Brigham City, Arizona
Brigham City is a ghost town in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. Founded by member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near the present city of Winslow in 1876, it was one and one-half miles north of Winslow's current city center, along the Little Colorado River. It was organized as a Latter-Day Saints ward in 1878, but by 1881 it had been abandoned.[3][4]
Brigham City | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Brigham City Location in the state of Arizona | |
| Coordinates: 35°02′31″N 110°41′04″W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Arizona |
| County | Navajo |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Abandoned | 1881 |
| Named for | Brigham Young |
| Elevation | 4,895 ft (1,492 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (MST (no DST)) |
| Area code(s) | |
Brigham City | |
 | |
| Nearest city | Winslow, Arizona |
| Area | 160 acres (65 ha) |
| Built | 1876 |
| NRHP reference No. | 78000558[2] |
| Added to NRHP | June 9, 1978 |
Twenty Mormon families and fifteen bachelors from Salt Lake City settled the area, and built homes inside protective walls originally measuring 200 feet (61 m) long and 7 feet (2.1 m) high. Flash flooding that washed away the dams and irrigation systems led to crop failures and caused the abandonment of the town by 1881.[5]
The US Census listed its population as 191 in 1880.[6]
Brigham City was one of four Little Colorado River colonies.[7] The other colonies were Joseph City, Sunset, and Obed. Joseph City is the only remaining colony.[8]
Brigham City was added to the National Register of Historic Places as of June 9, 1978,[9] and the remnants are currently undergoing restoration.[4] Only one of the communities' buildings and portions of the encircling wall remain.
Archaeological excavations have been carried out at the location of the grist mill, the pottery, and other features [10][11]
Demographics
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 191 | — | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[12] | |||
Brigham City appeared just once on the U.S. Census in 1880.[13] The original townsite has since been annexed into the city of Winslow and is now a historic site.[14]
References
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Brigham City (historical)
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- Andrew Jenson. Encyclopedic History of the Church. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941). p. 88.
- "Winslow Chamber of Commerce – Visiting Winslow". Winslowarizona.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- "Historic Sites – Brigham City". Arizona Heritage Traveler. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- Moffat, Riley (1996). Population History of Western U.S. Cities and Towns, 1850–1990. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 9. ISBN 0-8108-3033-7.
- Tanner, George S and J Morris Richards, Colonization on the Little Colorado: The Joseph City Region (Flagstaff, Arizona: 1977) xiii.
- Tanner, George S and J Morris Richards, Colonization on the Little Colorado: The Joseph City Region (Flagstaff, Arizona: 1977) 21, 32, 34.
- "NPGallery Digital Asset Management System". Nps.gov. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- Stone, Lyle M. and Gerald A. Doyle & Assoc. 1980 "A Research Report and Restoration Considerations for the Interpretive Development of Historic Resources at Brigham City, A. T. for the City of Winslow, Arizona." ARS, Tempe and Gerald A. Doyle & Associates, Phoenix.
- Ferg, Alan 1992 "1991 AAS Excavations at Brigham City and Plans for 1992." The Petroglyph (Arizona Archaeological Society) 28(3):14–15 and 2005 "Brother Behrman’s Pottery." Archaeology Southwest 19(2):7.
- "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
- "Population of Civil Divisions less than counties, in the aggregate, at the Censuses of 1880 and 1870" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880. p. 99.
- "Abandoned in 1881, the Mormon Ghost Town of Brigham City in Arizona Only Lasted 5 Years". May 3, 2019.
