List of Mormon place names

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This is a List of Mormon place names, meaning towns and other places named, in modern times, after places and people in the Book of Mormon, after Mormon leaders during the settlement of Utah, or after other elements of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' history. See List of Book of Mormon places for a reference list of locations mentioned in the Book of Mormon, and List of Book of Mormon people for persons mentioned therein. The intention is to list all places named (usually by Mormons) for specifically Mormon places and people, where those names are not otherwise generally known as Biblical (meaning from the Old and New Testaments) to non-Mormons.[Note 1]

According to John W. Van Cott in his 1990 work Utah Place Names, the Mormons named more places in Utah than any other group or individual in the state.[1] Salt Lake City Tribune author Davidson noted, in 2018, that "Utah cities and towns were named for at least five church presidents, 10 apostles, 11 stake presidents, nine bishops, two biblical figures and three Book of Mormon prophets, among other things."[1] Similar general works for other regions, such as Idaho Place Names, identify numerous other Mormon place names.

Place names[]

The intention is to list all modern usages of place names that are clearly Mormon, to exclusion of other Christian place names. Those starred are from the Book of Mormon, or modern revelation.

Adam-ondi-Ahman*[]

  • Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri, in Daviess County, Missouri, was named by Joseph Smith, who asserted it was where Adam, of Adam and Eve had set up an altar, after Adam and Eve had been expelled from the Garden of Eden.[2] Settlement there was challenged, and Joseph Smith and followers moved on to Far West.

Ammon*[]

  • Ammon, Idaho, originally South Iona, the area was made a ward in the church in 1889 with Arthur M. Rawson as bishop, who renamed the town in honor of Ammon, a figure in the LDS book of scripture, the Book of Mormon.

Ballard[]

Bountiful[]

Brigham[]

Cannonville[]

  • Cannonville, Utah, in Garfield County, "Named for former apostle George Q. Cannon. Has also been called "Gunshot", as locals say "it’s too small for a cannon."[1][3]

Cardston[]

Clawson[]

Colonia LeBaron[]

  • Colonia LeBaron was founded by a fundamentalist sect in Chihuahua, Mexico and named after the LeBaron family.

Colonia Mormones[]

Cumorah*[]

  • Cumorah, also known as Mormon Hill,[5][6][7] Gold Bible Hill,[8][9] and Inspiration Point,[5] is a drumlin in Manchester, New York, United States,[10] where Joseph Smith said he found a set of golden plates which he translated into English and published as the Book of Mormon. Cumorah is a name found in the Book of Mormon, and given to the site by early Latter-day Saints. The Sacred Grove is nearby.

Cutler's Park[]

Deseret*[]

  • State of Deseret, provisional U.S. state which existed for two years
  • Deseret, Utah, in Millard County

Deseret (Book of Mormon) is the word for "honeybees" in land of the Jaredites, in the Book of Mormon. "Brigham Young wanted pioneers to be as industrious as honeybees and used the name in many places and ways. When Latter-day Saints first sought statehood, they applied using the name 'State of Deseret.'"[1]

Draper[]

Enoch*[]

  • Enoch, Utah after the Order of Enoch.[11]
  • Enoch, Texas, founded by LDS and named after the Order of Enoch. Samuel O. Bennion's organization of the Enoch Branch in 1911.[12][13] The first Latter-day Saint settlers had arrived in 1906.[13] In 1908 a Sunday School was organized at Enoch. In 1910 a building was built for the Sunday School.[14] In 1930 it was only one of eight communities in Texas where the church owned a chapel.[15]

Ephraim*[]

  • Ephraim, Utah - the special significance here is that the Tribe of Ephraim is said to restore the gospel to the earth and many modern Mormons are said to belong to it.

Far West[]

Far West, Missouri, in Caldwell County, Missouri, was a Mormon settlement, which grew as Mormons were expelled from the Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri area. Settlement there, too, was challenged, and many Mormons moved on to Nauvoo, Illinois.

Farr West[]

Fayette[]

Fielding[]

Francis[]

Grantsville[]

Georgetown[]

  • Georgetown, Idaho, renamed from "Twin Creeks" by Brigham Young for his friend George Q. Cannon in 1873, after the two had visited the colony together.[17]

Hamblin[]

Harmony[]

Hawkins[]

  • Hawkins, Idaho, possibly named after Sister Hawkins, LDS missionary[citation needed]

Heber City[]

  • Heber City, Utah, named for apostle Heber C. Kimball. Heber "had baptized many of the city’s early residents as a missionary in England before they immigrated."[1]

Henrieville[]

  • Henrieville, Utah, in Garfield County, named for James Henrie, the first LDS stake president in its area.[1]

Hinckley[]

Hooper[]

Hyde Park[]

  • Hyde Park, Utah, in Cache County, is assertedly named for , the first LDS bishop in its area[1] It may also partly be named for London's Hyde Park.[3]

Hyrum[]

Iona[]

  • Iona, Idaho "Iona: According to the town’s own history book, Iona was named by LDS Church President John Taylor. He visited early settlers in the area, then known as Sand Creek, and apparently suggested the name “Iona”, claiming it was the name of a small town in Israel that meant “beautiful”."[17] It is also the name of an island in Scotland.

Iosepa[]

  • Iosepa, Utah, uses the Hawaiian word for "Joseph", and is named for missionary Joseph F. Smith who recruited Polynesians to settle in Skull Valley.[3] Settlers included Samoans and Māori as well as Native Hawaiians. It was tough going. Later when Smith was LDS church president, the first LDS church outside the United States was started in Hawaii, and returns to Hawaii were funded, and the town became a ghost town.

Ivins[]

Jacob Lake[]

Joseph[]

Kaysville[]

  • Kaysville, Utah, honors , the first LDS bishop in its area. Early settlers, including Kay, wanted to name it "Freedom". "But Brigham Young asked, 'When did Bishop Kay’s ward get its freedom?' Young pushed the name Kaysville instead."[1] also [3]

Kimball[]

  • Kimball, Alberta named after the ward which was named after the descendants of Heber C. Kimball.[18]

Kingston[]

  • Kingston, Utah, in Piute County, is named for , who was a Latter-day Saint bishop who moved from Fillmore to Piute County with his five sons and their families to establish a United Order.[19]

Kirtland[]

Kolob*[]

Lamoni*[]

  • Lamoni, Iowa named after Lamoni, a king mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Formerly headquarters of the Community of Christ (RLDS)

Layton[]

Leavitt[]

Lehi*[]

  • Several places are named after Lehi from the Book of Mormon, as opposed to Lehi (Bible) a place in the Old Testament. Book of Mormon Lehi's include two prophets: Lehi (Book of Mormon prophet), 7th–6th cen. BC or Lehi, son of Helaman, late 1st cen. BC; and two other persons: Lehi, Nephite military commander, or Lehi, son of Zoram.
    • Lehi, Arizona, a Mormon agricultural community and neighborhood now part of Mesa, Arizona
    • Lehi, Utah, "Named for a Book of Mormon prophet. It was chosen because its early pioneers had moved often, much like the scriptural prophet Lehi, who traveled from Jerusalem to the Americas."[1]

Lewiston[]

Lund[]

Lyman[]

Maeser[]

  • Maeser, Utah, in Uintah County, named for Karl G. Maeser, early president of Brigham Young University and head of the LDS church's Sunday school. "He visited the area, and residents liked him so much they named the town in his honor."[1]

Manti*[]

Manti is the name of a city in the Book of Mormon and also of

  • Manti, Utah, as a new community, was named by Brigham Young after the city mentioned in the Book of Mormon. "Honors a city mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Originally, Danish settlers there had named it Copenhagen."[1]
  • Manti National Forest, in Utah and Colorado
  • Manti, Iowa, was a Mormon settlement which failed, many of whose settlers moved to Shenandoah, Iowa, instead.
  • Manti Crater on Mars, named for the community in Utah.

Martin's Cove[]

  • Martin's Cove, in what is now Wyoming, is named for the Martin Handcart Company. In November 1856, about 500 Mormon emigrants in the Martin Handcart Company were halted for five days in the Cove by snow and cold while on their way to Salt Lake City.[22] The Martin Handcart company had begun its journey on July 28, 1856, which was dangerously late in the season and would ultimately lead to the disaster. Although the number who died in the Cove is unknown, more than 145 members of the Martin Company died before reaching Salt Lake City.[23]

Milo[]

  • "Milo: First, there was a small settlement named Leorin, as well as a Leorin School. An LDS ward was organized there in 1900 and called the Milo Ward after Milo Andrus, an LDS pioneer who led a company across the plains to the Intermountain West. It’s probable that the Milo name then just became a common way for Mormons to refer to the area, so it stuck."[17]

Morgan[]

  • Morgan County, Utah, named for apostle Jedidiah Morgan Grant, advisor to Joseph Smith and father of church president Heber J. Grant[1]

Mormon*[]

Mormon is a prophet who gave his name to the Book of Mormon, which in turn produced the nickname of Latter-day Saints.

Moroni*[]

Mount Pisgah[]

  • Mount Pisgah, Iowa, was named by LDS apostle Parley P. Pratt, who, when he first saw the modest hill, was reminded of the biblical Pisgah (Deuteronomy 3:27) where Moses viewed the Promised Land.

Nauvoo*[]

The original Nauvoo is in Illinois, named by Joseph Smith and was founded by church members. The name is derived from the traditional Hebrew language with an anglicized spelling. The word comes from Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains...” (/ˈnɔːvuː/; etymology: Hebrew: נָאווּ‎, Modern: Navu, Tiberian: Nâwû, “they are beautiful”)

Nephi*[]

Nephi is the name of two Book of Mormon prophets

Nibley[]

Orderville[]

Parley[]

Perry[]

  • Perry, Utah, in Box Elder County, is named for , Perry's first LDS bishop. It was previously named Porter's Spring, after controversial Mormon gunfighter Orrin Porter Rockwell.[1]

Preston[]

  • Preston, Idaho "Preston: The settlement was originally called Worm Creek, but renamed in honor of William B. Preston, a prominent LDS Church authority who was an early settler of Cache Valley."[17]

Ramah*[]

  • Ramah, New Mexico named after Cumorah also known as Ramah in the Book of Mormon.

Randolph[]

Raymond[]

Rich[]

Rigby[]

  • Rigby, Idaho "Rigby: Your town was named by LDS Church President John Taylor after , a Driggs resident who had assisted in the settlement and early organization of the LDS Church in the area."[17]

St. George[]

  • St. George, Utah, named after apostle George A. Smith[3] It was "suggested that if other churches could have saints, Mormons could, too."[1]

St James[]

Schuler[]

Smithfield[]

Snowflake[]

Snowville[]

Talmage[]

Taylor[]

Thompson[]

Veyo[]

  • Veyo, Utah, named for "Virtue", "Enterprise", "Youth", and "Order", values of its Mormon settlers.[3]

Voree[]

  • Voree, Wisconsin, the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), a denomination of the Latter Day Saint (Mormon) movement. According to James Strang, founder of the Strangite church in rivalry to Brigham Young, and of the town, the name means "Garden of Peace".[29] The community is situated along former Wisconsin Highway 11 just west of the Racine County line.

Webb[]

Wellsville[]

Widstoe[]

Wilford[]

Willard[]

Winter Quarters[]

Woodruff[]

Generally after Wilford Woodruff, president of the church.

Notes[]

  1. ^ So this will include places named after Lehi (Book of Mormon prophet), but should not include places, if there are any, named after Lehi (Bible), a somewhat obscure place in the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. This does not include places generally known to be Biblical/Christian, such as most listed as biblical place names in North America. For example Goshen, is notably the name of a bible place, and was used as name for Goshen, Utah in Utah County, by the first LDS bishop of that area, Phineas Cook, but he named it after his birthplace, Goshen, Connecticut, according to Davidson. Which is named after Land of Goshen in Egypt, mentioned in the Old Testament, so Goshen, Utah is only indirectly named for a biblical place, and the biblical place is not specifically Mormon, so it is doubly not the type of place covered in this list.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq Lee Davidson (October 4, 2018). "This is the place for Mormon references in city names, but did you know Brigham City first was called Youngsville, and Goshen was Sodom?". Salt Lake City Tribune. (sourced mainly to Utah Place Names, by John W. Van Cott, 1990 edition)
  2. ^ "Adam-ondi-Ahman". Selected Quotes and Instructional Pictures. compiled by Bruce Satterfield, BYU-Idaho Professor of Religion
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m Dale Van Atta (January 22, 1977). "You name it, there's a town for it". The Deseret News. Salt Lake City. p. 15. Retrieved July 29, 2019 – via Google News.
  4. ^ Richard E. Bennett, "Canada: From Struggling Seed, the Church Has Risen to Branching Maple," Ensign, September 1988, p. 30.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b A. P. Kesler, "Mormon Hill", Young Woman's Journal, 9:73 (February 1898).
  6. ^ "Thomas Cook History, 1930", in Dan Vogel ed. (2000). Early Mormon Documents, vol. 3 (Salt Lake City: Signature Books ISBN 1-56085-133-3) pp. 243–50.
  7. ^ Andrew Jenson, Conference Report (April 1917) p. 99.
  8. ^ "A Looked-for Exposure: Secrets of the Original Mormon Bible", The New York Times, 1888-02-26.
  9. ^ Bruce E. Dana (2003). Glad Tidings Near Cumorah (CFI, ISBN 978-1-55517-723-2) pp. 58–60.
  10. ^ "Hill Cumorah (New York)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  11. ^ The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Volumes 9-10. 1918. p. 124.
  12. ^ Handbook of Texas Online - ENOCH, TX
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Enoch History
  14. ^ http://www.kelseytx.com/stories/a3enochhistory.htmn
  15. ^ Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 130
  16. ^ Van Cott, John W. (1990). Utah Place Names: A Comprehensive Guide to the Origins of Geographic Names: A Compilation. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-87480-345-7. OCLC 797284427. Retrieved 29 July 2019.)
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Origins of Idaho place names". Museum of Idaho. Retrieved July 29, 2019. (Credit partly to Idaho Place Names: A Geographic Dictionary, by Lalia Boone)
  18. ^ Shaw, Keith (1978). Chief mountain country : a history of Cardston and district. Volume I. Cardston: Cardston and District Historical Society. p. 64. ISBN 0-919213-89-8.
  19. ^ "Kingston Incorporated as a Town". Piute County News. 14 (32). July 26, 1935. p. 4.
  20. ^ Thomas Rowell Leavitt, Once Upon a Wedding: Stories of Weddings in Western Canada, Nancy Millar, 2000
  21. ^ Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 452
  22. ^ "Martin's Cove". Alliance for Historic Wyoming. 2010-01-14. Archived from the original on 2009-12-28.
  23. ^ "Martin's Cove". Mormon Historic Sites Registry. 2010-01-14. Archived from the original on 2006-07-20.
  24. ^ http://www.walkerweb.net/towns/nauvoo.htm
  25. ^ Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Hancock County, Vol. II, Munsell Publishing Company, Chicago, 1921
  26. ^ "Davew Akers and Tom Purcell". Lethbridge Herald, Golden Jubilee Edition. 11 July 1935. p. 64.
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b "Strang". www.beaverislandhistory.org. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  28. ^ History of Snowflake, AZ
  29. ^ Linda S. Godfey. Strange Wisconsin. p. 10.
  30. ^ Jump up to: a b Hanchett, Jr. Leland J. (1993). The Crooked Trail to Holbrook. Pine Rim Pub. ISBN 0963778501.
  31. ^ Kent Powell (May 1, 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Willard Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved August 16, 2019. With accompanying 22 photos from 1974
  32. ^ 1911 Encyclopædia Nebraska" (Available at Google Books).
  33. ^ Lund, Anthon Henrik (1922). The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine. Geneal. Society of Utah. p. 43.

Further reading[]

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