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.