmony. The Fort Harmony Historical Society hosted a reenactment event for the public and presented a flag raising ceremony. Dr. Lyman Platt was the spoke person for the event.

At the event Edwina Jones unveiled the future plans for the Fort and the direction that the Society is now under taking. Visitors were given a tour of the Fort and then presented with a reenactment program that portrayed the early pioneers as they were given building directions from Brigham Young. The day's events concluded with the first flag raising on the new flag poles on the East side of the Fort.

 

Utah State Historical Society Gives Recognition

HFFS board member Roger Simister (on left), received a "Outstanding Volunteer Award" from the State History Division during their annual conference in Salt Lake City. Roger was recognized for his valuable video work in capturing lectures and personal histories relating to the history of Fort Harmony. These videos are available from the HFFS media store

 

Our Cedar City Tour/Lecture by Col. Al Matheson
On Saturday August 22, Al Matheson led a group of history enthusiast in and around the historic points of Cedar City. Al is a virtual fountain of fascinating historic facts and many of those who took the tour came away with a wealth of valuable information. Things we learned: What major retailer is located right over a sacred Indian burial ground and many buried petroglyphics? Where is and what is the legend behind Squaw Cave? When was the Cedar City Flood?, and what rock has the sculpture of the "All American Man" ? These and many more historic facts of Cedar City led to an informative day for whose who attended.. Order your dvd of this interesting tour HERE.


You say you missed it ? Don't be concerned because the tour was captured on video and will be available shortly. Look for the DVD "Cedar City History part 2" on our web site order list.

Don't miss our next lecture programs scheduled for the following months - Click Here

Coming Events


DVDs
Now Available
on
"Ancient
Navigation in
Western
America"


by
Al Matheson

A Talk Given
on April 24

Details Here


The lectures
of 2007-9
are now
available on
DVD

The Civil War and
the Utah Territory

By Al Cooper

Preparedness
By Al Cooper

The Spanish Trail
By Al Matheson

Home Schooling
By Anne Smith

Ancient Navigation
By Al Matheson

Ancient Inhabitants
of the South West

 




FORT
HARMONY
DAYS
CELEBRATION

See Photos
of Last Year
Celebration



To further your history search, check the
Washington
County
Historical
Society

The
Overland Trail
from the city
of Saints to
the city of Angels

The Paiute
Range Lands


Read about Don Carlos Shirts
HERE
This is our newest pioneer history entry submitted by
Gary Young

 

A full report from BYU is now available on the first Excavation findings

Report of Excavations



Our New
Brochure


 

A True
Pioneer Story
at the Fort

A Thanksgiving
Pioneer
Story


The
"Blue Willow"
Mystery

is it solved?


Be a part of the Fort Harmony research team and help us
find and research those pioneers who once lived in the Fort.

Click Here
for the
Pioneer List


Visit the
New Harmony
Heritage Page


A new list
of missionaries
who had land
plots at the fort


Links to other History
Organizations
in Utah
Click Here

Silver Reef

 

To Contact the Society
Document Editor
Kay Daun Edwards
Fort Harmony Historical Society © 2007
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Web Host Master
Roger Simister
last update 02//11//10