That spring,
fifteen stockholders met at Oasis and selected a townsite of mostly
unlevel land in a section including the railroad section-house of Akin.
The townsite was named Melville, but then the United States Postal Service
objected because of its similarity to a Cache Valley town, the name
was changes to Burtner in honor of a helpful passenger agent of the
San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Railroad.
The enterprise
proved attractive to many other Utahns as well. The foremost early sources
of settlers was Wayne County, sending a dozen industrious families,
including that of Hiett E. Maxfield, former bishop of Fremont, who was
sustained to the same office at Burtner early in 1909. Nelson s. Bishop
of Utah County constructed the first house/hotel in the townsite, followed
by Henry J. McCullough, most recently from Garfield County, who log
house served also as the first post office and store. The first community
school/church meetinghouse was a one-room building hauled from Hinckley.
Not long after, construction began on a ward amusement hall.