Tooele City Pioneer Cemetery and Memorial Garden

By the 1990s, Tooele's oldest dead were nearly lost to memory — a burial ground used from 1850 to 1867, perhaps a hundred graves, none permanently marked, with a 1925 monument that covered only part of the ground. Then in 1997 researchers traced the cemetery's original boundaries, and the developer of the adjoining subdivision donated the land rather than build on it. For the valley's sesquicentennial in 1999, the pioneer societies dedicated this memorial garden over the remaining graves: a town choosing, a hundred and fifty years on, to give its first dead a permanent place.

What the plaque says

Tooele City Pioneer Cemetery and Memorial Garden This monument has been erected by the Sons and Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, July 1999, 150 years after the first settlers arrived in the valley. The original monument erected previously by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers in 1925 encompassed only a portion of the graves that were located here. Records indicate that this cemetery was used between 1850 and 1867. There may have been about 100 individuals buried here. Permanent grave markers were not used, therefore it is not known where each individual was buried. After the new Tooele City Cemetery was started in September 1867 a number of those buried here were moved to the new cemetery. Recent research indicates that as many as 55 burials may have been moved at that time. In May and June of 1997, the original boundaries of the cemetery were determined. The owner and developer of the adjoining subdivision and his family have donated and helped develop the property surrounding the D.U.P. monument that includes the remaining grave sites, as well as the area of the pioneer memorial garden. We express appreciation to them for their sensitivity and concern for this area. We owe much to our pioneer ancestors. It is hoped that the establishment and protection of this area will forever preserve this hallowed ground. 91

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bingham Canyon Mine — 8.1 mi
  The largest man-made excavation on Earth
• Great Salt Lake — 19 mi
  The largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere
• Saltair — 20 mi
  A haunting lakeside resort with a storied past
• International Peace Gardens — 24 mi
  A hidden garden where 28 countries are represented in miniature

More markers nearby

• Tooele's First Cemetery — steps away
• Pioneer Graves Reburied — steps away
• Early Settlers of Tooele County — 0.4 mi
• Old Tooele County Courthouse — 1.0 mi