In January 1865, the first Mormon settlers arrived at St. Thomas with Thomas S. Smith as their leader. The settlement was located at a prime farming location, at the confluence of the Muddy and Virgin Rivers. The intentions of the Mormon settlement was to be a direct connection to Salt Lake City through a possible route up the Colorado River.
After seeing the impossibility of travel on the Colorado and after a survey showing the town was in Nevada, most of the Mormons retreated out of Muddy Valley in the winter of 1870-71.
Another Beginning
When the Mormons left, others claimed their abandoned properties. Then by 1880 the Mormons started to drift back to St. Thomas and the town grew to several hundred again.
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| The Gentry Hotel |
The Union Pacific railroad built a branch down the valley and used St. Thomas as a terminus. Between 1910 and 1918 it was a busy frontier town. Then during the First World War the price of copper rose and with thousands of head of stock being freighted from St. Thomas to Grand Gulch mine things really got lively. It was at this same time that the Arrowhead Trail was built through the Valley of Fire to St Thomas, which caused the tourist business to grow for the Gentry Hotel along with the five other businesses including Gentry's Store, R Hanning Grocery Store, William Sellers Cafe, Howell Garage, and Rox Whitmore Meat Market.
The Home Constructed
In the middle of the expansion of St. Thomas, the home of Town & Country Auto Sales was originally constructed. On January 3, 1910, Moapa Valley's greatest flood in memory had peaked. And sitting on his horse off to the side of the torrent, Clifford Whitmore watched in awe at the devastation. But while he was watching he spotted some bridge timbers near his side of the channel.
As Cliff had just gotten married the fall before the flood, he needed a home in the worst way. And as building materials were scarce he decided to use these timbers as floor joists in his new home. He spurred his horse up to the waters edge, pulled down his rope and began dragging timbers to the waters edge as fast as he could rope them. He must have had the best and strongest floor joists in this whole area for the timbers measured eight inches wide, sixteen inches deep and thirty feet long. This home turned out to be a good modest home for Cliff and his family.
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| St. Thomas Post Office on June 11, 1936 |
But everything came to a halt shortly after the completion of Hoover Dam in 1936. The resulting rise in the waters of the Colorado River finally forced permanent abandonment of this little frontier town.
The residents of St. Thomas sold their land, tore down homes and moved to Overton and the surrounding towns. On June 11, 1938, Hugh Lord rowed away from his house, the last citizen to leave. The community was soon covered by the lake, a victim of a rapidly changing landscape and lifestyle in the desert.
Saved History of St. Thomas
Amid the destruction there was some history and a few buildings saved. The St. Thomas cemetery was relocated to Overton and the home originally built by Clifford Whitmore was moved and placed right in downtown Overton next to Bank of America
At the St. Thomas I took some picture of the displays they had there... It was such a great day of remembrance of those who came before us and paved the way.
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