77 years ago, Utah dedicated its ‘This is the Place’ monument

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Many people in Utah celebrate Pioneer Day on July 24 — but some may not know that July 24 is also the anniversary of the dedication of Salt Lake City’s “ This is the Place ” monument.

On July 24, 1947, thousands of people gathered at the bottom of the monument as it was dedicated. The chair over the dedication was David O. McKay , who would later become the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Dignitaries at the dedication all had a hand at the trowel as they set the last stone at the monument. Everyone in attendance listened as then-President George Albert Smith paid tribute to the pioneers — but few were able to get close enough to see the details of the stature.

J. Reuben Clark (a Latter-day Saint who served in the First Presidency of the church) was part of the program — and Clark brought his granddaughters to the ceremony.

While ABC4’s Craig Wirth wasn’t at the dedication in 1947, he was able to speak with Clark’s granddaughters quite a few years later.

Clark’s granddaughters — Louise Sharp Davis and Annette Sharp Mower — a few years after the dedication. They told Wirth in 1996 that they remembered how everyone at the dedication was dressed up even though it was a hot day (94 degrees, according to Wirth’s research).

They also said the monument used to be the biggest thing around, with nothing else around it.

“It looked so much bigger then, than it does now,” Clark’s granddaughters said of the monument.

The towering structure became a new landmark at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. The location of the monument is said to be around the area where LDS prophet Brigham Young stopped his carriage in 1847 and said “ This is the right place .”

Today, This Is The Place Heritage Park is set on 450 acres and honors the pioneer past of Utah year-round with several activities and attractions.

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