Cedar City Timeline
as used for Historic Designation Process
1776 Donimguez-Escalante exploring visit
1851 Iron Mission Begins
1852 Cedar City Chartered
1853 Walker Indian War – evacuation of site – fort built
1855 Current Cedar City site settled
1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre
1858 Iron works closed
1890 Cedar City Population 1,053
1897 Branch Agricultural College (BAC) founded
1904 Telephone poles up Main Street; city water system begun
1905 Gem Theater opened on Main Street
1907 First automobile in Cedar City and electric streetlights
1910 The wealth of the area was in sheep and sheep ranching
1918 volunteers surfaced Main Street with Gravel
1920 Cedar City Population 2,557
1923 Union Pacific Railroad came to Cedar City Pres. Harding attended. The iron County Hospital opened as well.
1926 Community Presbyterian Church dedicated
1931 Tudor-style “Rock Church” was built
1935 PWA funded city sewer system, sidewalks and work on the roads
1940 Cedar City population – 4,695.
1950’s Iron County is 2nd wealthiest and fastest growing county in Utah
1962 1st Utah Shakespearean Festival began; Leigh Block on Main St. burned
1968 Southern Utah State College became a 4-year college of Liberal Arts & Sciences
1970 Interstate Highway I-15 constructed on the west side of Cedar City
1977 Adams Theatre for Shakespeare (SUSC) dedicated
1989 Randall Jones Theatre (SUSC) dedicated
1991 Southern Utah State College (SUSC) became Southern Utah University (SUU)
2001 Cedar City Civic Center built
