Lanark History
Information comes from Treasured Tidbits of Time Volume I by Jens Patrick Wilde and is a condensed version
The history of Lanark is beset with a number of different names. Located three miles west of and north of Paris, the small dairy and farming community developed as a break off from the earlier settlement of Liberty.
First the name South Liberty was used. Those early settlers who moved in during that time were William Piggott, John Bunn, Tom Stevens and John Parker and their families in 1877. Shortly after came John Roberts, James Toomer, William Passey, Charles Findley, Fred Bunn, John Passey, James Brown and Ebenezer Crouch.
For some reason this incoming group thought a name other than South Liberty was more befitting the area. They proposed Freedom and some referred to the area by that name for some time. Finally in 1890, the area was well established and want to do away with both names but could not agree on another name. The impasse was finally settled when William Budge was asked he named the community after his birth place in Scotland. On Aug 13, 1893, Budge met with the people and established a ward there.
Joseph Peter Beck was the first Bishop and Ebenezer Crouch and James F Bunn were counselors. The first community building was on an acre of ground donated by James Toomer. A school was also started there. Toomer also selected and donated the land for the Lanark cemetery and was the first person buried in it. By the third year of the school's existence there were 30 pupils enrolled from seven to nineteen. Mrs. Louisa Cole was the teacher at that time.
By 1885 the settlers worked on the development of an irrigation system which eventually resulted in the construction of a dam and an 11 mile canal to bring them water. The canal was completed in 1888 and in 1903, F W Passey, John T Passey, John Brown, John Bunn and William began the construction of the dam in the Little Valley.
In 1908 the dam washed out and it was several years before an effort was made to rebuild it. In 1938 the Little Valley Irrigation Company was organized and a new dam was built. It still stands today.