Fairview Museum Letterbox Hybrid

Note: If you visit this cache during the museum's business hours, make sure to visit inside (free of charge). Mention that you came because of the GeoTour / geocache, and you'll likely get a surprise!

Fairview Museum

Welcome to the Fairview Museum of History and Art! The museum is located in Fairview, Utah. Fairview was founded in 1859 and is nestled at the north end of the historic, pastoral valley in Sanpete County. Fairview is on the US 89 Heritage Highway (Fairview to Kanab) corridor approximately 51 miles south of Provo. It is the gateway to Huntington-Eccles Canyons National Scenic byway (Utah SR-31) as well as the famous Skyline Drive. The museum is a non-profit, 501C3 organization consisting of volunteer board members and staff (see this link to a short video clip about the museum: Fairview Museum).

The museum consists of 2 main buildings: the 115 year old, former school, Heritage building which contains historical collections and the works of world renown sculptor Dr. Avard T Fairbanks, and the more contemporary Horizon building which houses regional art, historical displays, Clark Bronson bronze collection and other services.

There are 138 pieces of sculpture donated to the museum by Dr. Avard Fairbanks, a prolific sculpture whose art can not only be seen all around Utah (for example, many of the sculptures found the Temple Square in Salt Lake City are his work), but all around the United States, including the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. His most well-known design is the original ram logo created for Dodge Motor Company. A more comprehensive list of his works and locations can be found here. His “Love and Devotion” sculpture, located in the Heritage building, is dedicated to Peter and Celestia Peterson who were married for 82 years and lived in Fairview all of their lives. This statue honors their remarkable story of family.

The other main attraction in the museum is the Huntington Mammoth, a replica of a nearly perfectly preserved Columbian Mammoth, the largest land mammal ever to walk the earth. This magnificent animal was discovered in 1988 in the Manti La-Sal National Forest, and is a hairless Columbian Mammoth. It was discovered quite by accident by dozer operator Chris Nielson of Huntington, Utah, while digging the Huntington Reservoir Dam in Sanpete County, just up the canyon from Fairview.

On August 8, 1988, Mr. Nielson uncovered what was later found to be the front leg bone or the humerus, and a section of the tusk. Much to the delight of everyone concerned, the skeleton was 90% complete. A model of that reconstructed skeleton is now the centerpiece of the Fairview Museum; the original bones are carefully preserved elsewhere, since they were never fossilized. To learn more about the mammoth and its discovery, see: Mammoth Story.

Of course, this is only a small fraction of the many unique and fun things you'll see when you visit the Fairview Museum. There is no charge to enter, and they love visitors! To learn more, check out the Fairview Museum Website, or reference the following information:

Fairview Museum
85 North 100 East
Fairview, UT 84629

Hours of Operation:
11 AM - 5 PM Tuesday thru Saturday;

Winter Hours: 12 Noon to 4 PM (from November 1 to March 31)

Call (435) 427-9216 for more info. 

Note: This is a Letterbox Cache; that means that the stamp inside is to be kept WITH the cache, NOT to be traded; feel free to use the stamp, but leave it so that future cachers can use it as well, thanks!

Geocache and listing maintained by josephaw.