The West…just as it was! Step back in time with a visit to This Is The Place Heritage Park. The non-profit This Is The Place Foundation manages Utah’s premier living history attraction, a historic 450-acre Utah state Park. The mission is to preserve and promote the heritage and history of Utah. You’ll find it alive in storied accounts of the settlement of the West, told by knowledgeable interpreters in a setting of original and replica historic homes. You’ll also see artisans and interpreters demonstrate 19th Century frontier life in a working environment. While you look on, the blacksmith explains his trade while he creates items used elsewhere in the Village and the furniture-maker turns ordinary wood into a masterpiece!

A lively variety of domestic skills are demonstrated in Village homes. You can watch wool being carded and spun into yarn that will be colored with a kaleidoscope of dyes made from native plants, many grown right here at the Park. At another historic building, candles are being dipped layer-by-layer over a small open fire in the back yard and quilting demonstrations are sure to leave you warm at heart!A visit to the Park is not a tour of historic artifacts behind velvet ropes and glass, but a true experience of life as it was in the early days of the West. The Native American Village offers a window to a world long since gone, where members of Utah’s indigenous tribes interpret the history of their native people. You can also enjoy the Park from the comfort of one of three replica trains and see and hear the history of the settlement, or simply spend the day walking the quiet streets on your own.

One of the highlights of our visit, or at least Henry and Becca thought, was to the Brigham’s Doughnut shop.

I found a recipe for Brigham’s Doughnut in the Friend Magazine, July 1975:
Pioneer Recipes

Buttermilk Doughnuts
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
flour
Combine ingredients, kneading in enough flour to make a soft dough that’s not too sticky. Roll out and cut into doughnuts. Fry in deep, hot lard. President Brigham Young enjoyed this pastry.

We also enjoyed the pony rides and train rides!!