Intermountain Histories

Morgan Stake Tabernacle

2022-10-18T17:04:36+00:00

Although rebuilt in 1901 and remodeled several times since, the Morgan State Tabernacle continues to be the epicenter for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Morgan, Utah.

Shortly after the stake was organized in 1877, the Morgan Stake Tabernacle was built in 1878. The hard blue limestone used in its construction was quarried above Como Springs. The stone masons were George Criddle Jr., Henry Rock and Conrad Smith and their work on the building is still considered one of the best pieces of masonry in the state. At the time, workmen used wheelbarrows to haul rock to the masons atop the wall. Much of the work on the building was donated; however, those who were compensated for their work were paid with farm produce and meat donated as tithe offerings. The first conference held in the building was in May 1882. In 1893, the building caught fire while Sunday School was in session. Children were quickly gathered, the meeting was dismissed, and everyone quickly exited the building. A bucket brigade was formed taking water from the ditch on Young Street. The roof and framework of the building were destroyed. Only a few seats and the organ were salvaged, along with the big rock walls that stood firmly in place. In 1901, it was rebuilt and rededicated by the Church and its members. In 1937, at a cost of $28,000, an annex was added to the front of the building and parts of the interior were renovated. In 1955, a cultural hall was connected to the tabernacle. In 2007, church leaders decided that the original rock structure should be preserved as a historical monument and that a new building would be built around it. In 2008, the building was rededicated for the fifth time. The Morgan Stake building continues to be utilized by local church members.

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Daniel Heiner House

2022-10-14T15:44:47+00:00

The Daniel Heiner home in Morgan is a distinguished pioneer residence that marks the importance of a local man who combined a life of religious leadership with active entrepreneurial activity in ranching, mining, banking, and politics.

Daniel Heiner was one of 11 children born to German immigrant parents, Martin Heiner and Adelgunda Dietzel Heiner. Martin and Adelgunda were the first people from the town of Wasungen, Germany, to apply for emigration to the United States in 1845 following the repeal of anti-emigration laws. They moved to Thomastown, Pennsylvania, where they met LDS missionaries and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1859, Daniel, along with his parents and nine of his siblings, migrated from Pennsylvania to Utah in 1859. Heiner was eight years old at the time of the journey and walked most of the thousand miles to Salt Lake City, Utah. In Utah they faced financial hardship and all held various jobs around Salt Lake City to provide for the family. The family then moved from Salt Lake City to Morgan County, Utah in December 1863. Here, the family took care of a small lot of sheep. Daniel Heiner helped tend to the family’s sheep crop and wheat and potato fields which had been cleared in the summer of 1864. Later, he got a job working on the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1872, he became the school master for Morgan County, despite having little education. He gained a reputation during this time for becoming an expert deer hunter and marksman, leading several successful hunting parties throughout the county to provide for his family. He and his two wives, Martha Stephens and Sarach Coulam, farmed and hunted to provide a meager living. In the 1880s, he was arrested for polygamy and faced trial at the Weber County Courthouse in Ogden. He was not convicted due to the 1890 Manifesto from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This manifesto ended the practice of polygamy and halted active prosecutions of polygamists under the Edmunds-Tucker Act. After this, Heiner created a family ranching business, the Echo Land and Livestock Company, which he maintained throughout his life. In addition, he bought and sold cattle on behalf of the Whitney & Chambers Company of Evanston, Wyoming. He also invested in the Black Hawk coal mine in Emery County. Growing out of his mining and ranching activity was Heiner's interest in banking. This led to the creation of the First National Bank of Morgan of which he was President for 16 years. Twice, Heiner was elected to be Mayor of Morgan. Heiner was also elected to be Morgan County’s Representative in Utah’s first State Legislature in 1896. In 1898, Governor Heber Manning Wells appointed Heiner as the Road Commissioner for Morgan County, where he built a new road between Mountain Green, Utah, and Devils Canyon, Utah. He was also active in church service locally and served as Stake President for his church from 1900-1924. Heiner died August 8, 1931 in Morgan, Utah, where his historic home still stands.

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Taggart’s Camp

2019-02-01T06:41:15+00:00

Taggert’s Camp was a popular stop on Highway 30 through Weber Canyon before the use of present-day Interstate 84.

In 1923, George Albert Taggert and his wife Mabel Shurtliff bought an area five miles east of Morgan, Utah nestled in a canyon of the Rocky Mountains near the Weber River. It was originally known as Sharps Flat and owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. Around 1936 their sons Albert Dewey and Howard started a collection of businesses on the land. The brothers both married sisters Queena and Margaret Wadsworth in the late 1920s. Each couple had children who survived them after death. The businesses that they started came to be known as Taggart Brothers or Taggart’s Camp.
Taggart’s Camp started off small, but grew and gained popularity. It was first just a service station for cars passing through along Highway 30. They soon added a soda fountain and grill, and eventually a grocery store. The camp did not stop there. One room cabins were also built for rent to travelers visiting or passing through the Rocky Mountains, eventually numbering 14.
Taggart’s Camp became very popular. As Margaret Taggart remembered: “It was a clean place for clubs to meet: the Lions Club, Veterans Club, and Cement Company parties, and anyone who wanted to enjoy a cookout in a pleasant atmosphere. In a large clearing called, ‘The Flat,’ ball games were played by tourists from Salt Lake and Ogden and other towns. Trap Shoots were conducted by black soldiers who later spent much time at Taggart's Camp. Everyone, it seemed, came to hunt, fish in the Weber River, and enjoy the outdoors.”
In 1947, when the Ideal Cement company built a new facility in the canyon, all of the cabins were rented to construction workers and The Flat was filled with mobile homes of employees Family members continued to operate the service station through the 1960s. However, what is now known as Interstate 84, which stretches from Oregon to Utah, cut straight through Taggart’s Camp. The cabins, grocery store, and service station were all shut down. The 7-mile stretch of Interstate 84 (originally Interstate 80) from Henefer to Echo Junction was opened by 1969.
While the closure of Taggart’s Camp was disheartening for many Morgan residents, the legacy of the Camp lives on. In 1996, Elaine Stoddard bought the abandoned gas station and turned it into a convenience store servicing fishers, tourists looking at Devil’s Slide, and river runners coming off the Weber River. About 2002, she turned it into a restaurant which she sold to Steve and Lori Tuttle just two years later. Taggart’s Grill is beloved by many locals and many regulars from all around northern Utah. It would have been beloved by both Dewey and Howard, proud that the family name has continued to mark a place in Utah.
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