Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Utah Salt Lake City The Pioneer Memorial Museum

The Pioneer Memorial Museum

This museum remembers the tough Mormon trek across America through an intriguing array of artifacts.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Added By
Kelly Catalfamo
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The Pioneer Memorial Museum   birdafterdark
The Pioneer Memorial Museum   Tracie Hall on Flickr
The Pioneer Memorial Museum   birdafterdark
The Pioneer Memorial Museum   birdafterdark
The Pioneer Memorial Museum   birdafterdark
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
  zackofalltrades
Trowel   AAlcazar / Atlas Obscura User
Death mask   IronQueen / Atlas Obscura User
Deseret Alphabet primer   AAlcazar / Atlas Obscura User
A prosthetic wooden leg   AAlcazar / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Walking through this museum feels like rummaging through all the long-forgotten junk in someone's grandmother's basement ... that is, if it were an enormous and well-organized basement. 

The Pioneer Memorial Museum is the final resting place for many of the objects that pioneers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints carried with them on their westward journey from Nauvoo, Illinois, and the museum strangely boasts that it is the world's largest collection of artifacts on one particular subject. The museum is operated by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, an organization devoted to remembering that fateful trek across the nation.

Behind the glass cases are objects that tell of the everyday domestic life that the Latter-Day Saint migrants brought with them on their trek—quilts, pianos, guns, dresses, and more. Some of the items are somewhat unexpected, such as Buddhist sutra scrolls in the manuscript room, brought by Chinese and other Asian laborers working on the transcontinental railroad, or a Kris dagger brought by a pioneer, originally from Indonesia. But some of the items are truly bizarre: One woman's collection of rattlesnake rattles, a petrified potato, Victorian hair art, and a bloodstone that Brigham Young, a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ,  believed to be endowed with magical properties. There are even grim specimens like bottles full of teeth, and a wooden prosthetic leg a man made for himself after an accident. Pioneering was no easy feat. 

The museum also displays artifacts from the short-lived, theocratic State of Deseret, including currency and materials in the Deseret Alphabet, an alphabet invented by Young that never quite took off. 

Related Tags

Mormons Museums And Collections Museums Wild West

Know Before You Go

Museum hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Entry is free. The 500 bus line stops on the northeast corner of Main Street and North Temple, and it will take you up the hill to the museum (also for free).

Community Contributors

Added By

K Cady

Edited By

AAlcazar, Kevin Christiansen, EricGrundhauser, zackofalltrades...

  • AAlcazar
  • Kevin Christiansen
  • EricGrundhauser
  • zackofalltrades
  • IronQueen

Published

October 22, 2015

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.dupinternational.org/dyn_page.php?pageID=11
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Deseret
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_alphabet
The Pioneer Memorial Museum
300 Main Street
Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103
United States
40.77661, -111.891149
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Anderson Tower Monument

Salt Lake City, Utah

miles away

Seagull Monument

Salt Lake City, Utah

miles away

Solitude Speedway

Salt Lake City, Utah

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City

Utah

Places 17
Stories 6

Nearby Places

Anderson Tower Monument

Salt Lake City, Utah

miles away

Seagull Monument

Salt Lake City, Utah

miles away

Solitude Speedway

Salt Lake City, Utah

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City

Utah

Places 17
Stories 6

Related Places

  • Rock Springs, Wyoming

    Rock Springs Historical Museum

    A local museum remembers one of the worst acts of anti-Chinese violence in American history.

  • The James Museum

    St. Petersburg, Florida

    James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art

    This Florida museum dedicated to western artwork is entered through an artificial canyon with imported sandstone.

  • A taxidermy grizzly bear.

    Choteau, Montana

    Old Trail Museum

    Touch an actual dinosaur bone at this eclectic trove of Rocky Mountain treasures.

  • Nederland Mining Museum.

    Nederland, Colorado

    Nederland Mining Museum

    One of the few surviving Panama Canal steam shovels stands outside a tiny Colorado mining museum.

  • Carriage Works in Adobe Flats.

    Montrose, Colorado

    Museum of the Mountain West

    An eclectic collection of artifacts from the Wild West is preserved in a remote fictional pioneer town.

  • Inside the cabin.

    Breckenridge, Colorado

    Edwin Carter Museum

    A museum of natural history, Edwin Carter's original log cabin home and workshop houses taxidermy specimens.

  • The Carnegie Library portion of the museum

    Guthrie, Oklahoma

    Oklahoma Territorial Museum & The Carnegie Library

    Home to the story of the outlaw turned funhouse mummy, Elmer McCurdy.

  • The bullet hole, now greatly expanded.

    St. Joseph, Missouri

    Jesse James Home Museum

    The house where the famed outlaw was shot by a dirty coward is now a museum to the criminal's legacy.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.