Layton's Little Fort

The name concedes the ranking: Kaysville had the big fort, so this one, built in 1854–55 on the south bank of Kays Creek, was simply Little Fort. Seven or eight families, the Dicksons, Greens, Lindseys, Whitesides, Shipleys, and Crofts, arranged their houses in a square so the outside walls did the fort's work. It served mainly as a lookout over the hollow where Shoshone families camped. Little Fort Lane still carries the name through what became Layton — a street sign remembering a square of houses.

What the plaque says

The pioneers who settled what is now Layton, Utah, established a fort in 1854-55 on the road then called Little Fort Lane. This road extended from Five Points, north to Little Fort and joined the Kays Creek roads from the east. In those years the families of Billa Dickson, John Green, William Lindsey, Mark and Pratt Whitesides, and the Shipley and Croft families, lived in "The Little Fort." It was given this name because a large fort had already been established in the center of Kaysville. This little fort, to protect the people from the Indians, was built on the south bank of Kays Creek overlooking the sandridge road from the Morris Town Hill. The fort served mainly as a lookout point on the Indian camp area. Friendly Indians lived along the hollow. Little Fort was built in the shape of a square with the houses forming the outside walls which were built of rock, dried mud and mortar. Vegetable gardens which provided necessary food were raised in the center court of this fort and were tended for several years after the fort was abandoned. One cabin that was moved from Little Fort can still be found at 400 North Fort Lane, near the Layton High School. This cabin had a single room and a saddle-notched construction.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hill Aerospace Museum — 3.4 mi
  Over 90 military aircraft displayed indoors and on the tarmac
• Lagoon Amusement Park — 6.7 mi
  A beloved family amusement park operating since 1886
• Ogden Union Station — 11 mi
  A grand 1924 train depot turned museum complex
• Snowbasin — 12 mi
  One of the country's oldest ski areas and a 2002 Olympic downhill venue — world-class terrain that somehow still skis uncrowded.

More markers nearby

• Layton Veterans Park — 0.8 mi
• Stage Coach Station — 0.8 mi
• Kaysville Tabernacle — 2.5 mi
• Weinel Mill — 2.6 mi