Fruita (Utah)

Fruita is a ghost town in Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, United States. It was founded in 1880 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints ( " Mormons " ) under the name Junction and renamed in 1902 in Fruita. The settlement was abandoned around 1966 and was especially famous for its orchards, which are maintained until today.

It lies in the valley of the Fremont River in Wayne County at the Utah State Route 24 at about 1700 m. Get the orchards, the historic school house, a log house and a farm house with barn and outbuildings. At the campsite there are modern facilities of the park. The visitor center of the park and a small settlement for the employees of the Park Service are located west of the former place below the striking sandstone formation The Castle.

History

The region to the north of the Colorado Plateau was prehistoric times sparsely populated by Indians of the Fremont culture. Your culture and the Fremont River are named after John Charles Frémont, who has parts of Utah measured as an officer of the United States first. Later Paiute Indians lived in the area, but they used only sporadically because of the dry climate.

In the 1870s, members were of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from central Utah in the plateau east of the mountain range of the Waterpocket fault, which is now recognized as Capitol Reef National Park. Around 1880, the first families in the narrow valley of the Freemont River settled down and started very fast with the fruit growing. They also grew vegetables, and grain sorghum for the production of molasses. The settlement never comprised more than about ten families. The valley was remote, built in 1884, the inhabitants of a navigable with horse-drawn carriage way from the mountain valley after Caine Ville and on to Hanksville, where they brought through the whole summer fruit to the market or bartered directly for other goods.

All residents Fruitas belong to the church, the "elders " of the community practiced the line function in every respect, a political organization did not exist. Fruita was never registered as an independent site. The small needs of residents and the remoteness meant that the economic crisis of the Great Depression in the 1930s had no impact on the community. Only the expulsion of Capitol Reef National Monument (later redesignated the National Park ) in 1937 brought changes for Fruita. 1952, the road was paved by the parking area and the tourism increased. The federal government gave the residents the offer to buy the private land and by the end of the 1960s, all of which were sold voluntarily.

The National Park Service maintains and nourishes the orchards of around 2700 trees (cherries, apricots, peaches, pears and apples) as part of the historical landscape. At harvest time, all visitors can harvest a small fee standard household quantities.

Schoolhouse

The one - room schoolhouse with a size of 5.20 x 6 m was built in 1896 and opened. The few students were taught mainly in reading, writing and arithmetic; but if the teacher felt able he also taught other subjects such as history or geography. The room was also used for church services, and community festivals. The building was built in 1941 taken out of service in 1964 entered in the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Monument. Today, the state is restored in the 1930s. The school can be visited.

Gifford Farm

The historic Gifford Farm is the only remaining farm. This small farm house has been preserved in the state in the 1960s. The rooms are designed as a museum, a small shop and cafe sold only books and jams, fruit cakes and the like from the fruits of orchards. The barn and other outbuildings are used as places for living history events.