Wardboro/South Montpelier
Before the town of Wardboro was settled, Nathaniel and Moroni Green pastured stock in Banks Valley. The people who lived in Banks Valley often joined the people in Wardboro for socials, school and church activities. The homes south of Montpelier on Bench Road (old Highway 30) were referred to as South Montpelier. Just southwest of the gravel pit was considered to be Wardboro.
Wardboro was started in 1865. Thomas Preston was the first settler. Other early settlers were Hyrum Smith, Charles Stephens, Dave and Edgar Osborne, William Heep, and Oscar and Harrison Dalyrmple. The Dimick, Langford, and Stewart families arrived next. Thomas Preston was the first to plow, sow, irrigate, etc. He was also the first presiding elder of the area and whom the community was named after.
The first death was the young daughter of William Heep. She died during a severe blizzard in 1865-66. She became lost on the way from the family cabin to the outhouse and froze to death. In 1885, when the town became large enough, they applied for a post office, but the name was rejected because there was already a post office named Preston in Franklin County. In a town meeting, Oscar Dalrymple proposed the name of Wardboro after a town in New Jersey. The community accepted that name. The first postmaster was Milton Ward, who many mistakenly think the name Wardboro came from.
The Preston Branch of the LDS Church was organized in 1868, it then became the Preston Ward in 1877 with Henry Harrison Dalyrmple as bishop. By 1889, the population declined, and the people from Preston went to church in Dingle. In 1891, membership once again grew, so the ward was reactivated as the Warboro Ward, with Charles J. G. Keetch as bishop. First, they met in a one-room log cabin located on the Golden Keetch property. It became so crowded that the meetings were held in rotation until 1909. In November 1910, a new brick chapel was opened with a celebration of speeches, music, and dancing. It was built for $4,500. It sat near where Highway 30 meets the Dingle road on the same side as the Peace Dale Dairy. It was later torn down when the North End School or South Montpelier School, located at the gravel pit, was purchased and remodeled for a church. The first meeting in this building was held on December 3, 1950, and its last meeting was held on February 26, 1956. John A. Berry served as bishop of the Wardboro Ward for 42 years. The Wardboro membership is now split between the Montpelier First Ward and the Dingle Ward.
School was held in the same log cabin that housed the first church, then a brick building was built. It was being used in 1916 in District No. 9. When students became too few, Wardboro combined with the South Montpelier School. In 1930 the yellow brick Wardboro School had 13 pupils with Gladys Berrey as the teacher of the lower four grades and Al Berrey as the teacher of the upper four grades.
The first marriage was performed on February 4, 1900 between Adam Wilcox and Eunice Dalyrmple. About 1917 the raising of sugar beets was encouraged by the Utah-Idaho Sugar Co. It was a popular crop for about 10 years. The beets were shipped out on the railroad spur line to Preston for processing. Gradually the uncertain fall weather and short growing season forced ranchers to go back to other crops and sugar beet growth was discontinued.
Today the town of Wardboro has a pastoral setting with a number of farms. The residents attend school and church in Montpelier.
References:
- Treasured Tidbits of Time Vol. 1 by J. Patrick Wilde
- Interviews and knowledge of Olean Parker lifetime resident of Wardboro.