Babylon
Babylon was a community southeast of Silver Reef that sprouted up and supported the large and successful Stormont Mill that was built in 1878. Residents of Babylon were mostly the Stormont’s millworkers and their families. Today, faint relics of the small ghost town can be found, including the mill’s foundations and one or two of its walls, along with a few cabins.
Babylon (Town)
The residents of Babylon were clearly not Mormon. They wanted a town named in stark contrast to St. George, Pintura, Kolob, and other placenames having significance in the Mormon Church. The residents clearly wanted their differences, both in people and religion, to be known to all. In biblical prophecy, “Babylon” symbolizes a global system of false religion, spiritual rebellion, and worldly corruption that opposes God.
The Babylon townsite was laid out by Washington County surveyor John Macfarlane 1877. Below is a copy of the town’s tract map, along with Macfarlane’s handwritten notes. Like other towns of Utah, notice it too had a Main Street and other streets with common names.
Stormont Mill
The existence of Babylon was because of the Stormont Mill. Don’t miss the separate article on the Mills of Silver Reef – Stormont Mill.
Although there were only a few mines located near the mill, most of the ore to be milled came from mines around Silver Reef. Those few nearby mines produced small amounts of ore for the Stormont to mill. Regular shipments of ore from the Silver Reef mines were taken by wagon to the Stormont Mill. This caused a lot of routine traffic between Silver Reef and Babylon.
The residents of Babylon were mostly workers at the mill. Maybe a few worked at those few small, nearby mines. Miners mainly lived in Silver Reef near the larger mines on the White and Buckeye Reefs.
The Stormont Mill continued to operate until about 1891. After that, the residents of Babylon began to move away. Most were gone in 5-10 years.
The “Babylon House”
John Vought was an official in the U.S. State Department. He met and married Geraldine Ruth George who was the first female diplomat from southern Utah. They had three children, all sons.
John & Geraldine Vought had planned to return to southern Utah and build a retirement home in the Leeds area where Geraldine had grown up. Unfortunately, Geraldine died before they were able to do so. However, John proceeded with the plan.
Vought bought the old Stormont Mill property in 1988 and engaged St. George architect, Mary Ann Kozlowski. John put $250,000 into the building of what he called the “Babylon House”. However, after the home caught fire and burned down to the foundations, he abandoned the project.
The building of the Babylon House and subsequent fire erased most traces of the Stormont Mill. Some of the walls of the mill’s office, built from stone, were still standing and partially used to build the Babylon House. By 2020, one wall from the original office was still standing, but it fell down from a windstorm in 2026. The graffiti-riddled walls from the Babylon House’s construction of the 1980s still stand.
Aerial Views
Below is a series of aerial pictures taken above the Babylon House showing the surrounding former townsite of Babylon and the rugged landscape it sat in.
Visiting Babylon Today
A visit to Babylon is a scenic adventure. From Silver Reef, return towards and pass underneath I-15, then turn left onto Main Street at the stop sign. In just over half a mile, turn right onto Babylon Road, also marked as 900 North. The town of Babylon is located at the end of this road, a distance of 4.5 miles from Main Street.
WARNING!
As of 2016, there is a lot of construction occurring on the first mile of Babylon Road. Continue roughly south through the construction on whatever route is currently there. In about 1.5 miles, you’ll cross into the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.
At 2 miles, a large parking area will be seen on the left. Here, one can see a preserved silver mine adit. From the parking area, hike the trail to the mine’s closed-off entrance. Inside, one can see how the mine was shored up with timber. This is the Toquerville Mine, also known as the Vandergilt #5 Mines. Only a small amount of ore was produced from this mine during the boom years. In the 1950s, it was also prospected for uranium.
At 3.7 miles, the road begins to descend fairly steeply to where the townsite existed. One will be rewarded by the colorful and rugged landscape and geology concentrated in this area. The road ends at the Virgin River.
Map
The following map points out places mentioned in the article above.