Arts & Culture
Historical marker program mission clarified
The Lehi Historical Society recently ratified the mission and guidelines of the Lehi Historical Marker Program at its regularly scheduled board meeting on May 21 and is eager to share them.
“There has been some misunderstanding recently regarding the purpose of the Lehi Historical Marker Program,” said Lara Bangerter, director of the Lehi Historical Society. “We are eager to publicly share our mission and guidelines for the large historical markers we have been installing around town. We hope this will bring much-needed clarification.”
The mission and guidelines for the Lehi Historical Marker Program are as follows:
● The Lehi Historical Marker Program is a storytelling history project meant to highlight short, entertaining aspects of Lehi’s history in story form.
● Entertainment and information are the key goals. People remember stories, so the information will be shared in story form.
● The histories of buildings, locations, public figures, business leaders, religious leaders and those with compelling stories that have general appeal will be a priority.
● All locations will be chosen by the Lehi Historical Society and Lehi Historic Preservation Committee.
● Name recognition for the sake of name recognition is not a goal. No living person will be mentioned. To be mentioned, a person must have been dead for at least five years.
● People living today or who have done preservation work will be addressed with a QR code.
● We will work within the frame of 378 characters.
The meeting minutes also note, “This is a historical program to honor events, locations and people who have been dead for at least five years, and which are of historical significance for the entire community. … Obtaining permission from the nearby property owner is a courtesy, not a requirement, since the markers will be on the Lehi City easement.”
The tenth marker was unveiled on May 22 at the Police Department, located at 128 N. 100 East. The marker honored Broadbent & Son, Lehi’s longest-running family-owned business.
The historical society founded the Lehi Historical Marker Program in 2022. The hope was to install 36 large historical markers around Lehi over the next five years. When John David and Danaca Hadfield of HADCO Construction caught the vision of the project and were willing to back it financially, the historical society then applied for a Lehi City PARC grant, which completed the funding and support needed to make the project a reality.
To date, markers have been placed to recognize the Lehi Round-Up Rodeo, Margaret Wines Park, Memorial Building, Lehi Roller Mills, the George Goates Farm, the Utah Southern Railroad, Jordan River Bridge, Mary Wanlass Hutchings, Thomas R. Cutler Mansion, and Broadbent & Son.
The next historical marker unveiling will be on July 9 at 7 p.m. at the Tithing Barn of the Lehi Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 651 N. 200 East.
For more information, visit lehihistory.org or call 801-768-1570.
