English Fort

By 1854 the settlers over Jordan were uneasy enough to build a fort. Indian tensions across the territory had Brigham Young urging outlying communities to fortify, and the west-side families threw up a walled refuge they called English Fort — though the harder name that stuck was Fort Hardscrabble, for the grinding difficulty of the life it guarded. It was never attacked, and within five years, as the danger passed, the settlers let it go. The ground it stood on became the Taylorsville cemetery, so the fort of the living now shelters the dead.

What the plaque says

Daughters of Utah Pioneers No. 82 Erected Dec. 28, 1941 English Fort In 1853 the settlers west of the Jordan River were advised by President Brigham Young to build a fort, to protect them from Indians. Thick walls of rock and adobe, with one gate surrounded two acres of land. Adobe partitions separated dwellings that faced a central area containing a combined church and school, and a well of brackish water. The fort was located north of the present site of Taylorsville Cemetery. The foundation of this marker is built of rock from pioneer homes of this community. English Fort Camp

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• International Peace Gardens — 3.5 mi
  A hidden garden where 28 countries are represented in miniature
• Liberty Park — 6.1 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882
• Gilgal Sculpture Garden — 6.1 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood
• Temple Square — 7.3 mi
  The spiritual and architectural heart of Salt Lake City

More markers nearby

• Taylorsville-Bennion Cemetery & Cemetery Flagpole — steps away
• 1900 Baptismal Site — 0.5 mi
• Taylorsville/ Bennion Pioneers — 0.7 mi
• Millrace — 1.3 mi