For the first time, Wasatch County will have a full-time historian dedicated to gathering and sharing stories and artifacts from the community’s past.
Councilmember Erik Rowland said he got the idea for the job when the Wasatch Fire District moved to a new building.
“The nexus of this began with some conversations with Chief [Eric] Hales, as he was unpacking the old fire station and moving to the new one and just kept uncovering artifacts,” he said at a meeting July 8. “He just said to me and made a comment, ‘I don’t know what to do with this.’”
It’s not just the fire district: Many more county departments will move from their location on Main Street to a new government building in fall 2027.
Rowland said without a system for preserving county records and artifacts, valuable history will be lost along the way.
“If we’re not concerned enough to preserve our past, then how are we able to define a future?” he said. “This, to me, is that first step to say, hey, we know who we are. We’re putting some importance to that by dedicating a position to say: help us remember who we are and how we got here and tell our story.”
The county was established in 1862.
Rowland suggested that county buildings should include historical displays in hallways and public spaces.
The historian would work with groups like the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and the Heber Valley Heritage Foundation.
The role was partly inspired by Summit County, which has a dedicated historian and a museum.
Wasatch County’s job description says the historian will create exhibits, publish essays and web pages about county history, host educational events and more.
Because of the specialized training historians and archivists receive, councilmembers agreed the job should be full-time.
Rowland said he’d like to see the county move quickly because of the upcoming move, although councilmembers joked not everything in the current government building needs to be preserved.
"First artifact they can collect is that payphone downstairs," Councilmember Kendall Crittenden said, to laughs.
Wasatch County has set aside $58,000 to hire someone for the rest of the year. After that, leaders will need to seek grants or allocate more funding in the 2027 budget.
