Spotlight: Rocky Ridge

by MAGEN OLSEN

Rocky Ridge, an incorporated city in Utah, has a short history. It has only appeared in two national censuses, is just shy of two square miles, and hasn’t had a post office since 1879. Though it’s visible from the I-15, as it snakes its way through Juab County, there isn’t an exit, on-ramp, or sign to mark its place on the landscape. Nevertheless, this growing community deserves a second glance.

Originally, Rocky Ridge was known as “York” and was the end of the line for the Utah Southern Railroad in the late 1870s. Passengers and freight would travel further south by wagon, while people and product travelling north would board in York. Naturally, a community began to form to accommodate operations and trade, but the venture was short lived. York fell into rapid decline after the railroad was extended further south. According to the community’s website, very little remains of that original settlement.

Today, Rocky Ridge is a tight knit community made up of members of the Apostolic United Brethern (AUB), a fundamentalist Mormon church distinct from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints headquartered in Salt Lake City. The property of the town was purchased nearly a hundred years after York’s abandonment by the family of Marvin Allred, a prominent former member of the AUB. The property was named Rocky Ridge and, in 1996, was incorporated as the tenth city in Juab County.

The community of Rocky Ridge is primarily supported by the residential construction industry. It is home of Quality Craft Woodworking Inc., a cabinet manufacturer that employs many Rocky Ridge residents. Community events include Rocky Ridge Days, which is a festival held in June to celebrate the town’s culture and its resurrection from a ghost town to a bustling central Utah haven.