I am convinced that every little town has something special about it. The sleepy farmville of Heber City is no exception. So off exploring I go!
11,362 people plus two vagabond Glenns live in this little part of the Wasatch Mountain Range. Driving into town requires a long, lazy ramble along Heber’s main street – the closest thing to an old-fashioned Main Street that I have ever seen. Pioneer-era brick buildings and simple storefronts line the city’s center.
(A vintage ’50s pic of the main drag)
While some stores and businesses are sprinkled throughout the surrounding neighborhoods, Main Street is where all the action is.
You can even catch a flick on one of the city’s two, two-screen theaters.
After your movie, be sure to swing by the Dairy Keen, an old fashioned burger and shake shop that has been in business since 1946. The little shop boasts a cute a cozy atmosphere with the most amazing soda machine my taste buds could dream of. The girl who loves mixing her Coke and Lemonade into a new concoction has found her heaven. I am sure there will be an additional post on this little gem soon.
Long before the Dairy Keen became the town’s hot spot, Heber City was an LDS Pioneer settlement. Cortez had come before, but simply glanced over the potential of the valley with a passing, “Meh.”
While a civil war was brewing, British and other European Mormon settlers were figuring out how to make Heber home. When it came time to choose a real name for their town, (they wanted London, but it had been taken. Sorry pioneers) the people chose Heber after the beloved LDS missionary who converted them all – Heber C. Kimball. Kimball served in the first presidency of the church under Brigham Young until his death.
Heber’s growing population got an unexpected boost in the spring of 1866 when nearly everyone from the outlying settlements was forced to gather in town to form a stronghold against some angry indians. A Congressional Act had forced the Ute Indians onto a reservation. They were a little bitter about that and push led to shove, which led to all out war.
Gun holes were built into the brick houses, a militia was formed and the people were watchful. After an almost battle (no one knows what prompted the horse-riding indians to turn around), peace talks ensued. It was a long rough road though before people started moving back out of Heber.
The rest of its peaceful history is sprinkled with church groups and livestock leagues.
My favorite part of Heber, though, has to be the atmosphere and landscape. There isn’t a sky-scraper in sight. The air is pristine. There is untouched land for miles to run and jump and play in. On my adventure of exploration through town yesterday, an old Dixie Chicks favorite came on the radio.
I wanna walk and not run, I wanna skip and not fall
I wanna look at the horizon and not see a building standing tall
I wanna be the only one, for miles and miles
Except for maybe you, and your simple smile.
Oh it sounds so good to me.
More on my exploration in Heber soon!
All our love,
From Heber City, Utah (our summer home)
