🠈 Circleville, Utah 🠊
With a reported population of over 500 people in the 2010 census, Circleville is the largest town in Piute County. Circleville and Circle Valley are named for the wide circular shaped valley on this section of the Sevier River.
Circleville was settled by LDS pioneers in 1864. In 1866, the settlers heard rumors that a white man by a Paiute. The settlers surrounded a nearby camp. They shot one of the tribe members who tried to escape. They took another 26 prisoner. After a second escape attempt, the settlers killed the remaining captives in what is known as the Circleville Massacre.
The first settlers abandoned the area. Permanent settlement began in 1874 when Charles Wakeman Dalton and his two wives relocated to the area.
The town came close to suffering a tragedy with the collapse of the Hatchville Dam in 1914. The dam failure was caused by a landslide. Fortunately, the dam failure was gradual and gave townsfolk time to escape.
Circleville was incorporated in 1921 with a population of 586. It appears to have shrunk a bit through the years.