Frontier Homestead State Park Museum is a state park and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

of in

Cedar City Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States.

Description

The museum was opened to the public in 1980, originally named Iron Mission State Park for the pioneering attempts of Mormon settlers to create an iron industry. The museum name was changed in 2009, as the park grew and expanded around Gronway Parry's collection of horse-drawn vehicles and agricultural implements. Over the years other programs and activities have been added such as pioneer craft demonstrations, rotating art exhibits, interpretive lectures, guided curation tours, and a Junior Curator program. Museum displays include horse-drawn vehicles used from 1850 to 1920 and a collection of pioneer artifacts. An iron industry exhibit features the only known remaining artifact from the original foundry - the town bell. Other items of interest include several historic cabins, a large collection of horse-drawn farm equipment, and a replicated pioneer household. Ruins At Old Iron Town State Park Utah

Frontier Homestead also manages the historic ruins of Old Iron Town, an iron foundry west of Cedar City that operated in the mid 19th century.

History

Lack of iron was a major concern to pioneers who began settling in Utah in 1847. When iron deposits were discovered in southern Utah,

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

leader

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as ch ...

called for volunteers to colonize the area. A site near Coal Creek, now Cedar City, was selected in November 1851 for the iron works. Ten months later, the colony completed construction of a small blast furnace and began to operate the

iron foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

. Despite its initial success, the 'Iron Mission' faced many difficulties. Financial troubles, floods, heavy freezes and furnace failure took their toll. In addition, a crop shortage threatened starvation. The people persevered in the face of these obstacles, but the foundry was eventually closed in 1858.

References

External links

Frontier Homestead State Park Museum

Friends of Frontier Homestead State Park
{{authority control 1973 establishments in Utah History museums in Utah Museums established in 1980 Museums in Iron County, Utah Open-air museums in Utah Protected areas established in 1973 Protected areas of Iron County, Utah State parks of Utah

Description

History

See also

References

External links