Utah Penitentiary

For nearly a century Utah's prison stood on this ground, a walled territorial penitentiary six miles out from town. Its most famous condemned man was Joe Hill, the labor songwriter shot by firing squad here in 1915 after a murder trial the world protested. When the city closed in around the walls, the state moved everyone to the Point of the Mountain in 1951 and razed the place — dynamite barely dented it, so crews took it down stone by stone. Those stones built this monument. The rest is Sugar House Park.

What the plaque says

After World War II the growth of the city to the south and east made it imperative to construct a large prison facility in a more isolated area. In 1951 all the old penitentiary buildings were demolished and the inmates transferred to the "Point of the Mountain" 30 miles away. This site then became beautiful Sugar House Park. The stones in the monument are from the old penitentiary. The name "Sugar House" comes from a Mormon pioneer attempt to grow sugar beets and refine sugar in this area. The refining process was unsuccessful and the factory was torn down, but the name remained to designate a suburb of Salt Lake City. After 1849 pioneers entered and left the valley from the Sugar House staging area through Parleys Canyon to the east.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Gilgal Sculpture Garden — 1.5 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood
• Liberty Park — 1.9 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882
• This Is The Place Heritage Park — 2.7 mi
  A living history village at the mouth of Emigration Canyon
• Natural History Museum of Utah — 3.0 mi
  A world-class museum built into the foothills above Salt Lake City

More markers nearby

• Blue Star Memorial Highway - Sugarhouse Park — 0.3 mi
• Bill & Vieve Gore — 0.5 mi
• Sugar House Monument — 0.5 mi
• Jordan & Salt Lake City Canal — 0.5 mi