FEATURE – With modern buildings all around, it is refreshing to see preserved, historic buildings on the landscapes. It’s also refreshing to see how pioneers a century ago worked to tame the land and make a living.

With that in mind, one St. George family decided to donate land for a historic park as a tribute to and a preservation of the legacy of their patriarch, Hela Seegmiller, a farmer and rancher in the area at the turn of the 20th century. 

Hela Seegmiller’s life

Hela Seegmiller was born in St. Joseph, Nevada (which was part of the Muddy Mission) on Jan. 7, 1871, and eventually moved to St. George, where he raised his family. Charles William Seegmiller, Helaman’s father, was instrumental in getting a dam built to help irrigate the Washington Fields in 1890.

Hela Seegmiller bought his farm in the Washington Fields area in 1903. He married Mary Ann Platt on June 26, 1912 in the St. George Temple.

Hela’s son Barney, born in 1915, wrote a tribute to his father in 1993, painting the picture of him as a dedicated, working man who lived a simple life.

“Feasts and celebrations were welcome to him, but few and far between,” Barney Seegmiller wrote. “Entertainments were practically non-existent. His evening joys were but a few quarter hours of relaxation before he fell asleep in the wooden rocking chair before the kitchen stove, plus the satisfaction of knowing that he had provided a warm and sturdy home for his family. His dreams were of tomorrow’s toil and how he would meet the challenge. His computer was a stub of indelible pencil he always moistened on his tongue when he put down a note or a figure. His vacations were the grueling cattle drives to the railroad at Modena.”

According to Barney Seegmiller’s account, his father was a simple, hard-working man who was not worried about having the most up-to-date equipment. Barney told the story, while in high school, of seeing his father wearing spurs Barney had discarded when he was a child and being perplexed at why his father was now wearing them. When he asked his father his reasoning, Hela Seegmiller said they were still good spurs, “and then proceeded to extoll me the virtues of my castaways,” Barney wrote.

Hela was a consummate horseman, raising and riding them his entire life.

One interesting tidbit from Hela’s life is a contract he had with the French government during World War I to sell them 300 head of horses and mules, livestock he transported to the railhead in Modena for eventual delivery, according the Seegmiller Historic Timeline video on YouTube. 

He continued selling mules and horses to markets in Kansas and Nebraska after the war, from 1921-1922. In 1922, he sold his cattle to his brother Charles. The market dropped for horses and he left the horses he still had on the Arizona Strip for anyone who wanted them. As his health began to fail, he turned his attention to his farm, the video explains.

Barney Seegmiller wrote that his father’s reasoning in the horse business was: “you sold one when you got the chance and replaced him with another off the range which might become as good or better than the one you sold.”

The Seegmiller family farm was a well diversified operation.

The family had dairy cows that Barney and his brother Donald were in charge of milking. The two boys earned their cash from separating the cream and selling it to an operation in Beaver that made it into cheese,  Kaye Seegmiller Judd wrote in her book, “The History of Hela Seegmiller.”

The Seegmillers cultivated about three acres of grapes just north of their house on the farm, Judd noted.

“They planted every kind of grape that was known to the area,” Judd wrote. “Seedless grapes grew on the east side from which they made raisins, but they also grew wine grapes.”

Hela loaded his buggy with grapes and would take them into town to sell. He even grew alfalfa between the rows of grapes to make the most of the land. The family also grew apricots, apples and grapes.

The family even tried their hand at raising turkeys, a popular cash product at the time, but their venture only lasted a year as Hela was not fond of them, Judd wrote.

They lived in St. George and stayed in a little house on the property when they were working on the farm.

Like most families in Southern Utah, the Great Depression was a bleak time for the Seegmillers. When banks failed, the family lost its savings and peddled produce and trapped muskrats to get cash, which was hard to come by in those days. Mary Ann operated a bed and breakfast for tourists to bring in some cash and Barney and his brother Donald worked their way through school by hauling wood from Arizona to pay for their school tuition. Hela hired out to take cattle to Modena and Cedar City.

In a way, it is fitting that Hela met his demise on one of the animals that he loved. He died after being hit by a car while riding his horse on the former “Red River Bridge” on Nov. 29, 1939 at the age of 68.

Barney was integral in running the farm after his father’s death. He was serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when his father died, then returned home briefly before fighting in World War II, then came back again and moved into his father’s old house in St. George, while ranching on the Arizona Strip and continuing to operate a little more than 150 acres of farmland in Washington Fields.

In addition to farming, Barney was also employed as the Washington County assessor, a realtor, and was part owner of the Dixie Livestock Auction, his obituary notes. He was a member of the St. George City Council, Washington County Sherriff’s Posse, and the Lions Club.

The Park’s Impetus and Construction

In 1999, Barney Seegmiller had a vision. He donated 33 acres to the city to preserve it as a historical park for the benefit of current and future generations. He wanted to name the park after his father, who he felt was a ‘true Dixie pioneer,’ Barney Seegmiller’s daughter Corri Seegmiller Theobald said.

“Dad and I worked with the city to draft plans for the two ‘farmstead’ buildings that matched the buildings from my father’s memory,” Theobald said. “The family spent time during subsequent years planting the trees at family reunions and urging the city onward with their plans.” 

Former St. George Leisure Services Director Kent Perkins said the placement of the buildings matched Barney Seegmiller’s recollection of how his parents’ farmstead was laid out, including two homes, a granary, an outhouse, as well as a stream and settling pond that then flowed into a cistern. Perkins said that in addition to water storage, the Seegmillers used the cistern to refrigerate their food. The city also planted an orchard on site similar to what Barney Seegmiller described in his memories of the place. 

In a way, the park is a monument to Washington County’s agricultural past.

“This park will give people a feel for the hard struggle of the pioneer days, when people had to scratch out a living,” Perkins said, as quoted in a July 2014 St. George News article.

Most of the buildings on the property are recreations based on other historical buildings in the area, the two most prominent being the stone house and barn, which is what visitors see when they first enter the park. The rock house was moved stone by stone from another property once belonging to the Sullivan family and was fashioned to look like it would have in its heyday, Perkins said.

“It was in bad shape when we got it,” Perkins said of the stone home, which now looks like it would have when it was first built. 

The St. George parks staff built all of the outbuildings. The Jennings and Gardner families donated historic farm equipment, the display of which was not part of the original plan for the property, Perkins said. One of the tractors has been restored and is operable.

The city outfitted the homes so it looks like someone lives there. The homes are open for tours during special events, Perkins said. The original plans were for the ponds on the site to be fishing ponds, but now just the birds enjoy them, Perkins said. 

As the city wanted to make it a working farm, the produce grown in the garden on site and the eggs produced from the chickens are all donated to Switchpoint, Perkins said. Community members can also rent space to grow their own gardens, everything from lettuce, cabbages, tomatoes, eggplant and more.

One of the city’s main purposes for the park is passing cultural and historic knowledge to youth. The park also enables programs for educational and church groups. It also hosts interpretive reenactments on special occasions.

The park is the culmination of numerous donations of items, time and labor by the community. Much of the funding for building construction came from the city’s capital budget, Perkins said, and the city did not receive any grant money for the site.

Perkins admitted that the project took a lot longer than he thought it would. Barney Seegmiller became concerned that he would not see the park open before he passed away, Perkins said. The city promised that something would be done about that and thankfully Seegmiller was able to attend the dedication of the back home before he died.

“It’s a chance to preserve more than just a piece of property and tell the story of an important man who thought he was just an average guy,” Perkins said. “But a lot of average guys did great things. Our city was built on the shoulders of such men.”

Visiting the Park

On November 18, 2016, St. George City formally dedicated the park.

“The buildings were ‘staged’ for the grand opening, using mostly items from the era (1910-1920) found at antique shops,” Theobald said. “I was honored to create some of the items on display, including the period dress and the rustic bed quilt. My son’s Eagle project was to build the rope beds on display.”

The large event barn was an idea created by the City to enhance the usability of the farm. Perkins said they built the barn as a gathering place to host events such as weddings and birthday parties – a reason to attract people to come to the park. Many plans are ahead for this special historic site. 

“The Seegmiller family is proud of our heritage, and happy with the result of Dad’s vision to honor his father,” Theobald said.

 The Hela Seegmiller Historic Farm is the site of the annual Turkey Trot and Heritage Days, hosted by the City of St. George. The city manages all of the events and the animals at the farm park.

The park is located at the corner of 2450 South and 3000 East. The park is available for public use year-round, from dawn to dusk. 

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About the series “Days”

“Days” is a series of stories about people and places, industry and history in and surrounding the region of southwestern Utah.

“I write stories to help residents of southwestern Utah enjoy the region’s history as much as its scenery,” St. George News contributor Reuben Wadsworth said.

To keep up on Wadsworth’s adventures, “like” his author Facebook page, follow his Instagram account or subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Wadsworth has also released a book compilation of many of the historical features written about Washington County as well as a second volume containing stories about other places in Southern Utah, Northern Arizona and Southern Nevada.

Read more: See all of the features in the “Days” series

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