Sugar House in Salt Lake City in Salt Lake County, Utah — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Jordan & Salt Lake City Canal
Photographed By Dawn Bowen, June 18, 2007
1. Jordan & Salt Lake City Canal Marker
Inscription.
Jordan and Salt Lake City Canal. . The foundation work on the Salt Lake Temple was nearing completion and soon would be ready for the granite upper walls. The four day trip from the quarry with oxen-drawn wagons could not possibly provide stone as quickly as it was needed. To expedite deliverey and also to reduce the cost by three-fourths, a canal was proposed on which the stones could be delivered on barges. Though conceived as early as 1849 the canal was long in coming and a first venture, a segment began in 1855 from Big Cottonwood Canyon to Red Butte Canyon, was a failure. 84106 A second canal tapping the Jordan River in the narrows, called the Jordan and Salt Lake City Canal, was started in 1864. Its terminus was at the forks of City Creek Canyon Creek, close to the present intersections of State and North Temple Streets. , In 1872, the advent of the railroad being extended south out of Salt Lake City into Utah Valley and beyond, together with a spur east out of Sandy into Little Cottonwood Canyon to the granite quarry, provided an easier and still less expensive way of getting stone from the quarry to the temple block. The use of the canal for hauling stone was forgotten; for providing irrigation water it was completed and is still in use today. The canal may still be found open from the point of the mountain to 3300 South and 1300 East Streets. From there it courses through the city north of 3300 South Street in a four foot diameter culvert under a sidewalk or roadway or snuggled between houses. The culvert is located just west of this monument. , The same culvert now also functions as a storm water overflow for Parleys, Emigration and Red Butte Canyon Creeks. From North Temple and State Street, the water courses west, underground, until it returns to the Jordan River again after its long detour. , Sponsored by the Salt Lake City Public Utilities Dept. in honor of the city’s water pioneers.
The foundation work on the Salt Lake Temple was nearing completion and soon would be ready for the granite upper walls. The four day trip from the quarry with oxen-drawn wagons could not possibly provide stone as quickly as it was needed. To expedite deliverey and also to reduce the cost by three-fourths, a canal was proposed on which the stones could be delivered on barges. Though conceived as early as 1849 the canal was long in coming and a first venture, a segment began in 1855 from Big Cottonwood Canyon to Red Butte Canyon, was a failure.
84106
A second canal tapping the Jordan River in the narrows, called the Jordan and Salt Lake City Canal, was started in 1864. Its terminus was at the forks of City Creek Canyon Creek, close to the present intersections of State and North Temple Streets.
In 1872, the advent of the railroad being extended south out of Salt Lake City into Utah Valley and beyond, together with a spur east out of Sandy into Little Cottonwood Canyon to the granite quarry, provided an easier and still less expensive way of getting stone from the quarry to the temple block. The use of the canal for hauling stone was forgotten; for providing irrigation water it was completed and is still in use today. The canal may still be found open from the point of the mountain to 3300 South and 1300 East Streets. From
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there it courses through the city north of 3300 South Street in a four foot diameter culvert under a sidewalk or roadway or snuggled between houses. The culvert is located just west of this monument.
The same culvert now also functions as a storm water overflow for Parleys, Emigration and Red Butte Canyon Creeks. From North Temple and State Street, the water courses west, underground, until it returns to the Jordan River again after its long detour.
Sponsored by the Salt Lake City Public Utilities Dept. in honor of the city’s water pioneers.
Erected 1991 by Sons of Utah Pioneers. (Marker Number 39.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Sons of Utah Pioneers series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1849.
Location. 40° 43.521′ N, 111° 51.634′ W. Marker is in Salt Lake City, Utah, in Salt Lake County. It is in Sugar House. Marker is on E 2100 South, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1100 E 2100 South, Salt Lake City UT 84106, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 10 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Old Sugar House (within shouting distance of this marker); Kearns - St. Ann’s Orphanage (approx. one mile away); Calder's Park
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 28, 2007, by Dawn Bowen of Fredericksburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 3,262 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on June 28, 2007, by Dawn Bowen of Fredericksburg, Virginia. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.