Oak City
Oak City was named after Oak Creek, a sparkling
mountain stream meandering
through scrub oak and gray
sagebrush. It provided water, the
life blood, for this community.
Founded in 1868 by pioneers who had formerly resided
at Deseret, this location was chosen as a refuge from the
Sevier River floods. Their animals formerly had been
pastured on Oak Creek. The town site was surveyed into
twenty-four blocks and was patterned after the original
survey of Salt Lake City. Lots were drawn for the
property. Families began the wagon trek bringing with
them doors and windows from their homes in Deseret.
Others completely dismantled their houses there and
hauled the material to the new settlement and
reassembled it on their newly acquired land.
The season was late, near November. Twenty-three
families hauled logs from the canyon, dug dugouts,
made adobes. Many of the houses were of one or two
rooms and had dirt roofs and floors. With shovels they
tapped the Oak Creek, digging ditches for irrigation
water.
The first winter the men worked together and fenced
360 acres of land. The leading industries in those first days were agriculture and
cattle raising. John Lovell was the first presiding elder, serving from 1868-1871.
The first public meeting was held November 8, 1868.
We honor and appreciate the courage of these pioneers, their vision, faith, and fortitude
to subdue the desert and harness the mountain stream.
1993 No. 472 Oak Creek Camp
The Bell
1893-1993The 300 pound bell was ordered in 1893 for the
combination church, school and social hall. Before the belfry
was completed, the bell hung on a fram on the front porch
of the Niels Peter Nielson home. Niels rang the bell precisely
one-half hour before all church meetings and before school.
The bell became a loving call to services and the authority
on time. When a belfry was added to the school building in
1898, the bell was hung in its appropriate place. From 1915-
1928 the bell was placed on top of the new school. It was
then rehung in the original belfry. It remained there until it
was placed in the tower of the new church in 1969. Stones
from the original building are used in this monument
reuniting the bell and belfry in 1993. The belfry was given
back to Oak City by Don and Colleen Parkier.
