Fort Harmony was established on May 9, 1854, by John D. Lee, Richard Woolsey, William R. Davis, and others who had founded Harmony in 1852. It served as the county seat of Washington County until 1859 and as headquarters of the Mormon Mission to Lamanites from 1853 to 1854. The fort was 300 feet square, with one-story houses on the east side and a wall 10 feet high, and two-story houses on the west side and a wall 16 feet high. Kanarra and Harmony Creeks supplied water for irrigation. Following heavy storms that caused the walls to crumble and fall, the fort was finally abandoned in February 1862, and the settlers founded New Harmony and Kanarraville.