| The Brigham Young Farm House at This Is The Place Heritage Park is the original structure that was built in 1863 on the Mormon leader’s 823-acre farm in what is now the Sugarhouse area of the Salt Lake Valley (about 700 East and 2300 South). Brigham Young used the farm for experimental agriculture to determine which crops and livestock would survive and thrive in the unfamiliar climate conditions of Utah.
Crops ranged from the familiar, such as alfalfa, strawberries and cauliflower to the exotic, like Chinese sugar cane and chufa nut (an edible root from Africa). About 25 acres of mulberry trees were imported to feed imported silkworms in what eventually was a futile attempt to produce silk domestically in Deseret. The farm also produced most of the dairy products, vegetables and grains used by the Young families.
The farming operation was managed by Hamilton Gray Park, but the home and dairy were run by several of Brigham’s wives. They managed the household and supervised the daily activities there, from cooking to laundry to spinning wool and other aspects of pioneer life. In addition to the wives and their children, the household included girls hired to help and, at least for meals, the large number of farmhands needed to produce crops on such a large acreage.
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Though he never lived in the house, Brigham visited often. He entertained visiting dignitaries and held dances and other social events there. His daughter, Clarissa, recalled that her father especially enjoyed showing off the farm to visitors from the East.
The house had a couple of unusual features for its time. A three-sided wooden trough carried cool water from a spring near the house into a basement tank so fresh water did not have to be carried in buckets from a well each day as was necessary in most pioneer homes. And while the second floor was primarily bedroom space, one large room was kept as a dance hall.
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