Como Springs Resort
2000 photograph of Como Springs Motel, built in 1953. Courtesy of the Morgan County (UT) Historical Society and the Morgan County (UT) Public Library via Mountain West Digital Library.
The hot springs of the Mountain West provide resort destinations where guests can enjoy the benefits of geothermal waters. For decades, hordes of tourists enjoyed hot spring resorts such as Como Hot Springs in Morgan City, Utah. The hot springs, believed to have healing powers, were a great source of relaxation and enjoyment for travelers. Immigrant pioneers Samuel and Esther Francis arrived in Morgan Valley in 1862 to take up farming in what is now Morgan City. The couple was charmed by the natural hot springs and the small, unusually warm lake. They named the lake Como after Esther’s birthplace in Italy.
In 1883, Francis and his neighbor Richard Frye acquired eighty acres of land from the Union Pacific Railroad, including the geothermal springs. The Como Springs Resort opened on the site in 1889, and the resort's reputation for relaxation and healing spread quickly. The eighty-two-degree, mineral-rich geothermal waters of the pool made the resort very popular. Because of economic depression, in 1896, the resort closed its doors. In 1921, the Heiner family reopened the resort and operated it until 1986 when the resort closed permanently due to rising insurance costs.
