Venice ( ) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in northwestern Sevier County,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States.

Description

Venice is a small farming village approximately northeast of

Richfield Richfield may refer to: Places Canada *Richfield, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Richfield, Nova Scotia *Richfield, British Columbia, a ghost town from the Cariboo Gold Rush United States * Richfield, California *Richfield, Idaho * Richfiel ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. It lies just southeast of State Route 118 (formerly

U.S. Route 89 U.S. Route 89 (US 89) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern sectio ...

) and north of State Route 119. The town of Glenwood (of which Venice is an outgrowth) is some to the southeast, and

Sigurd Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...

is about northeast. The area considered Venice is approximately bisected by the

Sevier River The Sevier River (pronounced "severe") is a -long river in the Great Basin of southwestern Utah in the United States. Originating west of Bryce Canyon National Park, the river flows north through a chain of high farming valleys and steep canyon ...

, which runs roughly northeast through the community. To the east is a rocky hill on the edge of the

Sevier Plateau Sevier also refer to: * Sevier, Utah, an unincorporated community in southwestern Sevier County, Utah * Sevier County, Tennessee * Sevier County, Utah * Sevier County, Arkansas * Sevier River, an endorheic system in Utah * Sevier orogeny The S ...

known as the Black Knoll, marked with a hillside letter ''V'' (). The community was named after

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 438 bridge ...

History

The first settler in the Venice area was Francis George Wall, an early resident of Glenwood. In 1875, Wall bought an tract of land, then called the Cove River Ranch, on the south side of the Sevier River. He built a cabin and moved his family from Manti. As other settlers moved in, the settlement was named Wallsville. One of the most important structures in town was the bridge across the Sevier River. The first such bridge was built as early as 1885. A log meetinghouse was built in Wallsville in 1887, and used for both school and church meetings. A post office was established in the local

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

in 1894, and in 1900, a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

was organized. Residents voted to rename their community "Venice". In 1900, a white brick schoolhouse was built. This school operated until 1924, when the school district built a new building in Venice, and the old building was sold to the LDS Church. This building, with numerous additions over the years, served as the ward meetinghouse until it was torn down in 1984. The school was closed in 1950, but still stands as a Venice landmark. The Marysvale Branch of the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

was formerly the most important transportation corridor in the area. It ran through the northwestern corner of Venice, transporting farm products as well as passengers. The railroad line was closed down after the 1983 landslide at

Thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...

Economy

Farming has always been a way of life in Venice. Through the first half of the 20th century, during the heyday of the

Utah-Idaho Sugar Company The Utah-Idaho Sugar Company was a large sugar beet processing company based in Utah. It was owned and controlled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its leaders. It was notable for developing a valuable cash crop ...

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

s were a major

cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

. Early on, farmers shipped their beets to the sugar factory in nearby Elsinore. That plant closed in 1928, and the beets started going to the plant to the north in Centerfield. Each time a sugar factory was closed, Venice farmers had to send their crop further and further north, at greater shipping expense. Next came the factory in West Jordan, and finally

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...

, in the extreme north of Utah. The last few sugar beet farmers in Venice exited the business in 1976. Raising livestock is still very important to the community. Area farmers raise cattle, sheep, and poultry. In the 1960s, Venice farmers organized an

agricultural cooperative An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a producer cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activities. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural servic ...

called the Venice Feed & Cattle Company to process feed and market crops and livestock.

Education

Students from Venice have always gone to high school in Richfield. Since the 1950 closure of the Venice School, younger students have attended Richfield schools as well.

References

External links