Clarion, Utah facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Clarion
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 Clarion
Location in Utah
Clarion
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Utah |
| County | Sanpete |
| Established | 1911 |
| Abandoned | 1915 |
Clarion is a ghost town located in Sanpete County, Utah, United States. It is about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Gunnison. A ghost town is a place where most people have left, leaving behind empty buildings. Clarion was once a special place where Jewish families tried to build a farming community in the early 1900s.
The Clarion area covered about 6,085 acres (24.6 km²). It stretched 5 miles (8 km) north to south along the Sevier River. Today, this area is part of the Centerfield, Utah postal district.
Contents
Why Clarion Was Started
In the 1800s and early 1900s, many Jewish people in Europe faced challenges. They often could not own land or join certain jobs. This meant many lived in crowded cities or poor villages. Some Jewish leaders and thinkers believed that owning land and farming would help Jewish people build stronger communities. They called this idea a "back-to-the-land movement." They hoped to find a better life through farming, especially in places like North and South America.
Finding a New Home
In January 1910, a man named Benjamin Brown started the Jewish Agricultural and Colonial Association in Philadelphia. This group aimed to help Jewish families settle on farms and support each other. Brown was the president, and Isaac Herbst was the secretary.
In 1911, Brown and Herbst traveled to look for land in several western states. They checked out New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. New Mexico turned out to be too expensive. Just as they were about to leave, they got an invitation to visit Utah.
Utah's Welcome
Utah was trying to attract new settlers at the time. The state was building the Piute Canal in Sanpete County, Utah. This canal would bring water to dry desert areas, making them good for farming. Brown and Herbst were excited by this chance.
The Jewish community in Salt Lake City also helped. Important people like Simon Bamberger and Samuel Newhouse promised to support the new farming effort. A state representative showed Brown and Herbst a piece of state-owned land. This land was in south-central Utah, right below the planned Piute Canal. Brown believed the soil was good. With the state's promise of water, the Association decided to buy the land at an auction on August 7, 1911.
Life in the Clarion Colony (1911-1916)
After buying the land, Benjamin Brown and twelve first settlers arrived in Clarion on September 10, 1911. These first colonists were chosen for their skills, like working with horses. The land seemed perfect for farming and was close to a railroad. This made it easy to connect with Salt Lake City.
Early Challenges and Hopes
However, the settlers soon found that the land, though called fertile, had a short growing season. This meant they had less time to grow crops. Still, the colonists worked hard. They dug irrigation channels from the nearby canal. They started planting crops like wheat, oats, and alfalfa. Even though only 23 families lived there at first, everyone was hopeful.
Utah's Governor William Spry was very happy about the project. He traveled 135 miles (217 km) from the capital to celebrate the community's first harvest.
Facing Nature's Fury
By May 1912, the colonists saw some success. They harvested crops, and more families arrived. But they also faced tough problems. Dust storms, intense heat, strong winds, flies, and mosquitoes made life difficult. There was also a shortage of water. These issues hurt their harvest. Six hundred acres (2.4 km²) produced only half of what they expected.
On August 18, 1912, the colony held a harvest festival. Over 1,000 people came, including Governor William Spry and Senator Simon Bamberger. Rabbi Isaac Landman also spoke at the event.
After the poor harvest, the colonists decided to change their plan. Instead of working together on all the land, they gave each family its own 40-acre (16 ha) plot. By October 1912, about 150 families lived in Clarion. The Jewish Agricultural and Colonial Association announced that 150 more families would join.
Struggles Continue
In the spring of 1913, the individual plots led to better crops. A new well also helped make water more available. The population of Clarion continued to grow, and the colony seemed more stable. However, severe weather hit again in the summer and fall. This, along with a water shortage, ruined the 1914 harvest.
By 1915, most people had left Clarion. The population dropped by almost two-thirds. A second bad harvest that year made even more residents leave. They moved to big cities like New York and Chicago to find jobs. On November 25, 1915, the state officially ended the colony's ownership of the land.
In January 1916, Utah began selling off the colony's land. Some colonists stayed, but most Jewish residents left within a few years.
Clarion After the Colony
After the Jewish colony ended, other families moved to the area. Japanese families settled in Clarion in 1921. Mormons of Scandinavian background also moved there. Benjamin Brown and a few other Jewish colonists stayed and farmed until the 1920s.
In 1925, enough people lived in Clarion to form the Clarion LDS Ward (a local church group). In 1932, this LDS Ward had 166 members. They met in the social hall that the Jewish settlers had built. However, the LDS Ward was closed on April 1, 1934, because of a "shortage of water."
During World War II, the Japanese families in Clarion were forced to leave their homes. This event is known as Japanese American internment. The land then went back to local citizens. By 1959, the old social hall had become a granary (a building for storing grain). The fence around the two Jewish graves had been torn down, and cows had knocked over the headstones.
In 2008, a newspaper reported that fences had been rebuilt around the Jewish graves. You could also see the foundations of old buildings and parts of a broken water tank. In 2011, for the 100th anniversary, a dairy farm was next to the Clarion site. Local people still call the area "Clarion," even though its postal address is Centerfield.
Learning About Clarion's History
Many people have studied the history of Clarion. Leon Watters wrote about it in his 1952 book, The Pioneer Jews of Utah. A professor named Everett Cooly read Watters' book. He then asked in Jewish newspapers if anyone who had lived in Clarion would share their stories.
In 1980, Professor Robert Goldberg from the University of Utah found the remains of Clarion. He interviewed a descendant of one of the families. This led him to write a book about the Jewish colony called Back to the Soil. Goldberg found 53 families connected to Clarion. He put together their stories from interviews and old records. His research papers are kept at the University of Utah.
Clarion's story has also been told in plays. One play, "Life, More Sweet Than Bitter," was about a Jewish family from Russia who came to Clarion. A museum in Tel Aviv, Israel, called Beth Hatefutsoth, featured Clarion in an exhibit in 1983. The community was also part of a play in 2007 called Impossible Cities: A Utopian Experiment.
In September 2011, a celebration was held in Salt Lake City for Clarion's 100th anniversary. Tours of the original site were also offered.
In 2014, the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area started putting up signs at important spots in Clarion. They also planned a display in Gunnison. They worked with the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation to fund these projects. On September 25, 2015, three special signs about Clarion were put up in Gunnison.
