Woodland is an unincorporated rural community settled in 1867 along the valley of the Provo River. The river is the county boundary, and the community is divided down the middle, with part in Summit County and part in Wasatch County.
The first families were the Gines, Potts, Moons, Knights, and others. The early economy was based on saw mills cutting railroad ties and mine timbers for use in the Park City mines. Ties could be floated down the river at high water to Hailstone (now under Jordanelle Reservoir) then hauled to Park City. As the river bottoms were cleared of timber, the ranching economy developed. The Woodland LDS Ward was established in about 1867. By 1875 there was a post office, though it did not last long.
The Wasatch County side of Woodland was originally developed as a separate community known as Bench Creek. Because of the difficulties in crossing the Provo River in the early days, there were schools run in Bench Creek by Wasatch County and in Woodland by Summit County. Schools finally consolidated in Woodland, and ultimately transportation improvements made consolidation into the South Summit School District in Kamas a better alternative. By 1938, both Bench Creek and Woodland students were attending school in Kamas.
There was a proposal in the 1890's to build a railroad from Hailstone (also known as Elk Horn, and now under Jordanelle Reservoir) over Wolf Creek Pass to the Uinta Basin. The rail bed for the Utah Central Railroad was actually graded from Hailstone into Woodland, in intermittent sections. Parts of it can still be seen along Lower River Road. The rail line was never completed, in large part because the western end of it did not connect to anything. There must have been an assumption that the Denver and Rio Grande, which had extended up Provo Canyon to Heber City in 1899, would extend on to the Ontario Mine at Keetley. That link was never built, and the Utah Central line was abandoned. Woodland continued as a ranching community, relying on lush river bottom meadows and high mountain pastures.
In 1889, the Wasatch Wave newspaper reported that there were three general stores in Woodland-Keeler's, Phillips' and Moon's. One of these became the Woodland Cash Store, later owned by the Winterton family. They built the existing Woodland Cash Store building in 1929, after a fire had destroyed the previous building. It was a full service retail business, providing everything from groceries to household furnishings and clothing, and gas. It was operated by Luella Winterton Walker and her husband Mont Walker into the 1970's. Others leased it and tried to keep to going into the 90's, but by then most of Woodland's households had people working in Kamas, Park City, or Salt Lake, and the Woodland Cash Store could not compete against the bigger stores. The building survives as a private home.
The scenic beauty of the upper Provo River canyon has made Woodland a popular summer retreat through the years. It is now seeing a significant increase in full time population as people leave the cities to seek the peace and beauty of rural life. There are numerous summer and winter recreation opportunities in the area. Popular trail heads are at Nobletts Creek, Bench Creek, Rileys Canyon, and Cedar Hollow. The Uinta National Forest offers camp grounds and all kinds of outdoor recreation.
UtahReach! 2010