John S. Fullmer
and Cyrus Sanford were the first two to establish farming operations
on the bench after the removal of the Indians. The Blackhawk War was
in progress, but a few hardy souls did venture out to build homes in
the area. Charles E. Malmstrom, a Swedish immigrant with an Australian
wife, built a home at what is now west Maple Street, about 250 rods
west of the present Mapleton City Building, and moved in 1 December
1873. By 1877 there were at least eighteen families established with
homes on the Union Field land.
With the coming
of permanent residents, a school was needed. By 1884 an acre of land
had been donated by Lewis R. Perry at the southwest corner of his farm,
and a twelve-by-fifteen-foot building was erected. The new schoolhouse
soon became the focal point of the community. It was not only a place
for children to be educated, it became the Mormon branch meetinghouse
for the local farm families. Three years later, it housed the first
Mormon ward on the bench. At that time, and probably because of land-claim
problems, L.J. Whitney suggested that the new ward be named Mapleton
after a small grove of black maple trees found at the mouth of Maple
Canyon.