West Jordan

West Jordan grew up around a canal and a Scotsman. Settled in 1848 on the west bank of the Jordan, it might have stayed a scatter of farms if Archibald Gardner — a millwright who would build more than thirty mills in his life — hadn't dug a two-and-a-half-mile millrace here in 1850 and raised a sawmill, then a grist mill, on its water. Industry followed the wheel: a woolen mill, and in 1851 the first leather tannery west of the Mississippi. Gardner's mill still stands, restored now as the shops of Gardner Village.

What the plaque says

Daughters of Utah Pioneers No. 79 Erected Dec. 1941 West Jordan In 1848 Samuel Egbert, Horace Ensign and Thomas Butterfield and families settled here. In 1849-1850 the settlers built the first canal from the Jordan River, in 1851 Samuel Mulliner tanned the first leather, in 1851 Matthew Gaunt built the first woolen mill in the West, in 1863 General Patrick E. Conner organized the first mining company. The Jordan smelter was built in 1870 by J. W. Kerr and Isadore Morris. Archibald and Robert Gardner built a saw mill and later a grist mill. Archibald Gardner Camp

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• International Peace Gardens — 7.8 mi
  A hidden garden where 28 countries are represented in miniature
• Gilgal Sculpture Garden — 9.7 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood
• Liberty Park — 9.8 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882
• Temple Square — 11 mi
  The spiritual and architectural heart of Salt Lake City

More markers nearby

• West Jordan Pioneer Church — steps away
• Salt Lake & Utah RR/Utah Idaho Sugar Factory — 0.9 mi
• West Jordan City Park Salt Lake and Utah Railroad — 0.9 mi
• Utah Idaho Sugar Company Factory — 0.9 mi