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The small settlement of Bloomington was located on the opposite side of the Virgin river from Price City. While Bloomington's name now encompasses all of the area once known as the villages of Bloomington, Price City and Tonaquint, Bloomington itself had its beginnings in 1870 when William Carpenter, one of the original members of the Mormon Batall ion and two partners cleared and began to irrigate a small piece of land. The crops from this effort were meager and the partners sold their shares back to Carpenter who farmed the area by himself until 1875. Lars James Larsen joined Carpenter in 1875 and began to raise broom corn. The first survey of the area was conducted at that date and the name Bloomington was bestowed upon it. Larsen and Carpenter organized a company to enlarge both the water irrigation system and farming operations. A small adobe hut, roofed over with dirt and willows, was erected where the various formens of the new company camped while conducting their farming. In 1877, the Bloomington Company, now called the St. James Company after James Larsen, cousin of Lars James Larsen, went into the broom-making business, as it it produced excel lent broom corn. The brooms of Bloomington became known throughout Southern Utah as excellent qual ity products. At times during this era, Bloomington was also known as St. James. The name never took hold, however. From 1877 to 1880, the land ownership of Bloomington was put into a United Order, similar to the system that failed to take hold across the river in Price City. However, the new order soon met the same fate as the Price City United Order. In 1879 the Carpenters, who were major participants, having approximately 1/3 of the land, withdrew their lands from the system. The Company was officially dissolved in 1880. The members of the Company continued to live and farm at Bloomington. In 1882, Will iam Carpenter set up a new broom factory. (Today, a modern Mormon church house has been built on the site of the Carpenter broom factory for the new Bloomington ward.) As Price City decl ined, Bloomington grew. A ward house/school was erected. A charming main street, lined by cottonwood trees, that led to the river crossing over to Price City, was bordered by rock and adobe In Dixie, Bloomington became homes, manyof which housed large famil ies. known for its 1 ively dances held at the ward house on Saturday evenings as one of the Bloomington residents was an excellent fiddler. Floods continued to plague both Bloomington and Price City. After Price was abandoned, Bloomington continued to thrive as an industrious but poor farming village. The lack of cuI inary water hindered its development. Like Price City, water had to be hauled from the springs of St. George. While the farming was excellent when water could be applied to the soil, the irrigation system was always difficult to maintain. Bloomington fruit was reknown. The peaches, pears, plums, pommegranites and figs grew abundantly. As St. George prospered, (hough, with cuI inary water, ample civic ammenities, a magnificent tabernacle and the first Mormon temple of the ward, Bloomington as an independent vi Ilage began to wane.