Despite Ferron's 6,000-foot elevation, the air circulation patterns at the mouth of the canyon provide favorable conditions for fruit growing, and extensive orchards of apples, peaches, and other fruits were planted during the first decade of the twentieth century. The distance from major markets proved to be an insuperable obstacle to commercial success, however, and most of the orchards have disappeared. Yet Ferron peaches still have an excellent local reputation and a Peach Days celebration has been held each September since 1906.

The first school was conducted in a small log building that also served as a Mormon meetinghouse and general community center. This structure was replaced in 1889 by the "blue frame school," which was superseded in its turn by a much larger brick building completed in 1916. A brick LDS meetinghouse that was erected around 1901 was destroyed by fire in 1920. A new chapel completed in 1930 burned in 1933 but was rebuilt. With additions, it continues in use today. A Presbyterian mission school, established in 1904, was housed in an imposing brick building by 1913 and continued to offer a high-school-level education until 1927, attracting many students from the predominantly Mormon community because of the quality of its teachers. Ferron was home to South Emery High School from its establishment in 1916 until its closure in the major Emery County school consolidation of 1962.