First Icelandic Settlement Monument, Spanish Fork, Utah
Posted by: 
DrJay
N 40° 06.280 W 111° 38.458
12T E 445370 N 4439571
A lighthouse monument, hundreds of miles from the ocean.
Waymark Code: WM1J2N
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 05/16/2007
Views: 174
This lighthouse is a bit out of place in Spanish Fork, Utah, hundreds of miles from the ocean. It is a monument to honor the first permanent Icelandic settlement in the United States in 1855, right here in Spanish Fork. You might think Utah would be an unusual place for settlers from Iceland to put down roots, but they were converts to the Mormon Church, and elected to settle in the new territory established by the Mormon pioneers. This monument, dedicated in 1939, honors those early settlers. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the President of Iceland, has visited this monument twice since 1997. The first was to join in the the centennial celebration of the Icelandic Association of Utah. The second was in June, 2005 to partipate in the rededication of the monument during the Spanish Fork Sesquicentennial celebration. In preparation for the rededication, the City had added to the memorial a black marble wall that lists the names of the first 410 Icelandic settlers to the area.
Every year the City of Spanish Fork holds its Icelandic Days celebration to honor this unique heritage.
The monument is also loggable as a waymark in the Utah Historical Markers category,
WM1D75, and
a virtual cache:
Lighthouse in the Desert