St. George in Washington County, Utah — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Poetry and Music
Photographed by Jeremy Snow, February 23, 2025
1. Poetry and Music Marker
"We get sentimental whenever we hear the school songs of Dixie, or meet with the old gang..." From the song "Just For Now," by Roene DiFiore (Mrs. D)
Belonging
Music and poetry are essential components of Southern Utah culture. Since its founding in 1861, St. George has created a shared experience through art. The first public building, the St. George Hall (1862), was a place where residents created a sense of community and belonging through music, poetry, and art.
Early Works
In 1864. Eliza R. Snow published one of the earliest regional poems. It builds a sense of creating wealth through toil in "Dixie, fair Utah's sunny land." George A. Hicks was among the first called to the Southern Mission. Through song, he describes a place of loneliness, starvation, and deprivation. He ends the poem with a desperate plea for help. "May Heaven help the Dixieite wherever he may be."
Continuing Tradition
The community tradition of drama, dance, poetry, and music grew with the founding of St. George Stake Academy in 1911. The first-year students performed "Billee Taylor” at the opera house. Arts and humanities continue the
this page online
For more information visit: utahtech.edu/heritage-cove
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment. A significant historical year for this entry is 1862.
Location. 37° 6.244′ N, 113° 33.912′ W. Marker is in St. George, Utah, in Washington County. It can be reached from East 300 North. Located in the Heritage Cove just east of the Utah Tech University Gardner Student Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 975 E 300 North, Saint George UT 84770, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Color Country. It is also in the American Southwest, in the Mountain West, and on the Colorado Plateau. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexico’s Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Struggle to Thrive (here, next to this marker); Dixie Pioneers (here, next to this marker); University Growth
Photographed by Jeremy Snow, February 23, 2025
2. Poetry and Music Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on February 27, 2025. It was originally submitted on February 23, 2025, by Jeremy Snow of Cedar City, Utah. This page has been viewed 105 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 23, 2025, by Jeremy Snow of Cedar City, Utah. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
