Park Valley, Box Elder County, Utah Genealogy

History


Park Valley is listed as a class 6 agricultural ghost town in some publications however, there are parts of the area alive and thriving. The community is south of the Raft River Mountains. The town was originally settled by a few ranchers that came up from Brigham City. The community of Park Valley includes name locations that formerly were separate communities, such as Rosette, Dove Creek, Muddy, Rosebud, and Kelton, as well as ones that have been almost forgotten by time, such as Ten-Mile, Clear Creek, Rosen Valley, Terrace, Golden, Matlin, and other lesser construction camps along the old railroad line.

For a while, Park Valley was a small boom town of about 500 when a vein of gold was discovered. This was short lived and the population diminished with a short resurgence when travelers found it a good resting spot between Lucin and Snowville. As autos were able to travel longer distances, they began passing up Park Valley leading it to further decline.

Location

 * GPS Location: 41°49′03″N 113°19′45″W

Maps

 * 1895 Map of Box Elder County
 * Park Valley Map

Time Line

 * 1869 First Settled
 * 1890 Small vein of gold discovered, town booms
 * 1914 Town starts to decline

Neighboring Communities
Promontory | Kelton | Terrace | Snowville | Rosette | Lucin | Etna | Grouse Creek | Russian Settlement | Dove Creek | Muddy | Rosebud | Cedar Creek | Rosen Valley | Golden | Matlin

Cemeteries

 * Park Valley Cemetery, Box Elder Co.,
 * Park Valley Cemetery
 * Park Valley Pioneer Cemetery

Check cemeteries in neighboring communities.


 * Box Elder County Cemeteries
 * Box Elder Utah Gravestone Photo Project
 * Findagrave.com
 * Mormon Cemetery

LDS

 * Record of members, [1879]-1941; annual genealogical report, Form E, 1907-1948

Historical Newspapers

 * Box Elder News

Marriages

 * Marriage information may be located at the Western States Marriage Database searchable by bride or groom.

Death

 * Utah Department of Archives 1903 to 50 years ago Choices of search types - name, date of death (year, month, day, or any combination) and county. Images of actual death certificates.
 * Utah Death Certificates 1904 - 1956 -A free internet access to the 1904-1956 death certificates can be viewed on the Family Search Historical Records. Utah requires a death certificate before a burial is completed.  A death certificate may contain information as to the name of the deceased, date of death, and place of death, as well as the age, birthdate, parents, gender, marital status, spouse and place of residence.  For information on death prior to 1904, you can search the Utah State Burial Index.

Suggested Reading

 * The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns.
 * Some Dreams Die: Utah's Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures


 * ''Connecting the West : historic railroad stops and stage stations of Elko County, Nevada

Websites

 * Park Valley
 * Park Valley History
 * Utah Ghost Towns