Cedar City's historic iron marker to be restored following yearslong hunt for missing pieces

CEDAR CITY — Aleese Cardon grew up hearing stories from her grandfather, who worked at the old iron mines in Cedar City in the late 1800s. So, when she learned that the old Iron Foundry Marker had been destroyed, she went on a mission to put it back together.

The Iron Foundry Marker in Cedar City is a monument erected in 1933 to commemorate the iron mission that was directed in 1851 by Brigham Young. It was made of iron ore mined in the town, which also served as the first mining camp in Utah. And, according to historical records, the iron ore mined there was used to manufacture the first iron west of the Mississippi River.

The foundry marker sat at Main Street Park until the early 2000s, when city workers attempted to move it. According to Cardon, the marker "disintegrated," and the parts were moved behind the cemetery, where they sat for nearly two decades. This fact wasn't uncovered until visitors came looking for the old marker.

"Around 2018, somebody reached out to ask where the monument was," Cardon told KSL. "They were trying to see all the DUP (Daughters of Utah Pioneers) and SUP (Sons of Utah Pioneers) monuments, and they couldn't find it."

Cardon serves as the Historic Preservation Commission chair, and she said that immediately after she took office, she and other commission members started digging up history.

"We went through special collections, city things — everything — trying to figure out where it was put, and we finally found it in city records that it was out behind the cemetery," Cardon said. "We went looking for it, but it was missing the plaque and the iron ball that went on top. We asked the cemetery if they had seen it or pieces of it, and they brushed it off."

While wondering where pieces of iron might end up, Cardon and other members of the commission thought that perhaps the local recycling yard might be a place to look. Unfortunately, they were told that there wasn't anything like that there, but that an old iron ball had been seen at the sexton's office in the fireplace at the cemetery. They also left with the assurance that if anything matching the plaque's description showed up, they would get a call.

Sure enough, the iron ball was found in the fireplace, and a couple of years later, the call from the recycling yard came.

"In 2023, we got an email saying that Robinson Recycling just called and said they have the plaque," Cardon said. "Somebody had brought it in to recycle for money, but had taken a saw and cut it all up. We figured we needed to do something with it, so we came up with the idea to see if we could get it remade, and we started the process of getting it together," Cardon said.

For the past couple of years, Cardon and the Historic Preservation Commission have been working hard to find a way to preserve the old Iron Foundry Marker. And with the help of federal funding left over from a road project, the marker is well on its way to being restored.

Cardon said she feels a sense of pride for not only having played a part in locating the pieces of the foundry marker, but of Cedar City and its history. In her role as chair, she says she's worked hard to preserve much of the area's history, including that of Native American tribes who also call it home.

"It's important to preserve history because when it goes missing, then that's a piece of our history that we can't get back," Cardon said. "We can also learn from the fact that it wasn't necessarily taken care of as well as it could have been. That's what you kind of have to do with history sometimes, is take care of it and pass it on."

The old Iron Foundry Marker is being put back together and will be placed at the bottom of 600 West in Cedar City, alongside a new monument. The new monument, Cardon said, will have a sign stating what happened to the old marker and how it was put back together.

The city has tentatively set July 6 for the rededication of the monuments.

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