Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2010-07-08 Making the Desert Blossom: Public Works in Washington County, Utah Michael Lyle Shamo Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Shamo, Michael Lyle, "Making the Desert Blossom: Public Works in Washington County, Utah" (2010). Theses and Dissertations. 2555. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2555 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Making the Desert Blossom: Public Works In Washington County, Utah Michael Lyle Shamo A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Brian Q. Cannon, Chair Kathryn M. Daynes Ignacio M. Garcia Department of History Brigham Young University August 2010 Copyright © 2010 Michael Lyle Shamo All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Making the Desert Blossom: Public Works in Washington County, Utah Michael Lyle Shamo Department of History Master of Arts The following thesis is a study of how communities of Washington County, Utah developed within one of the most inhospitable deserts of the American West. A trend of reliance on public works programs during economic depressions, not only put people to work, but also provided an influx of outside aid to develop an infrastructure for future economic stability and growth. Each of these public works was carefully planned by leaders who not only saw the immediate impact these projects would have, but also future benefits they would confer.