OCR Text |
Show 6 - THE CITIZEN -- 1 THURSDAY, SEPT. 27, 1973 Profiles Of The Past Sugar Brought 1920V Boom To Amalga By Donna Jorgensen With the construction of a com- working irrigation system pleted in 1908, Amalga gained the' potential to produce rich harvests in sugar beets. The ! ' unimproved road connecting Smith-fiel- d . Amalga and Benson with made hauling the beets by "horse drawn wagons long and tedious. However, the need for a ; home factory was soon recog' ( L nized. V With that in mind a group of farmers from the surrounding Lfarea met with John Scowcroft, ;Fred J. Taylor and Merrill Nibley of the Amalgamated Sugar Co. at the Parley P. Bingham farm in May, 1916. the terms of an agreement reached called for the company to build a $900,000 sugar factory capable of processing 500 tons of beets daily. The farmers agreed to raise 5000 acres of beets per year. With construction and later completion of the plant, new people found work in Amalga and tents dotted the area. A large boarding house erected by the sugar company and operated by James Horsley was later replaced by a hotel and sixteen modest, comfortable homes close to the factory. An office building which still remains was also erected in this period. The task of operating the company hotel, which became home to 100 employees, fell to Mrs. May Chandler assisted by her husband, Boyd and their five children. When her husband died soon after the family came to the area, Mrs. Chandler and her children maintained the hotels operation assisted by two hired ladies with the cooking and general housekeeping. An accomodating woman, Mrs. Chandler. offered the use of the hotel as a meeting place for members of the Amalga L.D.S. Ward and held fundraising programs for the construction of the Amalga Ward Chapel though she was not a member of the Mormon Church. Eight houses complete with lawns, cement walks and gardens lined either side of the tiny street about 200 yards west of the factory. Mm THE AMALGA HOTEL was home to over 100 employees of the Amalgamated Sugar Company of the Amalga plant in the 1920s. during the hey-da- y Local Tax Rate Down This Year, Report Says only d, all-import- , this year. Later the Miles Store, Amalga LDS Ward chapel and additional homes were built on the west side of the county road. Amalgas heyday during the however, 20s was short-liveas nematode infested the sugar beet fields sharply curtailing harvest. the In 1929 the sugar factory was dismantled and the hotel and other buildings torn down. Only the office building, the great sugar warehouse and the tall smoke stack later put to use by the Cache Valley Cheese plant remained. eight communities Smithfields overall property tax levy in is 74.69 mills 1973 assessed valuation). This compares with a ($74.69 per $1,000 total levy of 77.69 mills in 1972 and 80.29 in 1970. The following tabulation shows the trend in Smithfields total tax rate since 1950: . The major factor in ..the overall decline for 1973 is a 3.0 mill reduction in the state levy for support of local school programs, the report continues. This reduction in the state, school levy, however, is offset 63 of somewhat by increases in local Approximately percent the total property taxes charged school taxes by most , school in Smithfield this year will go districts. for school purposes. The Founof Utahs 40 school Twenty-si- x dation report shows that 21 districts increased their local percent of the property tax will school levies this year. Reduc-.- :. go for municipal purposes, and tions were made in only four 16 percent for county purposes. school districts, and ten, disA comparison of the 1972 and tricts made no change in their 1973 property tax levy in Smith-fiel- d 1973 local school levies. is as follows: by purpose Former Resident Dies I . ; . ' s Minnie Smith, 77, died Sept. 21 in Los Angeles, Calif., of natural causes. She had lived in Cali- fornia for the past 50 years. She was born Aug. 19, 1896 in Includes state school levy of 4.6 mills in 1972 and 1.6 mills in England, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Smith. 1973. She was a member of the LDS Property tax mill levies were Church. reduced in most Utah communSurvivers are nieces and ne1973 in ities for the second phews. Graveside services were held consecutive year, according to in the Lewiston Wednesday the Foundation report. An examination of the 1973 tax rates Cemetery. charged in the 66 principal municipalities of the state reveals that the overall rate Mr. and Mrs. Wallace A. declined in 58 cities and rose in Cottle and family attended the wedding reception for her niece, Lorene, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Ashby of Garland, Services were held Monday in and her husband, Tony AndermarLogan for Vaughn LeRoy Scott, sen, Thursday. They were Sr., 65, who died Thursday at his ried earlier in the day in the Logan Temple. Mr. and Mrs. home in Millville. them Born in Millville in 1907, Mr. Cottle accompanied furMelva the through Scott attended Millville Eletemple. mentary Schools and was a nished the musical background graduate of South Cache' High for the reception. School and LDS Seminary. ' On Jan. 29, 1930 he married Donna Hopkins in the Logan LDS Temple. Drew and Marjorie Byers will soon be moving to Roosevelt A former bishop in the Millwhere Drew has accepted a ville Ward, Mr. Scott also served as president of the teaching position at the- USU Elders Quorum, Sunday School extension center. superintendent and assistant, Mr. and Mrs. D ivid Evans of and YMMIA president, counsel- Ogden, spent the weekend with or and secretary. Mr. and Mrs.OdeMSmith. Mrs. He was a brother ot Edsel M. Alton Buckley of Oakley, Ida., Scott of Smithfield. also stayed with the Smiths. Trenton Brief Services Held Amalga Brief - The Spirit of 74. In preparation for. event Debbie Dahle decorates a downtown Smithfield shop window. SKY VIEW AKT students capture homecoming theme, the fouF-da- y . of ?:;!bru ii jj, ic !n. c:wi ti r . ... ;,,i 'i f- . r..i'hvi'n |