Arts & Culture
Latest historical marker to showcase Lehi’s railroad history
Celebrate the first trains in and out of Lehi at the Utah Southern Railroad Historical Marker Unveiling on Saturday at 10 a.m., at the Utah Southern Railroad Depot at 225 E. State St.
As the first train into Lehi was greeted by a cheering crowd and “lively band,” the Lehi Silver Band will play several pieces during Saturday’s short ceremony. A few descendants of the depot station master, R. J. Stice and his wife, Alice May Speer, will speak. Members of the Stice family along with Jerry and Annette Harris, who rescued the depot in the 1970s, will unveil the marker.
After the unveiling, guests are invited inside the train depot to view displays, artifacts and a model train exhibit. The event is outside. Dress accordingly.
The marker is the sixth of 36 historical markers to be installed over the next three years through the Lehi Historical Marker Program.
The program was founded in 2022 when the Lehi Historical Society won funding through a generous donation and continued support from the John David and Danaca Hadfield family of HADCO Construction and a Lehi City PARC grant.
For more information, contact the Lehi Historical Society at lehihistory.com or 801-768-1570.
A Short History of the Utah Southern Railroad in Lehi
The first symbolic spike of the Utah Southern Railroad, which was owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,was driven by Church President Brigham Young on May 1, 1871. Track-laying began a month later. The 13 miles to Sandy were opened to traffic in September. By February of 1872, the line had reached the point of the mountain (Traverse Mountain).
The first train chugged into Lehi amid the cheers of hundreds of townspeople accompanied by a lively band. Most of the enthusiastic crowd saw, for the first time, a steam locomotive with its huge blunderbuss smokestack and shrieking whistle.
The effect of the railroad’s arrival in Lehi was dramatic. Teamsters and bullwhackers transported goods to and from points south as well as timber and ore from the rich mines in American Fork Canyon and the Tintic District. State Street and Second East exploded with growth. Dozens of business establishments sprang up to service the railroad and its clientele. The railroad changed ownership multiple times over the ensuing decades.
Jerry and Annette Harris purchased the Utah Southern Railroad Depot in the 1970s and moved the original portion of the building to the Harris property north of the tracks at 813 North and 150 East. In the late 1990s, the building was returned to its original location at 225 E. State St.
The depot remains the oldest still-standing railroad depot in Utah. In 1996, the structure was purchased by the Lehi Historical Preservation Commission, which was successful in listing the building on the National Register of Historical Places.
