Finding an Old Farmstead in the City
I was just looking for some flowers.
One day I was out looking for some flowers to practice using my macro lens and saw a sign for Holt Farmstead Park. What was that? There’s no farm in the Salt Lake Valley, especially across from the Jordan River Utah Temple.
Curious, I wanted to go across the street and investigate this so-called farm. To my surprise, there is an old farmhouse with old buildings surrounding it. Wasn’t expecting that. It is the city after all.
The 2.8-acre farmstead belonged to Samuel E. Holt. He built the farmhouse in 1907 for his family of 12 children and would remain in the family until his daughter Mabel Holt Nelson (Aunt Mame) died.
After Aunt Mame died, the family complied with her wishes for the fam to become a place for the community to gather. When they sold the farm, the developer agreed to donate the three acres, along with the buildings to the city of South Jordan.
What I didn’t know at the time was the city of South Jordan owned the farmstead and grants aided in the restoration of the property. I had to look online for this information. I’ll also include a link at the bottom with more information.
After we arrived and found out what the property was, we decided to walk around and check it out. The old farmhouse is beautiful with the trees and the porch. I’m a sucker for old country houses with the porches.
Other buildings included were the old outhouse, milk house, granary, and hay barn. The old hitching post and watering trough are also there.
I was impressed with the work that went into preserving the farmstead. Usually, in major cities like Salt Lake, places like these get torn down for subdivisions or commercial use. It’s sad to see these places get torn down, so to see the Holt family’s farm preserved was a real treat.
If you ever find yourself in the Salt Lake Valley, head over to South Jordan and take a walk around the farm and take in a little piece of history