Arts & Culture
Public invited to unveiling of marker at historic Wines Park
The public is invited to the unveiling of a large historical marker at Wines Park on Thursday July 18, at 7 p.m. at the east end of the park.
The marker will be the second of 36 signs to be installed over the next three years through the Lehi Historical Marker Program. The first marker was unveiled on June 22 at the Lehi Round-Up Rodeo Grounds.
“We are super excited to finally have signs going in the ground,” said Lara Bangerter, director of the Lehi Historical Society and administrator of the marker program.
“Wines Park was one of Lehi’s earliest parks,” she added. “Ira D. Wines, a prominent Lehi businessman and former Pony Express rider, gifted the property to the city in 1908, when the city promised to maintain the property as a park and name it after his wife, Margaret, who had recently passed away.”
The city has kept that promise, and the park has been the city’s go-to park ever since. In its earliest years, the park had a wooden bandstand and 38 varieties of trees. In 1940, the old bandstand was replaced with a bi-level, cement bandstand and restrooms. “Many pleasant summer ‘Concerts Under the Stars’ were enjoyed [here] by music lovers,” according to “A Guide to Lehi City’s Historical Sites and Places.”
Over the years, local clubs and groups have raised funds for trees, playground equipment, rose bushes, fireplaces, tables, large concrete platforms and the like. In 1936, the Athenian Club, a local women’s literary group, built the working brick drinking fountain still located on the east side of the park.
“Of course, the park has also hosted countless carnivals, family reunions, picnics, concerts and chuck wagon breakfasts,” said Bangerter. “For decades, it has also served as the starting point for Lehi’s many parades. This park deserves a marker so people can be aware of the park’s vast history and, hopefully, appreciate it even more.”
The unveiling ceremony is expected to last about 30 minutes. A brief history will be shared, and Lehi City Councilwoman Michelle Stallings will give remarks before the unveiling by the new Miss Lehi, AnaLeigha Meek.
The Lehi Historical Marker Program was founded in 2022 when the Lehi Historical Society won funding for the program through a generous donation and support from the John David and Danaca Hadfield family of HADCO Construction and a large Lehi City PARC grant.
