Church Rock

Church Rock may refer to the following:

Church Rock (Utah)

Church Rock is a solitary column of sandstone in southern Utah along the eastern side of U.S. Route 191, near the entrance to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.

With majestic Colorado and Green River canyons, Canyonlands, this 200 foot roadside oddity near Monticello is called Church Rock. It seldom attracts more than a casual glance as visitors head toward Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument and the Needles district or drive between Moab and Monticello.

One of the interesting pages of 1930's myths tells about Church Rock, and how the gumdrop shaped rock earned its name. The story is that Marie Ogden's Home of the Truth, an Utopian community, was erroneously responsible. Ogden was a spiritualist during the 20's, giving lectures across the U.S. on spiritualism, until she came to San Juan County, Utah. She allegedly called San Juan County and Church Rock "the spiritual center of the universe." With a small band of followers, Ogden's group moved onto a tract of barren land along Utah's Route 211 in 1933, calling it the "Home of Truth." Members turned all their worldly goods to Ogden to join her Home of Truth, abiding by a strict code of conduct, were expected to work for the common goals of the settlement. Women tended to the domestic chores and men worked the arid farm acreage. Not far from Church Rock are the remains of Ogden's ghost town. A few buildings and a small cemetery are all that remain of the Home of the Truth community, found on a ridge called Photograph Gap. After the community broke up, Ogden stayed in Monticello and became the owner and publisher of the community newspaper, The San Juan Record, in the 1940s. She died in the 1975 and is buried in Blanding.

Church Rock (Navajo County, Arizona)

Church Rock is a pillar in Navajo County, Arizona. It is located near the mouth of Church Rock Valley, at an elevation of 5,689 feet / 1,734 meters.

History

Church Rock was originally named Artenesales de Piedra or Sculpted Rock, by the Mexican merchant and explorer Antonio Armijo in 1829-1830, when the area was explored by his expedition to find a trade route between Santa Fe de Nuevo México and Alta California. This would become the Armijo Route of the Old Spanish Trail.

References

Coordinates: 36°44′04″N 110°07′07″W / 36.73444°N 110.11861°W / 36.73444; -110.11861