Marker #2

Main gate of Fort Payson

You will continue to head north on 200 East. Marker #2 is located on the west side of the road. Just north of marker #1. This is the location of the Main gate of Fort Payson.  It was the main gate to the fort and 200 East was the main road into the city and fort in 1853. This road continued on south toward Santaquin.  This was the gate you entered for the stagecoach stop and where your horses were quartered and cared for. This street has never been closed off in the past 150+ years of Payson’s history. 

This is the gate that Alexander Keele was guarding in July of 1853 when he was shot and killed at the beginning of the Walker War. He had traded shifts with Merlin Plumb and thought of himself as very lucky.  There was a plaque erected in the northwest corner of Payson’s Memorial Park noting this event.

The Nebeker School built in 1855 was in the southeast corner of the fort. It stood where you see the red brick house located near this marker. Henry Nebeker was the owner and operator of the stage stop, livery stable, and the school. All town functions were held at the school for a time.