Wasatch County, Utah Genealogy

United States  Utah  Wasatch County

Quick Facts
Named for a Ute Indian word, meaning mountain pass or low place in the high mountains. The county seat is Heber City. It is largest city in the county.

Parent Counties

 * 1862--Wasatch County was created 17 January 1862 from Davis and Green River Counties (old). There is no longer a Green River County. County seat: Heber City

Neighboring Counties
Duchesne | Salt Lake | Summit | Utah

Timeline History
NOTE: Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Wikipedia for Wasatch county, Utah.


 * 1850's. Heber City was founded by English emigrants who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the late 1850s, and is named after the Mormon apostle Heber C. Kimball.
 * 1858. A wagon road was completed through Provo Canyon, which brought the first settlers to the area. Two small communities were established: Mound City and a lower settlement sometimes referred to as Smiths Grove. Smiths Grove was first settled by the Robey, Epperson, Bronson, McCarroll, and Smith families. Indian hostilities grew, and territorial governor, Brigham Young, encouraged settlers to build forts for protection. The two settlements built a fort, "midway" between the two communities.
 * 1859. The first house was built by William Manning late in the year. Manning and George Noakes were the only residents until 1863.  Heber City was first settled in 1859 by Robert Broadhead, James Davis and James Gurr. John W. Witt built the first house in the area. The area was under the direction of Bishop Silas Smith who was in Provo.
 * 1860.  Joseph S. Murdockbecame the bishop over the Latter-day Saints in Heber City and vicinity.
 * 1860's/1870's.  A large number of Swiss immigrants arrived, including the Gertsch,Boss, Huber, Kohler, Probst, Zenger, Durtschi, Krebs, Murri, and Abegglen families. Descendants of some of these families still live in Midway. The finding of silver, gold and lead sparked the first silver mines in Park City.
 * 1861. John H. Van Wagoner constructed the first commercial gristmill. Bonner Mercantile Store was the first retail store.
 * 1862. Wallsburg was established.
 * 1877. The Charlston Ward was formed in July, with Nymphus C. Murdock as bishop.
 * 1898. Once the site of the largest silver-mining camp in the country, Park City was virtually destroyed by fire.
 * 1900's. The basin at the top of the canyon in Park City was good for grazing, and a few families settled there. Early on, the area was deeded to Samuel Snyder, Heber C. Kimball and Jedediah Grant. The settlers named it "Parley's Park City", which was shortened to "Park City" in the early 1900s.
 * 1902. Tragedy struck when 34 miners were killed in an explosion in the Day West Mine in Park City.
 * 1947. Midway Swiss Daysbrings thousands of people to the town. The event was started through the efforts of Luke's Hot Pots Resort owners, Joseph B. and Pauline S. Erwin and was originally called Harvest Days.
 * 1950's. While silver was thriving in Utah, other mines across the world were depleted, drawing many of these miners to Park City. The town flourished with crowds of miners and wealth. However, the city nearly became a ghost town by the end of the 1950s because of a drop in the price of silver, and the determent of World War I and the Great Depression.

Interesting Facts

Wasatch county was named for a Ute Indianword meaning mountain pass or low place in the high mountains.

Cemeteries
Wasatch county cemeteries at the Utah State Historial site

Census
The 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 U.S. federal population schedules of Wasatch County are available online. For tips on accessing census records online, see Utah Census. If you're having trouble finding your ancestors in national indexes, try checking local indexes. Created by experts familiar with the area's families, these indexes are often transcribed more accurately than nationwide indexes.

See Utah Population Schedule Indexes: Fiche, Film, or Book for more information about statewide printed indexes.


 * 1870
 * 1880
 * 1890
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930

Church Records
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Buysville
 * Center
 * Charleston
 * Daniel
 * Daniel's Creek
 * Elkhorn
 * Heber
 * Heber 1
 * Heber 2
 * Heber 3
 * Heber 4
 * Heber E.
 * Heber W.
 * Midway
 * Midway 1
 * Midway 2
 * Wallsburg

Early church records, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for Wasatch County Wards and Branches can be found on film and are located at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The film numbers, for each ward, can be locate through the Family History Library Catalog at https://www.familysearch.org/. Or by refering to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films.

Newspapers
One major resouce for newspapers throughout Utah is the University of Utah's Utah Digital Newspapers project "with more than 600,000 pages of digitized Utah historical newspapers." One newspaper from Wasatch County is included in this digital project, the Wasatch Wave. Read more... about using Utah newspapers for your family history research.

Vital Records
Western States Marriage Index

Utah Death Certificates 1904 - 1956 -A free internet access to the 1904-1956 death certificates can be viewed on the https://www.familysearch.org/. 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.

Utah State Burial Index for death before 1904

Courthouses
www.co.wasatch.ut.us/ Wasatch County Courthouse 25 North Main Heber City, Utah 84032 Clerk/Auditor phone (435) 657-3190

Towns and communities

 * Cities: Heber City | Midway


 * Unincorporated Communities: Bryants Fork | Buysville | Center Creek | Charleston | Cranmer | Daniel | Hailstone | Jordanelle | Keetley | Mound City | Mountain Spa | Parkview | Soapstone | Soldier Summit | Three Forks | Timber Lakes | Wallsburg

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Wasatch County, Utah Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Wasatch County, Utah
 * Wasatch County, Utah