Town file
Cedar City, Utah
Cedar City, Utah (Iron County, Utah) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 256, "The Sickest Desire" (30 December 2021). Cedar City sits in Iron County in southern Utah, about 250 miles south of Salt Lake City, and at the time of the murder it had a population of roughly 36,000, including some 7,000 students at Southern Utah University.
- Town
- Cedar City
- County
- Iron County
- State
- Utah
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 256
- Approximate location
- 37.684, -113.096
Episode 256 / 30 December 2021 / 162 min / full
The Sickest Desire
"to Cedar City, Utah this week; it's in Iron County, Utah" about 0:04:37
The case: Murder of Claudia Ben (July 1998). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2021
- Population
- 36,090
- Median age
- a little under 27
- Median household income
- $42,000
- Median home value
- $280,500
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $728
- Cost of living
- 91
- Religious
- 80.5%
- Property crime
- right about at the average
- Violent crime
- ▼ about half the national average
History, in brief
- The town began about 1851, when about thirty-five men arrived to establish an iron works. about 0:06:37
- The settlement site was on the north bank of Coal Creek. about 0:06:55
- The iron works did not last and was dead by the late 1850s. about 0:07:06
- The town became agricultural, while iron mining continued through the Second World War and did not peter out until the 1980s. about 0:07:54
- The railroad made Cedar City a tourist area, the gateway to the parks. about 0:08:05
- Southern Utah University is in the town, with about 7,000 students. about 0:08:43
- Prehistoric rock art in the area dates from 1000 to 1300 AD. about 0:09:05
- Mormon militia men murdered men, women and children of the Baker-Fancher wagon train at Mountain Meadows, about 120 people from families mostly from Arkansas and headed to California; the militia dressed as Native Americans and enlisted the Paiute so the attack would look like tribal hostility, and only seventeen children under seven were spared. about 0:09:28
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A transplant from a small town says Cedar City has all the charm and almost everything within walking distance or a short drive, and is proud of its history."about 0:10:17
3 stars
"A lifelong resident praises the scenery, world-class theatre, decent university, quaint downtown and safety, but complains of few jobs, fast-rising housing prices and locals who resent newcomers."about 0:11:20
2 stars
"A nine-year resident says schools are rude, the town is overhyped and expensive, the air is bad in fire season and the neighbourhood has sirens and about two crime scenes a year."about 0:13:08
2 stars
"There is only one bar."about 0:14:40
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Paragonah, Utah23 miles
- St. George, Utah50 miles
- Fillmore, Utah98 miles
- Boulder City, Nevada162 miles
- Eureka, Utah166 miles
- Grasshopper Junction, Arizona171 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.