Richmond getting updated town history book in September

By Jena Stout

April 27, 2007 | RICHMOND -- Stories of the "good ol' days" come to life in the new history book being published in early September on the history of Richmond.

City Council member and chairman over the project Terrie Wierenga said she is excited about the completion of the book and getting feedback from the community.

The idea for the project came about during the construction of the Veterans' Memorial in Richmond. The feedback from many residents was that they wished this event would have been included in The History of Richmond, Utah completed in 1976 by Amos Bair. More and more feedback continued from citizens in the community wanting a more detailed account of how Richmond was settled and the growth since that time.

"People kept mentioning to me that they wished different scenarios were recorded, and people in town could give their accounts of what happened," Wierenga said.

Wierenga then decided it was time to get approval to spearhead a project to redo the book. "The first step was to get funding and some warm bodies to work with me and begin interviews and transcribing," Wierenga said.

The Historical Preservation Association of Utah provided Wierenga with a $2,000 grant as well as permission to use its supplies, such as recorders and microphones. The rest of the money would be on loan from the City Council. From there, Wierenga and her committee, Barbara Stewart, Elaine Ward and Dan Miller, began the process of piecing information together.

Wierenga recalled, "I had such a blast listening to people about their childhoods in Richmond and just about life during hard times such as the Great Depression. It was very inspiring." The committee's goal was to have a blend of straight facts mixed with stories, pictures and illustrations. There will be chapters on the various milestones for the city, starting with the early Native Americans coming in after the breakthrough of Lake Bonneville, continuing on to the early mountain men and trappers that came through the small town, and then explaining the actual settling of Richmond in 1859 when led by LDS Church President Brigham Young.

"One of the hardest parts was transcribing all the interviews -- that was time consuming -- and compiling information from all the research," Ward said. "It was worth the time though because many of the people interviewed have passed on since then, and we would have never had those stories."

Altogether the book will include 24 oral interviews and many more small family stories. Marlin Stum was asked to come on board as the author.

"Marlin has done a great job at taking all our transcribed interviews and research and turning it into a story," Wierenga commented.

Wierenga continued to say one of her favorite parts of the whole experience was the little side stories when people would say, "Now I'll tell you this, but you have to turn that recorder off." She said Richmond was known as more of a meeting ground for travelers and merchants looking to trade supplies or just stop off for a drink.

"Way back when there used to be saloons and bars and such," she said, "there was an opera house and even a street they referred to as ‘Whiskey Lane.' Of course I got that off the record." There will be a chapter in the book devoted to the earthquake in 1962, which will include interviews from people who could account for every detail of that day. There will also include a chapter on Black and White Days, which will discuss its history and an interesting story about the one year it was shut down due the "Foot and Mouth Disease" caught by the cattle in 1915.

The final chapter of the book will bring it up to date with current issues in Richmond such as the rapid growth, increasing impact fees and what's expected for the future.

"Basically it just explains how much it's changed. It's not the same little town -- you don't really know all your neighbors' names anymore," she concluded.

The final draft will be brought to the council at the end of May and be read over by the council before being published. It will be available for purchase around Sept. 1 and cost $20.

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