Covington Mansion Tour 5/23/26 - Oldest Home in Washington County, Utah

The Covington Mansion is currently open for tours from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. first and third Wednesdays of each month. It is also open during certain holidays and other times by appointment. Call Carmen Snow at (435)632-4809 for information or to schedule a tour. Thank you for the amazing tour Carmen! In April of 1857, Brigham Young called a group of twenty-eight families to go to Washington to serve as reinforcements for the Cotton Mission, which had been founded a few years previously. The leader of this group was Robert Dockery Covington, a native of South Carolina. He had even owned slaves before he became a Mormon and was supposed to know something about the culture of cotton. Evidently everything he touched was prosperous and so in 1880 he began to build this house, worthy of his status as a church, civic and business leader. The house was unusual in that it was built of stone. The Averett brothers, who did the stone work on Winsor Castle at Pipe Springs and on the Cotton Mill, were the builders. The condition of these buildings more than a century later is testimonial to the quality of their craftsmanship. While the house had two stories, the upper story was not divided and was one large room with a fireplace. This was handy for such household chores as drying fruit, quilting, weaving and the like. Its space was also valued by the community for meetings, plays and dances. An outside entrance by a separate stairway made it possible for these events to occur without bothering the family activities. The house has been kept up and restored so that it is basically the same as when it was first built. Learn more here: https://wchsutah.org/homes/covington-...