Crossroads
Crossroads: Change in Rural America is a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition that provokes fresh thinking and sparks conversations about the future and sustainability of rural communities. The exhibit will be hosted at the Silver Reef Museum | Ghost Town in Leeds, UT from March 9 to April 28, 2024. For more information about the exhibit hours and additional details, please visit the museum’s website at www.SilverReef.org . The Smithsonian MoMs traveling exhibit is brought to the Silver Reef Museum by Utah Humanities.
In addition, the Arts to Zion | Southern Utah and Washington County Historical Society organizations have created “Crossroads: Change in Washington County!” This project includes lectures, museum collaborative exhibits, and events throughout Washington County, UT. You can find more information about these events on www.ArtstoZion.org.
There, you will also find a Google Map for all of the collaborative events and exhibits, so that you can easily find them by placing the directions on your phone.”
NOTE: TO VIEW JUST THE CROSSROADS-RELATED ITEMS ON THE MAP, PLEASE CLICK THE ICON LEGEND IN THE UPPER LEFT-HAND CORNER OF THE MAP AND TOGGLE OFF THE OTHER LAYERS
Silver Reef Museum | Ghost Town is Host to the Crossroads : Change in Rural America traveling exhibit
Silver Reef Museum | Ghost Town is Host to the Crossroads :Change in Rural America traveling exhibit.
Start Here to begin your tour of Crossroads: Change in Washington County, composed of the various activities throughout Washington County listed on this map.
Dates: Monday – Saturday 11 AM – 3PM, start at Silver Reef Museum
Hours: Silver Reef Museum is open Mar 9-Apr. 28th, 2024: Monday 10 AM – 3PM through Sat. 10am-3pm last tour starts at 2:15pm, Closed on Sunday.
Address: 1903 Wells Fargo Rd, Leeds, UT 84746
Movies made in Washington County-Then and Now
Description: Audio/visual exhibit featuring playbills and video clips that highlight the change in how movies are made in Washington County.Museum/Location: Arts to Zion Showcase
Dates: Feb.1-April 28, 2024
Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM, CLOSED Sunday – Tuesday\
Address: 35 N Main Street St George, UT 84770
Crossroads: Change at the Dinosaur Discovery Site
Description: “Our companion exhibit will focus on the history of our site from the first peoples in North America to the creation of the museum. The exhibition will feature a timeline of these events as well as more in depth snapshots of major changes. The exhibition will touch on the formation of the site in the Early Jurassic when the dinosaurs were walking across sandy beaches. We will then fast forward some 200-million-years to when people first appear on the land. Next we will discuss the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers in the 1840s, and the eventual discovery of the fossils by Dr. Sheldon Johnson in early 2000. The final chapter of the exhibition will feature the creation of the museum and the work we have done since it opened in 2005.“Our companion exhibit will focus on the history of our site from the first peoples in North America to the creation of the museum. The exhibition will feature a timeline of these events as well as more in depth snapshots of major changes. The exhibition will touch on the formation of the site in the Early Jurassic when the dinosaurs were walking across sandy beaches. We will then fast forward some 200-million-years to when people first appear on the land. Next we will discuss the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers in the 1840s, and the eventual discovery of the fossils by Dr. Sheldon Johnson in early 2000. The final chapter of the exhibition will feature the creation of the museum and the work we have done since it opened in 2005.
Museum/Location: Dinosaur Discovery Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: 10AM – 5PM
Address: 2180 E Riverside Dr, St. George, UT 84790
Quilting - Cultural Changes in Rural America
Description: Quilts went from a necessity for practical uses to a way to make money and on to a way to express creative talents. We will display basic early quilts and reflect what the purpose was to the Friendship Quilt for making money by displaying beautiful artwork. Quilting Bee – as a survival mechanism for early settlements, teaching younger generations necessary skills for their future.Museum/Location: DUP Pioneer Corner Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10 AM – 5 PM, CLOSED Sunday
Our future is remembering our past
Description: Santa Clara, is a historical village that was founded by early Missionaries, and hardy Swiss emigrants. Now the village of Santa Clara is at a crossroads. The few remaining buildings built by the Swiss are now over 100 years old. Some are in danger of loss to progressive development.Our museum display will show how city government and private entities can successfully save historic buildings through firm commitments to preserve history for future generations.
Museum/Location: Samuel R. Knight Santa Clara Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: Monday – Thursday 2 PM – 5 PM, CLOSED Friday – Sunday
Address:2603 Santa Clara Dr, Santa Clara, UT 84765
Overview of Change in Washington County, UT
Description:Museum/Location: Silver Reef Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10 AM – 3PM, CLOSED Sunday March 9-Apr. 28, 2024
Address:1903 Wells Fargo Rd Leeds, UT 84746
Photography of Washington County over the years
Description: Photography of Lynn Clarke, Dorthea Lange, Ansell Adams to Dave Becker and more contemporary photographers document the changes over the years in Washington County.Museum/Location: St George Art Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11AM – 6 PM, CLOSED Sunday – Monday
Address :47 E 200 N. St George, UT 84770
The Cotton Mission-Washington City
Description: “Washington City was named America’s #1 Small City for new business in 2023.At a Crossroads, Washington started as a small cotton farming community in 1857 to
experiencing explosive growth today. Brigham Young called 38 Mormon families from
southern states with experience growing cotton to be sent to Southern Utah in 1857 for the
“Cotton Mission”. They called the area“Dixie”.
Washington City Schoolhouse and Museum: There is historic cotton factory photos and
exhibit relating to the early years of raising cotton. Located in front of the Washington City
Museum, the Monument plaza features head plaques and statues honoring the city fathers,
the Veteran’s Memorial is also located in the park.
Other Washington historical buildings nearby:
The Robert Covington House, built in 1858, is one of the oldest surviving structures in
southern Utah.
The Cotton Factory: Construction started in1866 and it was for a time the largest factory west
of the Mississippi. It closed in 1904. It was renovated in the 1980s and is the current home of Star Nursery.
Washington Relief Society: Built Greek Revival Architectural Style in 1875, with a west wing
added in 1904, it is the oldest standing Relief Society Hall in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and still in use today.”
Museum/Location: Washington City Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10AM – 2 PM, Closed Sunday
Washington County Aviation through the Years
Description: Western Sky Aviation Warbird Museum is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to the preserving, restoring, and displaying of aircraft for the educational benefit of current and future generations. The museum is committed to the education of warbird history and heritage to ensure that the sacrifices and contributions of those that flew these historic aircraft will not be forgotten.Jack Hunter founded the museum in 2006 to educate the public about the history of military aviation. The museum started with one aircraft and a small hangar. Currently the museum has 10 to 12 aircraft on display at any given time in a 2500 sq. ft. hangar and an 8000 sq. ft. hangar.
The museum hosts a spring and fall event every year along with guided tours of the museum conducted by knowledgeable volunteers Wednesdays through Saturdays. The museum also provides tours for school field trips and rents out the facility for private events. The museum has approximately 20,000 visitors a year including our attendance at museum events. There are no other organizations in Southern Utah that highlight military aviation. The museum visitors can get up close to aircraft and learn the history of those who sacrificed so much to preserve our freedom.
Museum/Location: Western Sky Warbird Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 10AM – 4PM, CLOSED Sunday – Tuesday
Address: 4196 S Airport Pkwy, St. George, UT 84790
Hurricane Canal-It's all about Water
Description:This museum will cover all things water-related in Washington County over the years.Museum/Location: Hurricane Heritage Park Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: Monday – Saturday 9 AM – 5 PM, CLOSED Sunday
Address: 35 West State St, Hurricane, UT 84737
Working together is the key to managing Change
Description: The entwined history of the communities of Silver Reef and Leeds provides examples of the benefits of working together to overcome challenges and manage change. We will list many ways in which the two towns were different and then show how these differences often were complementary and brought benefits to everyone. Our exhibit will be in the newly-renovated Rice Bank Building and we will make the point that the building itself illustrates our theme: It was initially constructed to be a commercial building in the mining town, but later over many years housed several local families.Museum/Location: Silver Reef Museum
Dates: Mar 9-April 28, 2024
Hours: Monday 10 AM – 3PM through Sat. 10am-3pm last tour starts at 2:15pm, CLOSED Sunday.
Address: 1903 Wells Fargo Rd, Leeds, UT 84746
Ongoing Lectures
From Isolation to Inundation: How Tourist Travel Changed Southern Utah
Description: Lisa will focus on three changes to rural Utah during the 20th century which required dramatic adaptation:- The building of the Arrowhead Highway, later I-15 from LA to SLC
- The growth of tourism, especially regarding Utah’s 5 national parks, and
- The reinvention of the rural economies, away from agriculture and toward tourism and services.
Museum /Location: Utah Tech University@Boeing Auditorium
Dates: Thurs. Feb 29, 2024
Hours: 7 PM
Address: 225 S 700 E, St. George, UT 84770
Survival in a Harsh Environment: Adaptation and Resilience of Prehistoric People in Southwestern Utah
Description: Archaeologist Diana Hawks will illustrate how prehistoric people adapted and thrived in the deserts, mountains and rugged canyonlands of southwestern Utah. Paleoindians, Ancestral Puebloans, Pauites, and others survived for thousands of years and their living descendants are still here.What can we learn from them?
Museum /Location: Utah Tech University @ Boeing Auditorium
Dates: Thurs. March 7, 2024
Hours: 7 PM
Address: 225 S 700 E, St. George, UT 84770
Community progress through Time
Description: The panel will include 4-6 people that were born and raised in Santa Clara and are still reading in the county today. Panel members will be asked to respond to questions about the changes that have happened in Santa Clara since their childhoods.We will be engaging the community in this discussion.
Susannah Nilsson will be moderator.
Museum /Location: Santa Clara Town Hall
Dates: Thurs. March 28, 2024
Hours: 7 PM
Address: 2603 Santa Clara Dr., Santa Clara, UT 84765
