First Utah Pioneer Cemetery (Outside S.L.)

When the first death came to Holladay in 1848, the settlers chose a knoll above the meadows of Big Cottonwood Creek and made it their cemetery — tradition says the first grave held a baby. For 127 years the local church tended these thirteen acres for the whole community, until the ground was sold in 1975. The burials were plain and quick: within a day or two of death, families often dug the grave themselves, five or six feet deep, and laid the dead in a shroud or a snug wooden box. Funerals drew the whole town.

What the plaque says

In 1848, when the first pioneer death occurred in Holladay, the cemetery knoll southeast of here, overlooking lowland watery meadows of a then meandering Big Cottonwood Creek, was selected as community cemetery. Tradition has it that the first burial was a baby. For 127 years, local LDS Church leadership oversaw this 13-acre cemetery in behalf of the entire community. In 1975 the cemetery was sold. In early pioneer Utah times, burial was generally 1 to 2 days after death. Families themselves often dug the grave 5 to 6 ft. deep. The deceased person was dressed in regular clothing or in a burial shroud (a long nightgown-type of burial dress) and placed in a snug-fitting wooden box or in blankets and cloth material. Funerals were a community affair, most persons participating one way or another-attending the funeral at church, providing food for participants after the service, or helping the bereaved family do their chores.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Gilgal Sculpture Garden — 5.8 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood
• Liberty Park — 6.1 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882
• This Is The Place Heritage Park — 6.2 mi
  A living history village at the mouth of Emigration Canyon
• International Peace Gardens — 6.3 mi
  A hidden garden where 28 countries are represented in miniature

More markers nearby

• Our Sweet Three Year Old Daughter — steps away
• Holladay's First Church & School Bldg. — 0.2 mi
• The Lower Canal — 0.3 mi
• Old Fort Site — 0.4 mi