Discovery Road – Winner of Best In State 2022 – Best Documentary

Since its debut in 2012, Discovery Road has produced over 60 episodes, taking viewers on immersive journeys down U.S. Highway 89 through six historic counties in central and southern Utah.

 

Each 30-minute episode blends history, mystery, heritage, and natural beauty into family-friendly storytelling that educates as much as it entertains.

 

Broadcast locally on KUED-TV and across the country through the National Educational Television Association, or NETA, the series has become a public media touchstone for anyone seeking a deeper connection to the region’s past. It is also used in classrooms across the state as part of Utah’s history curriculum.

Mormon Pioneers traveling to the west Covered Wagons Courtesy of Shaun Messick

The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area is the only National Heritage Area designated and named for a specific people, the Mormon Pioneers – as they forged to the west. Their remarkable story of dedication, fortitude, and extraordinary efforts offers one of the best features of the Mormon colonization experience in the United States. The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area has been identified by Congress as a factor in the expansion of the United States and contributing to the United States.

Districts

travel planner for the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area

Cowboys, Outlaws, and the Movies 

The unique landscape features a geological wonderland that has been the backdrop for feature films including; “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid,” and “Jeremiah Johnson.” While traveling through the picturesque scenery, you might recognize a scene or two. Included in the heritage area is the birthplace of Utah outlaws, Butch Cassidy and Matt Warner. Matt was a lifelong friend and a gang member alongside of Butch.  Many movies were filmed in the scenic Under the Rim District of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area.

Mormon Colonization 

In the later part of the 1800s the Mormon pioneers began their great relocation to the west. They trekked 1,400 miles from Illinois to the Great Salt Lake. This mass-Exodus brought about colonization in Utah, Nevada, the southwest corner of Wyoming, the southeast corner of Idaho, southeast Oregon, and a large portion of southern and eastern California.

log cabin with Mormon Pioneer Family Echo City Utah
Family Portrait of Mormon Pioneers in Echo City, Utah

‘J.C. Penney’ Store Being Restored Project Has Backing of Main Street Program, Heritage Foundation

DATE 10/21/2005 10:17 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

‘J.C. Penney’ Store Being Restored
Project Has Backing of Main Street Program, Heritage Foundation

An century-old building in downtown Mt. Pleasant City that once housed one of the regions first J.C. Penney stores is being restored, thanks to the efforts of a Salt Lake City business owner.

Pete Henderson, owner of the Rio Grande Café in Salt Lake City, has purchased the old “Wasatch Block Building” at 64 W. Main Street. Built around 1889, the structure has retained much of its Victorian charm. It was originally built to house Wasatch Mercantile Company. It later was home to the Star Theatre and, in 1926, a J.C. Penney store. Most recently it was a video and general store.

Henderson is working with architect Kim Hyatt to restore the building to its former glory. “I just have a great love of old historical buildings,” he said. “But I’m quickly learning that I’ve taken on a mighty big project.”

He is receiving assistance and input from the Mt. Pleasant Main Street Program, the Utah Main Street Program, Wasatch Academy and the Utah Heritage Foundation. Currently, Henderson plans to turn the upper portion of the building into an apartment, and is in discussions with Mt. Pleasant City and Wasatch Academy on bout how to best utilize the lower portion of the building.

Through the Utah Heritage Foundation, he is taking part in a pilot project to help finance his endeavor. Working with Zion’s Bank, the Utah Heritage Foundation has started a new collaborative rehabilitation loan program that offers low-interest and flexible financing to property owners seeking to rehabilitate historical commercial buildings.

The goal of the program is to provide a resource to Main Street partner communities to further their efforts to revitalize historical downtown areas, says Monte Bona, who heads Mt. Pleasant’s Main Street Program. “The loan program is unique because it specifically targets rehabilitation efforts that are aiming to restore a building’s original character,” he says.

Restoring old buildings to their original form helps enhance the marketability of that building, as well as restoring the identity of the city, which plays a pivotal role in enhancing the experience of visitors to the region, Bona says.

“People come to Mt. Pleasant and travel along U.S. Highway 89, the heritage highway, because they want to see life as it was 100 years ago,” he says. “Projects like Peter Henderson’s are helping us preserve the cultural and architectural treasures of this pioneer heritage area and strengthen opportunities for local heritage-related businesses.”

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For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

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