Deweyville
On
March 14, 1864, John C. Dewey left Calls Fort and settled at Empey
Springs. This site had been purchased from William Empey.
Empey's Springs became known as Dewey's Springs. From 1864 until
1868 only three families had joined the Dewey's: John P. Barnard, John
Allen, and Elizabeth Lasley came from Calls Fort.
In the spring of 1868 other settlers came to take up land including
Benjamin Gardner from Ogden, John Memory from Willard, Henry Marble and
Milo V. Gardner from Brigham City. They all built log houses in
somewhat close proximity and laid the foundation of another
community. Jude Levi Dewey was the first white child born in the
community. William Walker Howard came to Dewey's Springs in 1865,
while the Germers, Fryers, Beetons, and Childs family moved to the
locality in 1869.
John C. Dewey was presiding elder and general director of all community
activities including the erection of a school house in 1869 and the
organization of a dramatic company. A Sunday School was organized
in 1872, with William H. Howard serving as superintendent. The
school house served as a recreation center, and Jude Wells and William
McCrary played their violins for the dances which formed the chief
source of amusement.
Everyone worked together as illustrated by the joint enclosure
called "the fence". This was built of stakes and willows
woven together to a height of four feet, with a deep ditch dug on
the outside. The first wire fence was built during 1870 by Ozro
Eastman. This fence was made of smooth wire threaded through
holes bored in the posts with a 3/8 inch bit.
In 1873-74 Deweyville was a railroad stop on the Utah Northern
Railroad. No station house was built, however, until the Oregon
Short Line Company took over the Utah Northern Line and made it a
standard gauge. The first post office was established September
29, 1873, with John C. Dewey as the Postmaster. Until 1901, when
the Malad Valley Railroad was built, Deweyville was the shipping point
of the entire Bear River Valley. This, together with the building
of the Bothwell and Hammond Canals, caused a boom during which a number
of business houses were established in Deweyville. They included
saloons, brewing plant, two boarding houses, and a barber shop.
J.B. McMaster and J.H. Forsgren established a lumber and hardware
business, and merchandise businesses were run by Nathaniel Marble and
Henry Marble. An LDS Ward was organized on August 19, 1877, with
John C. Dewey as Bishop and Orville Childs and Anson C. Loveland as
counselors.
On March 7, 1939 Deweyville was granted a Town Charter by the Box Elder
County Commission. A water system was installed in 1941, one of
the last PWA projects completed in Utah.