MARKERS & MONUMENTS

MARKERS & MONUMENTS


This current database enables historians, researchers, and citizens to access the name, location, and photos of markers located throughout Utah. The database is a map, fully searchable by location, theme, and keyword. The Utah Historical Society is currently working with the Marriott Library at the University of Utah to house the text and other information, including additional photographs, of historical markers.

VIEW MAP
Every noble life leaves its fiber interwoven forever in the work of the world.

John Ruskin

HOW TO USE THE MARKERS & MONUMENTS MAP


A marker is usually a bronze, aluminum, or wood plaque that contains text and sometimes images. The monument holds the marker and, in most cases, is a freestanding structure made of wood, stone, or brick. In cases where the marker is inscribed directly on the monument, then the marker and the monument are the same.

Historical markers may contain valuable information about Utah history, but they are also historical artifacts, reflecting the particular point of view of the placing organization. They show how segments of society viewed historical events at the time the markers were placed. As such, they should be used with caution by researchers and historians, never taken at face-value and always corroborated by other historical sources.

ABOUT THIS DATABASE


UPDATING THE DATABASE

The Utah Historical Society (UHS) has a statutory responsibility (Utah Code 9-8-203-3) to create and maintain an inventory of markers and monuments, enter into cooperative agreements with other groups and organizations to collect and maintain the information needed for the inventory, encourage the use of volunteers to help collect the information and to maintain the inventory, and make the inventory available to the public and history and heritage organizations.

HISTORY

The UHS created this database in 1996 after the State of Utah appropriated funds for a statewide survey of historical markers and monuments. In 2017, we began to redesign and update the Markers & Monuments Database by repackaging existing data, resurveying markers, updating information, and adding new markers on a platform that meets the needs of a twenty-first century audience. The work of placing the data on a geo-spatial platform was performed by USH's Antiquities Section.

ABOUT THIS DATABASE


UPDATING THE DATABASE

The Utah Historical Society (UHS) has a statutory responsibility (Utah Code 9-8-203-3) to create and maintain an inventory of markers and monuments, enter into cooperative agreements with other groups and organizations to collect and maintain the information needed for the inventory, encourage the use of volunteers to help collect the information and to maintain the inventory, and make the inventory available to the public and history and heritage organizations.

HISTORY

Historical markers may contain valuable information about Utah history, but they are also historical artifacts, reflecting the particular point of view of the placing organization. They show how segments of society viewed historical events at the time the markers were placed. As such, they should be used with caution by researchers and historians, never taken at face-value and always corroborated by other historical sources.

HISTORICAL

UTAH

HISTORY

MEMORIALS

To understand the nature, meaning, and uses of historical memorials, the Utah Historical Society has launched the Historical Memorial blog series.

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A geohumanities project aimed at restoring indigenous place names to the features of Utah and the Intermountain West.
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Learn the stories behind names given to the mountains, valleys, and streams in Utah and how the process came to be. 

QUESTIONS? CONTACT US!

CONTACT US



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Katherine Kitterman
kkitterman@utah.gov