Hayden

A group of early Hayden residents

The first settlers of Hayden were Hyrum Gurr, N. Breaden, Rube Miller, Joseph Sessions and Joseph Simms. Later, a settler moved in and wished to establish a townsite further west of Hayden, claiming the present site was too rocky to beautify. President William H. Smart of (LDS) Uintah Stake, had already designated the townsite so the older settlers refused to move to the new townsite of Packer. This brought on a diversion of the settlers, those desiring to move to Packer did so, and the rest remained at Hayden.

Joseph Simms built a dance hall north of Hayden and allowed religious services to be held there until a log house was erected in the town. This building was used for school and church.

Quoting from Mr. and Mrs. John Horrocks: "We came here in April 1908. There were about thirty families here then. By this time there was a post office started, with James C. Peterson as postmaster. He had also opened a small store".

A new survey put the Wasatch-Uintah county line through the center of Hayden townsite so the trustees from both sides decided to build a joint schoolhouse. The town of Hayden did not seem to prosper, quite a number of lots were sold and some houses built. In time a branch of the LDS Church was organized at Neola, a new townsite two miles west of Hayden. It was better farming country and the people soon moved that way. The Hayden country developed into a great grass country, more profitable for stock raising and too rocky to plow.

-From "Builders of Uintah", courtesy of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers