Wikimedia Commons/Semiautonomous
Iosepa’s Hawaiian Settlers Desert Utah for Laie Temple
In 1889, Hawaiian converts built a town in Utah’s harsh Skull Valley, naming it Iosepa after Joseph F.Smith, who had once been a missionary in Hawaii.
Despite desert conditions, these settlers turned Iosepa into a thriving place with neat streets lined with yellow roses.
In fact, by 1911, it won Utah’s prize for “best kept city.” But when church leaders announced plans for a temple in Hawaii in 1915, most packed up and went home…