Harrisville is located north of Ogden in Weber County. In the early years, the area witnessed a double tragedy which cost the lives of two human beings. It was in 1850, just three years after the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley, that Urban Stewart built the first house in what was to become Harrisville. It was constructed of logs and was located about 300 yards to the southwest of the Harrisville Chapel. Stewart had planted a garden and watched over it with care. The night of 16 September 1850 he heard rustling out in his corn patch and saw a moving object, which he fired at, killing Terikee, a chief among the Shoshones. The Indians retaliated by killing a white man named Campbell, a transient employee of Farr's Mill, and Stewart had to leave the country. There was a general Indian uprising and Mormon Church authorities in Salt Lake City advised the area's residents to move into Bingham Fort, about two miles away.

In 1851 Martin Henderson Harris, for whom Harrisville was named, and a nephew of Martin Harris of Book of Mormon fame, built a log home west of Four Mile Creek. That same year more settlers came. Pleasant Green Taylor settled on the Urban Stewart claim, Haskill Shurtliff, Levi Murdock, Warren Child, and others settled in Harrisville. However, Indian trouble started again. Some houses were dismantled and moved into Bingham's Fort. Crops were planted, so the settlers would work on their farms, but they had to carry their guns to protect themselves from the Indians. The trouble eventually subsided and they moved back to their homes. Before they moved into the fort, the area farmers had just used the water from Four Mile Creek. After much effort, they received a charter and grant to take water from the Ogden River.

Luman Shurtliff built an adobe house. Later Luman's son, Noah L. Shurtliff, made red brick by hand. A brickyard was later established, and there has been a brickyard in Harrisville ever since; local brick making has turned into a major business.

In 1858, the town was briefly abandoned in the face of Johnston's Army, but the settlers returned to their homes that fall when the trouble was resolved peacefully.

Martin Harris at first taught school in his home, but as more people moved in, it was necessary to organize a school district and build a schoolhouse. Logs were brought from North Ogden Canyon and from Garner's Canyon and the 16-foot by 18-foot schoolhouse was finished in 1863; it had a dirt floor and a dirt roof. In 1867 a new two-room adobe schoolhouse was built which served for school, civic, and religious affairs. Many children had to come a great distance to go to school, so eventually area residents decided to build a schoolhouse in the west end (which later became Farr West). In 1892 the adobe school on the east end burned down. A new two-room schoolhouse was erected that same year. In 1913, a two-story, four-room, yellow brick schoolhouse was built. This served very well until the 1940s when it was abandoned and students were bused to schools outside of Harrisville.

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