Adapted from: Seegmiller, Janet Burton. A History of Iron County: Community Above Self. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1998; Webster, Richard M. “Enoch History Review.” https://www.cityofenoch.org/uploads/3/0/3/1/30314955/richard_webster_historical_account.pdf, accessed April 28, 2020. “A History of Johnson’s Fort or Enoch as it is Known.” https://www.cityofenoch.org/uploads/3/0/3/1/30314955/earl_olsen_historical_account.pdf, accessed April 28, 2020; “Roaring 2000’s.” https://www.cityofenoch.org/roaring-2000s.html, accessed April 28, 2020.
Enoch was settled along a spring that was known and used long before Latter-day Saint settlers began to develop the area. The springs had been used by Native Americans in the area, marked on maps of the Old Spanish Trail, and had gone through various names, including St. Joseph’s Spring, Elkhorn Springs, and Johnson’s Spring.
In 1849, Latter-day Saints under the direction of Parley Pratt, explored southern Utah. One of the members of the expedition, Joel C. Johnson, was hunting and climbed some nearby hills for a better vantage of the area. Upon seeing the valley below, he reportedly showed other members of the company and exclaimed, “Mine, mine, all mine by right of discovery!” He returned in 1851 to settle the area, establishing a stockade and cattle grazing there. The area was known as Johnson’s ranch or Johnson’s Springs, and was briefly abandoned in 1853 by the seven families who settled there due to concerns of conflict with the local Indians. In 1854, occupation of the settlement resumed, and Johnson, with the help of other settlers, built a fort in the area for protection from possible attack. The area was then known as Johnson’s Fort.
The settlers in the area engaged in a number of livelihoods, including an iron foundry, ranching, dairying, and beekeeping. There were several nearby settlements in the area, under various settlement names, including Grimshawville, Stevensville, and Williamsville. Johnson’s fort had its name changed when the post office came in 1884, and the name Johnson was already taken. The settlers decided on the name Enoch, after the city of Enoch, which Latter-day Saints consider an example of Zion.
Enoch was incorporated in 1956, and was combined with Grimshawville, Stevensville, and Williamsville to make one town. It remained a small town, spread out town, with a population under 250, until the seventies, when subdivisions began to develop. This growth continued, with what the city website calls “The Roaring 2000s.” Today, Enoch’s population is a little over 7,000.