A Garden Picnic

This must be one of the loveliest ward buildings in the area.  It is known as the Garden Park Ward Meetinghouse and Grounds.  We combined three Headquarter Zones for this special event.  What made it even more special was that our departing Mission Presidency joined us.  It was a delightful evening!  A very special note of thanks to Elder & Sister Swingholm for arranging everything, including the harpist!

Here's a little history about the Garden Park Ward:

 The land on which this beautiful meetinghouse and grounds are located, where the Red Butte Creek flows into the Salt Lake Valley, was originally deeded to President Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1857.  President Young  later conveyed the property in 1875 to his younger brother, Lorenzo Dow Young.  In 1880, the property was acquired by Lorenzo Young’s daughter, Josephine Young Carter, who subsequently transferred twenty-one (21) acres, including this present site, to LeGrand Young, President Brigham Young’s nephew and general counsel to the LDS Church.  Lorenzo and LeGrand Young jointly made improvements to the site, including the planting of numerous trees, many of which remain on the grounds today.

John C. Howard acquired the property in 1918 and enlarged the residence located on the site and added the walls surrounding the grounds, as well as other small buildings. In 1938, the LDS Church acquired the property for the construction of the Garden Park Ward meetinghouse.  The current meetinghouse, built on the foundations of the Howard residence, was originally dedicated on April 2, 1939, by President Heber J. Grant, seventh president of the LDS Church.  On April 2, 1989, the meetinghouse was rededicated to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary.

 Following extensive renovations in 2007, the meetinghouse and grounds were rededicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley, fifteenth president of the LDS Church, on January 20, 2008.  The rededication of the Garden Park Ward was President Hinckley’s final public appearance prior to his death on January 27, 2008.

 The oak grove, trees, stream and pond, together with the meetinghouse and chapel provide a place of worship, tranquility and beauty with historic ties to the Mormon Pioneers.  When visiting the grounds, we invite your kind observance of the following guidelines in recognition of the sacred nature of the buildings and grounds as a religious site and to promote the use and enjoyment of the grounds by others.