Cedar City Schools, Iron County School District

The communities of Iron County enjoy a long history of being focused on the education of their residents. Today the Iron County School District has six secondary schools, nine elementary schools, and six other types of schools, including those geared directly toward adult education, alternative high schools, pre-schools and head start. And of course, Cedar City is the home of Southern Utah University.

Higher education became a major part of the history of Iron County in 1897 when the Utah State Legislature designated the establishment of a teacher training school in the area. The residents of the community worked together to construct the first building – Ward Hall – in downtown Cedar City. But, two months after the school opened, the Utah Attorney General ruled that the building did not comply with a provision in the legislation requiring that the school have its own building on 15 acres of land deeded to the state. Further, the Attorney General stated that if a building was not established by September of the following year, the school would be closed. Cedar City residents, determined to have their school, banded together again to transport lumber from a mill near today's Brian Head Ski Resort. Through an incredible cooperative effort, Cedar City residents finished the building in time, saving the school.

Today, Iron County is proud of its commitment to education. After many transformations and name changes, what began as a branch of the State Normal School in Cedar City became Southern Utah University in 1991.