First Settlement of Icelanders of US

America's oldest Icelandic community began with three converts and a very long walk. Samuel and Margret Bjarnason and their friend Helga Jónsdóttir left the Westman Islands off Iceland in 1854, drawn to the Latter-day Saints, and reached the Salt Lake Valley some three hundred days later by ship, riverboat, and wagon road. Brigham Young sent them to Spanish Fork, where Scandinavians had already settled. Others followed until sixteen Icelanders had made a home here — the first permanent Icelandic settlement in the United States, and still the oldest. Spanish Fork keeps the tie with Icelandic Days each summer.

What the plaque says

Leif Eiriksson, an Icelander, discovered America in 1000 A.D. Eight centuries later 1855-1860 sixteen pioneers from Iceland established in Spanish Fork the first permanent Icelandic settlement in the United States. They were: Samuel Bjarnson & Wife Margret; Thordur Didriksson & wife Helga; Sudmundur Gudmundsson; Loftur Jonsson & Wife Gudrun; Jon Jonsson & wife Anna; Gudrun Jonsdottir: Magnus Bjarnson & wife Thuridur; Vigdis Bjarnadottier (Holt); Gundy E. Haflidiason; Ragnildur S. Hanson and Mary H. Sherwood.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Thistle Landslide — 10 mi
  The ruins of a town destroyed by a massive landslide in 1983
• Payson Lakes — 13 mi
  Three alpine lakes in the pines, twelve miles up Payson Canyon
• Bridal Veil Falls — 16 mi
  A dramatic double waterfall cascading 607 feet into Provo Canyon
• Nebo Loop Summit — 18 mi
  The byway's 9,300-foot high point, with Utah Valley spread out below

More markers nearby

• Old Fort — 0.8 mi
• Old Academy — 1.1 mi
• Pioneer Cemetery — 1.5 mi
• Leland Historical Monument — 2.2 mi