With its polygamist rulers gone and FLD on brink of extinction, a community makes a comeback
Roughly 9,000 people lived in Short Creek, and nearly all belonged to the church, which owned their houses, controlled the police force and set the rules with little interference from secular authorities. It all began to crumble about 15 years ago after the arrest and prosecution of its notorious prophet, Warren Jeffs, who had taken extremism to new levels.
The state of Utah seized the trust that held the church’s real estate assets and began selling them off, making land and home ownership available to everyone for the first time.
Tooke is among the thousands of people — outsiders and former church members alike — who have recolonized the community.
With the FLDS on the brink of extinction, Short Creek is now a place to score fresh sushi, a good amber ale and maybe a room for the night in a comfy resort. There is a spacious new grocery store, a library, coffee shops and new schools. Women hold political office.
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A real estate boom is transforming Short Creek as outsiders and former FLDS members take over.
The block-long FLDS meeting house is being turned into a community center. Walls once surrounding massive homes brimming with wives and kids are being torn down, some of the houses split into individual apartments.
The trust sold Jeffs’ 28,000-square-foot, 44-room mansion to Briell Decker, his 65th wife. When the upkeep proved too expensive, she donated it to a chain of a sober living facilities.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-06-14/with-its-polygamist-rulers-gone-a-community-makes-a-comeback
“Out of my mom’s 12 kids, only one is still a member of the church. That’s very common. There is no religion to follow anymore,” she said. “My church is a good Jeep ride down the creek.”
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