Pioneer Museum

The red brick museum here was paid for from a Fifth Avenue office. Hortense McQuarrie Odlum grew up in St. George, moved east, and in 1934 became the first woman to head a major American department store, taking over a near-bankrupt Bonwit Teller and doubling its business in two years. When the Daughters of Utah Pioneers needed a home for their relics, she funded the building — and lent her own architect — naming it for her McQuarrie grandparents in 1938. Expanded in 1985 by a kinswoman, it still runs on DUP volunteers today.

What the plaque says

This red brick building completed in 1938 was financed by Mrs. Hortense McQuarrie Odlum to house pioneer relics. The addition was financed by Ferol McQuarrie Kincade in 1985. Daughters of Utah Pioneers volunteer their services as docents for the Museum.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm — 2.7 mi
  Real dinosaur footprints preserved in ancient sandstone
• Snow Canyon State Park — 7.0 mi
  Red and white sandstone cliffs with ancient lava flows
• Hurricane Canal Trail — 17 mi
  The hand-dug canal that built Hurricane, now a walking trail blasted into the Virgin River gorge
• Kolob Canyons — 32 mi
  The quiet, uncrowded back door to Zion National Park

More markers nearby

• The Stone Quarries — steps away
• The Dixie Pioneers — steps away
• The Desert Shall Blossom — steps away
• Woodward School — steps away