Editing Howell, Utah (section)

==History==
Howell lies in the [[Blue Creek Valley]] that stretches north-south between four mountain ranges, [[Promontory Mountains]], south, [[North Promontory Mountains]], west, [[West Hills (Box Elder County, Utah)|West Hills]], northeast, and Blue Spring Hills, southeast. The northeast [[Great Salt Lake]] lies to the south of Howell, and north of Howell finds [[Interstate 84 in Utah|Interstate 84]], roughly the area known to locals as [[Blue Creek, Utah|Blue Creek]]. Nomadic [[Shoshone]] Indians used the area to travel between the Great Salt Lake and areas to the north.

[[Charles Crocker]], a California developer and business man oversaw development of the [[First transcontinental railroad]], which passed through [[Promontory, Utah|Promontory]], about {{convert|10|mi|km}} south of Howell. The [[Golden Spike]] was driven near Promontory (at Lampo) in 1869. Crocker formed the [[Promontory Land and Livestock Company]] in this time period, which had land holdings that stretched from the Great Salt Lake north to Idaho, and west to Nevada. The area was used for cattle ranching, with headquarters in Promontory, Howell, and the Dilly Ranch. The company disbanded in 1909.

In 1909 the newly created [[Promontory-Curlew Land Company]] purchased the Promontory Land and Livestock Company's Utah and Idaho land holdings. Howell is named after Utah Congressman [[Joseph Howell]] who was involved with the Promontory-Curlew Land Company.

In 1910 Nephi Nessen purchased {{convert|1000|acre|km2}} from the Promontory-Curlew Land Company, and established the first private and permanent residence in Howell. Nessen was born in [[Logan, Utah]] in 1867, the son of [[Denmark|Danish]] immigrants and converts to [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] who crossed the plains from the east as part of a [[Handcart company]]. Other settler families included Andersen, Baxter, Cravens, Gunnell, Bailey, Carlsen, Douglas, Fonnesbeck, Rock, Wood, Allen, Barber, and Maughn.

The Bar M Ranch was headquartered near what is now the town center. A school was opened in 1910 in a Bar M Ranch building. In 1911, a new school was opened (pictured above), which has now been converted into a community center. In 1980, a modern school was built for [[kindergarten]] through third grades, but closed in 2008.

In 1904, the Blue Creek Reservoir was built on Blue Creek, {{convert|1|mi|km}} northwest of Howell.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3Pqk9tazU4C&pg=PA41|title=Utah Place Names: A Comprehensive Guide to the Origins of Geographic Names: A Compilation|last=Van Cott|first=John W.|publisher=[[University of Utah Press]]|location=Salt Lake City|page=41|year=1990|accessdate=March 20, 2018|isbn=978-0-87480-345-7|oclc=797284427}}</ref> However, the reservoir is now located almost entirely within the [[City limits|town limits]]<ref name="gmaps"/>