The History of Hurricane Valley

The History of Hurricane Valley. . , Early History, It is believed the Paiutes moved in Utah about A.D. 1100-1200. They were hunter-gatherers with some limited agriculture. Their first contact with Europeans was probably with the Escalante-Dominguez party in 1776 and then with Jedediah Smith in 1826 and 1827. But then more Europeans came through the area, culminating with settlement by Mormons in the 1850s and later. Native numbers dwindled as they were crowded out and succumbed to diseases. Once numbering in the thousands, the Paiute population reached a low of 800., The Paiute Indians called the area Timpoweap, “Rock Canyon”. It is a deep gorge where the Virgin River emerges from the Hurricane Fault. The town of Hurricane lied below the fault to the south of the river and the community of La Verkin. Hot sulphur springs boil up from the bottom and sides of the river on the fault line. About one mile below the hot springs the conjoined streams of Ash Creek and La Verkin Creek make a common confluence with the Virgin River. It is a site of great historical significance., Dominguez and Escalante in 1776 made the first historical reference to American irrigation as they observed it as this watercourse confluence: it was a Paiute Indian farm and remains a farm to this day. There are those who say that mountain men Jedediah Smith, George C. Yount, and William Wolfskill passed this way. For certain, the Parley P. Pratt southern expedition of 1849-80 and the John Steele-J.C.L. Smith exploration of 1852 along the Markagunt Plateau and Upper Virgin River used this river junction as a landmark. It was a place that could be forded. , , The river has cut deep into the volcanic walls of Timpoweap Canyon, thus making it impossible to take water directly to the table-lands above. However, the soil was fertile and there was good forage, so the pioneer residents of Toquerville and Virgin town were able to use the benchland as range for their herds. There users always dreamed that some day they could get irrigation water onto the flat surface., Modern History, Hurricane was first settled in 1906, and received its name after a whirlwind blew the top off a buggy in which Erastus Snow was riding. Snow exclaimed, “Well, that was a Hurricane. We’ll name this ‘Hurricane Hill’”., Hurricane, which is pronounced “Her-ah-kun” by local residents (mimicking the accent of early Liverpudlian settlers), is in eastern Washington County. The community was settled as part of the LDS Church President Brigham Young’s ‘Cotton Mission’, intended to establish the southern end of Utah for agricultural purposes. The town once operated a large peach and apricot orchard for the LDS Church, and is historically known for growing peaches, pecans and pistachio nuts on small farms., The town boasts multiple community parks, dog parks, a city pool, large community center, and several ranked golf courses, two reservoirs noted for bass fishing, recreational boating, paddling, scuba diving, and myriad opportunities for ATV exploration at Sand Mountain and Sand Hollow State Park, and mountain biking over 25 miles of trail around Quail Creek State Park, as well as a small municipal airfield. There are several medical clinics in the area., Geography and Demographics, According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.5 square miles (81.7 km2), of which 31.1 square miles (80.6 km2) is land and .4 square mile (1.1 km2) (1.39%) is water., As of 2020, Hurricane Valley population was estimated at over 25,000 residents. The population density was 540 per square mile (210/km2). There were 5,461 housing units at an average density of 435.8 per square mile (270.8 km2)., [Caption]: Petroglyphs, made by early native peoples, [Caption]: Christy Mill and mill pond. Silver Reef, UT., [Caption]: Samuel and Elizabeth Isom Home in Hurricane. Completed 1910. Architecture is “Victorian Eclectic” style, typical of the era., [Caption]: Zion Narrows , [Caption]: Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, [Caption]: The Gateway to Zion and More. National Parks and Monuments: Hurricane is the gateway to Zion, and is a perfect launch pad for exploring Utah’s fabulous collection of national parks and monuments, all within a day’s drive. Here are some travel distances: 58 miles – Cedar Breaks National Monument 100 miles – Bryce Canyon National Park 130 miles – Grand Canyon North Rim 130 miles – Lake Powell., Sources: , Onlineutah.us/hurricanehisory.shtml , En.wikipedia.org/wiki.Hurricane_Utah , Photos courtesy of the Washington County Historical Society and Public Domain assets ,