Visiting Fairfield, Utah: School and Cemetery

Fairfield School

 The Fairfield school is a wonderfully restored building. It is located a couple of blocks north of Camp Floyd State Park.  The school was built in 1898 to replace the adobe school. It was used until 1939, and then was restored in 2005.

Photograph of the Fairfield School

The school is now listed on the National Historic Register. According to the sign at the school, it is now used in conjunction with Camp Floyd for educational purposes, including "period" re-enactment activities.  It is a very striking building.

Fairfield, Utah Cemetery

As you leave Camp Floyd State Park and travel back toward Lehi, Utah, you will see signs for the Fairfield Cemetery.  It is a short way down a paved road to the cemetery.  We entered and parked on the dirt/gravel drive around the cemetery and walked around.

Fairfield, Utah cemetery

This cemetery is a blend of modern and old headstones.  As you can see, it is not a manicured lawn cemetery.

View of the Fairfield, Utah Cemetery

The cemetery is in a pretty spot, and is rather small and easily walkable.  Beware of spiky weeds and jumping bugs.

Headstone in the Fairfield Cemetery

Several members of the Carson family, who built and ran the nearby Stagecoach Inn, are buried in this cemetery, including this infant, Catharine.  After seeing the place where the Carsons lived and raised their family, it was interesting to visit their burial place as well.

Headstone, Fairfield, Utah

Old headstones are an art form themselves, and although the stones are weathered and can be difficult to read, you can still appreciate the beauty of the carving.

If you are traveling to Camp Floyd, take a few minutes and visit the Fairfield Cemetery and school house.

The Stagecoach Inn

The Stagecoach Inn in Fairfield, Utah

The Stagecoach Inn is across the street from the commissary museum at Camp Floyd State Park.  This inn was (obviously) a place where stagecoach passengers could stop and stay overnight.  Sometimes Pony Express riders stayed here as well.  The inn was built by John Carson in 1858. He and his wife raised 9 children in the three rooms for the family in the northeast wing of the building.

One of the Carson family rooms at the Stagecoach Inn.

This is a beautifully kept building.  All of the rooms are furnished, and there are interpretive signs on the walls. After leaving the CampFloyd commissary museum, park employees sent us across the street to explore the Stagecoach Inn on our own.  This inn is a real treasure!

Dining room

Guests ate their meals at the inn.  Breakfast cost 25 cents, while lunch and dinner were 35 cents each.  Quite a mix of stage coach passengers, drivers, and Pony Express riders would have eaten in this room.

The reception room.

Arriving guests gathered in the reception room.  Later, when teachers boarded at the inn after the construction of the Fairfield school, this became a study room.  John Carson had rules for those staying at his Inn.  No drinking or gambling were allowed.  (Maybe he thought the saloons in Fairfield provided enough of that). Instead, activities like music, reading, and square dancing were available for guests at the Inn.

Guest room at the Stagecoach Inn

View of another guest room.

Guest rooms had beds, wash basins, and some form of storage cupboards or dressers for clothing.  They actually looked quite comfortable.

Gentlemen's Washroom

The gents got their own washroom at the Inn.  There were no such niceties for the ladies.  Perhaps guests were predominantly male, or perhaps providing facilities for women was not genteel.  It does make one wonder if the women were just expected to stay hot and sweaty, or if the men really needed a bath!

Men's "toilet" from the washroom

Bullet hole in the wall.

One of the guests was cleaning a gun that went off one night at the Inn.  The bullet traveled through the wall of his room, and through a narrow hall into another guest's bedroom.  Fortunately, that guest had just lain down for the night, and was not injured.  The holes remain in the walls.

Bullet hole in Stagecoach Inn wall.

Make sure you explore all of the guest areas to find these bullet holes in the walls if you go to this wonderful inn.  West of the building is a park area with picnic tables and restrooms.  The Stagecoach Inn is included in your fee for the visit to Camp Floyd State Park.