Rebels and Relatives: The Mormon Foundation of Spring Glen, 1878-90 BY NANCY JACOBUS TANIGUCHI
I N MAY 27 AND 28, 1890, ELIAS H. Cox officially surveyed another townsite in rural Utah: Spring Glen, in what is now Carbon County. He noted streets running north-south and east-west following section lines, blocks in regular squares containing four lots each, and wide streets lined with lombardy poplars. The central block, already housing the town school and meetinghouse, he officially reserved for public buildings. This compact town was surrounded by peaceful fields worked by industrious Mormon farmers. To all appearances it was an average Mormon village —but was it? Conformity of physical appearance, especially that of the platted Mormon town, has often been considered indicative of basic Mormon values: cooperation, control, unity, and order. Divergence, especially in A typical railroad grading crew of the late 1800s, equipped with teams and fresnos (scrapers). Many Spring Glen residents earned needed cash working on these crews. Courtesy Carbon County Historical Society.
