This Is the Place Heritage Park, Heritage park in Salt Lake City, US

This Is the Place Heritage Park is a 450-acre Utah State Park at the foot of the Wasatch Range near Emigration Canyon. Its Heritage Village, begun in 1975, gathers original and replica buildings from Utah's history, including Young's Forest Farmhouse, the Manti Z.C.M.I. store, a blacksmith shop, adobe homes, and a replica of the Brigham Young Academy. The This Is the Place Monument, dedicated in 1947, stands on the spot where Brigham Young first saw the Salt Lake Valley.

The park commemorates the 1847 arrival of Mormon pioneers in Salt Lake Valley, where Brigham Young declared this their settlement destination. This moment marked the beginning of permanent occupation and shaped the region's development for generations to come.

The park's living history village grew from a small 1959 visitors' centre with a mural by Lynn Fausett. Pioneer Day, a Utah state holiday on 24 July, marks the pioneers' 1847 entry into the valley. The park was adopted as the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission's living legacy project, and since 1998 a private non-profit foundation has managed it.

The park sits at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, east of downtown Salt Lake City, and covers 450 acres, so plan on walking between the monument, the village and the visitors' center. Two replica trains run through the grounds to shorten the distances. The terrain rises toward the Wasatch foothills; wear sturdy shoes and allow several hours.

The Pioneer Children's Memorial displays seventeen stones engraved with over 600 names of children who died during the journey to Salt Lake Valley. This quiet memorial reminds visitors of the harsh realities and difficult journeys that families faced, a side of history often overlooked in broader pioneer narratives.