Mary Jane Dilworth

The first school in Utah met in a tent. In October 1847, only weeks after the pioneers arrived, seventeen-year-old Mary Jane Dilworth gathered the fort's children under canvas and began teaching—no schoolhouse, no desks, barely a settlement yet, but a teacher. She's remembered as the first schoolteacher in the valley, which is a large title for a teenager improvising lessons on a dirt floor. Utah would go on to build a reputation for valuing schooling; it started here, with a girl not much older than her oldest students.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• This Is The Place Heritage Park — 1.9 mi
  A living history village at the mouth of Emigration Canyon
• Gilgal Sculpture Garden — 2.3 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood
• Natural History Museum of Utah — 2.4 mi
  A world-class museum built into the foothills above Salt Lake City
• Liberty Park — 2.7 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882

More markers nearby

• Curtis Park — 0.7 mi
• Blue Star Memorial Highway - Sugarhouse Park — 0.8 mi
• Golden Pass Road and Tollhouse — 0.9 mi
• Utah Penitentiary — 1.1 mi