Places – Page 2 – Silver Reef Museum

Harrisburg

Cliff Bandringa / History, Mining, Places /

February 17, 2026

Harrisburg was a small pioneer settlement tucked into the foothills southeast of Silver Reef, where families built homes along the creek and tried to make a life in the shadow of the red cliffs. Though the town never grew large, its story is one of determination, faith, and survival in a rugged landscape. This article offers a welcoming introduction to the people who lived in Harrisburg, the challenges they faced, and the traces of their community that can still be found today.

The Beginnings

The story of Silver Reef begins with the neighboring towns of Harrisburg and Leeds. In 1859, after spending the winter near the town of Washington (next to St. George), the Harris party, which consisted of nine families, selected a site near the confluence of Quail Creek. This site is now covered by Quail Creek Reservoir. This site proved to be unsuccessful because the land was only marginal and was difficult to irrigate. A disastrous fire added to the discouragement and, in 1860, the families moved away.

However, a year later, the families returned. This time however, they selected another site to settle three miles up the creek. They later called it Harrisburg. Today, this is the general area where Quail Creek passes underneath Interstate 15.

The site they picked was more level, the warm climate was ideal, and was located along a well-traveled wagon road, which would later become US 91 and, later still, I-15. By 1862, friends and family of the original party joined them, and the population of Harrisburg grew to 41. By 1864, the population grew to 16 families or 128 people.

Harrisburg Ditch

1865 or 66 a diversion dam was built about a mile north of current day Silver Reef. It diverted water out of Leeds Creek and into a 5-mile-long irrigation canal ending in Harrisburg. The water greatly helped farming but the soil was still too rocky and there wasn’t much room for the farms to expand.

By 1867, the Harrisburg settlers that a place called Road Valley, just to the north, was more suitable for farming and was closer to the water source of the Harrisburg Ditch. Slowly, families began to relocate to Road Valley, which would later become named Bennington, then in 1869, the town was renamed to Leeds.

The Adams Home

Today, two houses remain from Harrisburg’s heyday of the early 1860s. One is the Jolly Home that’s seen near the entrance of the Harrisburg Estate Community along Old Hwy 91. The other is the Adams House that’s seen along the road leading up to the Red Cliffs Recreation Area.

The Adams House, built in 1863, played a significant role in the discovery of silver at Silver Reef. This is the house that attracted prospector John Kemple to spend the winter. He would go on to dig one of the first silver mines in the area near the Adams House.

See the separate article on John Kemple and his discovery of silver

Today, the Adams House is preserved by the BLM and the Red Cliffs Reserve. There are still fixtures in its interior.

The Jolly Home located along Old Hwy 91

The Adams House – Red Reef in background

Ruins of Harrisburg and a movie set from the 1950s

Map

Location of Harrisburg, along with other nearby sites, in relation to the town of Silver Reef. Click points on map to reveal locations of Harrisburg-related places.

Museum Exhibits

Cliff Bandringa / Buildings, History, Places /

February 17, 2026

Inside and around the Silver Reef Museum, there are many interesting artifacts and exhibits to discover. This article outlines the exhibits you can look forward to during your visit and shows where they are located throughout the different rooms of the museum, including the displays downstairs and outside. You’ll also find a virtual walking tour video of the museum included in this article.

The Silver Reef Museum – Wells Fargo & Company Express Office

Introduction

Our museum docents will introduce you to the Silver Reef Museum and give you a look around inside.

Virtual Walkthrough

Watch this video to see a detailed walkthrough of the entire museum, as well as the diorama room.

Entrance & Stagecoach Display

When you enter the museum, a docent will be at the front desk to welcome you. They can provide information about the tour options and assist you with the entrance fee.

The sculpture of the Wells Fargo stagecoach on the right is a replica of the stagecoaches that used to serve Silver Reef and were operated by Wells, Fargo & Company. Half of the building where the museum is now located was once a Wells, Fargo & Company Express office. Stagecoaches would stop right outside the door.

The sculpture was created by local Western sculptor Jerry Anderson. In the 1990s, Anderson had his art studio inside the museum building. As the museum expanded, he moved his studio across the street to his home, which is just a short walk from the museum.

Mining Exhibit

The next room houses the museum’s Silver in Sandstone Exhibit that focuses on mining. A docent will point out what’s on display and demonstrate the exhibits that move, such as the model of a stamp mill. There are also several samples of silver ore that came out of the hills nearby.

To the right is a replica of a bar similar to those that were probably built in 11 of the saloons around Silver Reef. Look on the bar for smaller exhibits and brochures.

What’s in the Exhibit

Hover or click on any of the pulsating dots to reveal what’s on display.

Ore samples taken from area mines – the left sample being the sandstone silver was found in

Artifact Room

Passing through the door on the right past the stagecoach will lead you into the Artifact Room. Here you’ll find artifacts mainly from the town itself, not related to mining. The exhibits seen in this room will give you a glimpse of what life was like during Silver Reef’s boom years.

Artifacts include various items found around the townsite, such as bottles, plates, pieces of clothing, and tin cans. You’ll also find the old built-in safe that was part of the Wells Fargo Express Office, along with smaller safes that were used on stagecoaches. Additionally, there are examples of guns and weapons that were common during the Old West era.

Displays in the Artifact Room

The Artifact Room

Pull-out drawers in the Artifact Room reveal smaller artifacts

Display case with recovered bottles

Geology Room

Next, we’ll go through a smaller room that features the geology exhibit. Here, you can see a geologic map of the Silver Reef area, some examples of dinosaur fossils discovered nearby, and a map showing all the mining claims from the 1880s in the area.

Clothing Display

Just beyond the geology room, you’ll find a small room with display cases showcasing some of the clothes people wore during the time of Silver Reef. Close by, there’s a listening station where you can hear stories from some of the town’s former residents.

Gift Shop & Bookstore

Finally, there’s the museum’s gift shop and bookstore. It’s located at the back of the museum, behind the mining exhibit.

In the display cases, a variety of gifts will be found, including silver coins, jewelry, art, games and other miscellaneous items.

Here, you’ll find books covering geology, mining and the history of both Silver Reef and the surrounding Washington County area. There’s also a selection of children’s books covering topics on ghost towns, the Old West, and dinosaurs.

Gift shop counter

Items in the gift shop

A collection of books are available in the gift shop

Underground Mine Exhibit

Below, in the museum’s basement, is an underground mine exhibit offering an immersive glimpse into what it was like to work digging for silver. Check with the docent to learn when this special exhibit is available for touring. All tours of this exhibit require a docent.

Underground mining exhibit

Displays on modern-day mining in the exhibit

Diorama

Located behind and on the side of the museum in a separate small building is a diorama of what the old town of Silver Reef used to look like. Called the Cassidy Powder House, it is a reconstruction of a building used for storing explosives. Today though, it’s used for housing the diorama, plus models of the area’s silver mills. You’ll also find a large map of the mining claims around Silver Reef.

Dioramas are located in the Cassidy Powder House next to the museum

Diorama of main street in Silver Reef

Model of the Stormont Mill

Model of the Barbee & Walker Mine & Mill

Outside Exhibits

Next to the museum and the Cassidy Powder House is a collection of outdoor exhibits. These consist of mining equipment such as ore cars, wagons, compressors, various gears and wheels, basically all kinds of components that made up a mining or milling operation.

Directly across the street from the mining equipment is a wishing well. This serves as a kiosk that explains the surrounding area. There’s also a series of viewing pipes that point out specific places, such as Tecumseh Hill.

Outdoor exhibits next to the museum building

Outdoor exhibits

Mine ore cars

Viewpoint and kiosk across street from museum

Walking Tour

Another outdoor exhibit you shouldn’t miss is the walking tour through the old town of Silver Reef. See the Walking Tour article to learn more.

Cemeteries

Cliff Bandringa / History, People, Places /

February 13, 2026

Between Silver Reef, Leeds and Harrisburg, there were a total of five cemeteries, four of which that can still be visited today. Mostly Mormons were buried in the Leeds cemetery located on the southwest side of town. Most people associated with the Silver Reef boom years were buried in either the Catholic or Protestant cemetery. There was also a Chinese cemetery.

About the Cemeteries

During those years, members of the Catholic church outnumbered the others, including members of the more prominent Mormon church, mainly because of the large number of Irish people working in the mines and mills. A fair number of people were splintered between the various Protestant denominations such as Presbyterian. The cemetery in Harrisburg consisted mostly of people from the Mormon Church.

The Chinese established their own cemetery. Archeological evidence suggests its location was adjacent to and on the east side of the Catholic cemetery. After Silver Reef declined, all the bodies were exhumed and sent to China, as it is their belief that their deceased should rest in their homeland.

According to records, the Catholic cemetery has 3 graves with tombstones and 15 graves with “unknown markers, whereas the Protestant cemetery has 11 graves with tombstones and 32 graves with “unknown” markers.

The Catholic and Protestant cemeteries were restored by the Leeds Lion’s Club in 1998. Much of the white picket fences and walls you see today were constructed then.