Startup Candy Factory

William Startup carried his candymaking tools west in 1868 — scales, iron bars, a drop machine, shears, and hooks — and in 1875 opened Provo's first candy factory. He died three years later, but his widow Hagar kept the kettles going for a decade, and in 1895 their sons took the business over as the Startup Candy Company. It went on to claim the first candy bar made in America, the Opera Bar of 1896. The original machinery still runs, and Startup's endures as Utah's oldest candy company, hand-pulling suckers by the same recipes today.

What the plaque says

In 1868 William D. Startup brought across the plains the tools of candymaking: scales, iron edging bars, drop machine, shears and hooks. After pursuing his profession in Salt Lake City, he moved to Provo and built the first candy factory in 1875. Following his death, 1878, his widow, Hagar, continued the business for ten years. In 1895 her sons William, Walter and George became owners. The original machinery is preserved at the present factory.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bridal Veil Falls — 8.4 mi
  A dramatic double waterfall cascading 607 feet into Provo Canyon
• Sundance Mountain Resort — 12 mi
  Robert Redford's intimate, arts-minded ski resort on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos, in the North Fork of Provo Canyon.
• Aspen Grove — 13 mi
  The mountain-base trailhead for Mount Timpanogos and Stewart Falls
• Alpine Loop Summit — 13 mi
  The 8,000-foot high point of the Alpine Loop, face to face with Mount Timpanogos

More markers nearby

• Escalante Trail — 0.5 mi
• The American Family — 0.5 mi
• Old Tabernacle Lintel Stone — 0.5 mi
• Provo's Liberty Bell — 0.5 mi