Cannonville, UT

Cannonville is a Garfield County town in the Paria River valley, laid out along the route now known as Utah Scenic Byway 12. The first settlement was called Clifton. Water shortages pushed families about a mile and a half upstream in 1877. The new town was named for George Q. Cannon, and irrigation turned the Paria valley into a place for corn, wheat, livestock, and later sheep herding. Early residents built canals, stored water, and adapted to soil that could erode around the river. That water story still shapes the town.

Byway 12 now connects Cannonville with Bryce Canyon, Kodachrome Basin, and Grand Staircase–Escalante. The town's visitor center and museum interpret Grand Staircase–Escalante, while the old school lot now holds the town park and community center, improvements that took shape in the 1970s and 1980s. Cannonville still has an agricultural base, and its location brings visitor traffic through a small Paria Valley town on the way to southern Utah's scenic country.