 In 1859, Moses Harris, who had previously established a Mormon colony near San Bernardino, moved into the area that was to become Harrisburg and established a town near where Quail Creek flowed into the Virgin River.Several families settled in the town, which had recently been named Harrisville.When the Virgin River flooded Harrisville in 1862, the town's residents relocated further up Quail Creek and renamed the town Harrisburg, after Moses Harris.