The Old Iron Town was established in the mid 1800s, started by Brigham Young in his quest to build a Mormon State. The town was basically an iron-mining settlement, which, at its peak, produced up to 2500 pounds of iron on a daily basis. The Old Iron Town was abandoned in 1876 when the Edmunds-Tucker Act (which created a rift between the US government and the Latter Day Saints Church due to its aim to abolish polygamy) took effect.

Today, the Old Iron Town, once also known as the Iron City, is a ghost town inside Dixie National Forest. Visitors can still find the ruins of the structures that once stood and helped in the mining process. In 1971, it became a part of the National Register of Historic Places.