People Profiles: Development

Fletcher B. Hammond Headshot

Fletcher B. Hammond

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Fletcher B. Hammond

Born on March 31, 1855 at Lāhainā on the Sandwich Island of Maui to Bishop Francis A. Hammond and his wife Mary Jane Dilworth Hammond while they were serving a mission for the LDS Church. The Hammonds would return to the mainland in 1856, Fletcher would spend most of his formative years growing up around Ogden and Huntsville, Utah.

In 1885, his father Francis, would be called to become the Stake President for the San Juan Stake and Fletcher would take his family to join his father in Southeast Utah. He would become invested in the livestock industry and eventually establish a home and mercantile business in Moab, Utah in 1894.

He first established Hammond & Co at the old Huish store on North Main Street (present home of Trailhead Pub). He would later build and establish the New Hammond Store with several of his sons in 1909 on the lot now occupied by Moab Coffee Roasters and the United States Postal Office. He would serve a mission of the LDS Church from 1909-1914 as President of the Norwich Mission in England.

Fletcher B. Hammond, Sr. would also serve as Grand County’s Democratic Representative to the Utah State Legislature for eight years. He would suffer a serious leg injury after being caught in the machinery at the old Moab Electric Company Plant on Mill Creek in 1919, he would pass away days later after receiving treatment at the hospital in Salt Lake City, he was returned to Moab for burial.

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Helen M. Knight

Helen M. Knight

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Helen M. Knight

Her older brother said: “…you’ll be a woman in a man’s world, leaving the world of education, and entering the world of politics.” Appointed in 1936, Knight’s challenging tenure as Grand County Schools Superintendent lasted for 25 years. Born in Moab in 1896 to the Taylor family, Helen graduated from the University of Utah, and guided Moab’s students, parents, and schools through the explosive growth of the Uranium Boom. Her determination sustained her through the challenges of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, and inspired the building of new school facilities (including the elementary school that bears her name) to educate the ever-increasing number of workers’ children.

 

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J.A. “Al” Scorup

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J.A. “Al” Scorup

When cattle was king in southeastern Utah, John Albert “Al” Scorup was the “Cattleman of the Canyons.” At one time his Scorup-Somerville herd was estimated to vary between 7,000 and 10,000 head of cattle grazing on range estimated to cover 1.8 million acres. Scorup served as a San Juan County commissioner and president of Moab’s First National Bank, and represented Grand County on the district grazing board established by the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act.

 

© 2003 Utah Historical Society. All Rights Reserverd

Hear Heidi Redd share Al Scorup's journey to becoming the largest public land permittee in US Ranching history.

Hear Bob Baldwin share a memory of Scorup Cattle Company:All traffic stopped for Scorup's cowboys, who  drove the sizable herd north through town on Main Street.

Rancher Heidi Redd remembers Cattleman Al Scorup and the challenges of early life at Dugout Ranch.

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J.N. Corbin

Justus N. Corbin

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Justus N. Corbin

A New Yorker by birth, J.N. Corbin arrived in Moab in 1896 where he quickly created a legacy of “firsts.” He was one of the first practicing attorneys in the area, started the first newspaper (Grand Valley Times) and used it to extoll the region’s virtues while encouraging business innovation and growth. He is credited with recruiting the first doctor to Moab, building a road up the Colorado River to Castle Valley, creating a water and sanitation system, and bringing the first telephone line to Moab. Corbin managed the Midland Telephone Company until his death in 1923.

 

Lydia Taylor Skewes was there when JN Corbin "brought the first telephone across the river" connecting Moab to the modern world.

Joe Kingsley recalls JN Corbin's role in establishing telephone service, with barbed wire and a cooperative spirit, to Castle Valley

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