Dudler’s Inn (see Dudler’s Wine Cellar)

Perhaps one of the longest living and prominent residents of the area known as Parley’s Hallow, now officially Parley’s Historic Nature Preserve, was Joseph Dudler. About 1864, he settled in this location. Here he built his home. It was two stories, thirty-six by fifty-six feet in size, with rock foundation walls, the narrow front facing south, and the rest of the first floor dug into the side of the valley. The remains of the rock wall, east of the still existing foundation stones of the original building, is a continuation of the front wall of the lower floor of his Inn. The story above was frame with vertical siding, and it was here that the “Rooms To Let,” dining, and kitchen spaces were provided.

As business improved, in 1870, he built a brewery to the rear and west of the Inn. To provide further for this, he built an addition to the Inn itself, continuing the rock foundations further north sixteen feet with an adobe instead of frame upper story. In addition, he continued the lower floor north, only four feet further in the ground, with what has been called the “Wine Cellar.” Still there, it was a rock-walled room, underground, about fifteen-and-a-half feet wide and twenty feet long with ten-foot high, domed, rock ceiling. It is an ideal place for keeping things cool.

His irrigation water supply was brought to the site in a ditch from Parley’s Canyon Creek, but for drinking water he used a spring on the property northeast of the Inn location which is still flowing.

Dudler operated a saloon or two in town as well as the Inn, and in 1892, added a similar business in Park City where he also continued in the brewing and saloon business. He kept the farm and brewery area going in Parley’s Hallow until his death in October of 1897. His descendants continued using the Inn as a residence, referring to it as the “homestead” until it was destroyed by fire, the work of vandals, the night of the 17th of October, 1952.

This is SUP Marker #75, to see the other SUP Markers visit this page.  This marker is located in Parley’s Historic Nature Park along with 4 others (listed on the park’s page).

The Golden Pass Road and Tollhouse

“Travel the Golden Pass, open July fourth (1849). Immigrants coming into the valley may now avoid the difficult routes over Big and Little Mountains by taking the new route. Several thousand dollars have been spent by the proprietor.” So ran part of an advertisement in the third issue of the Deseret News of June 29, 1850.

Parley P. Pratt, having been through the mouth of Parley’s Canyon as well as traversed the Emigration Canyon route, decided that with a certain amount of effort he could make the Parley’s Canyon route much easier than the other. He made a road from what was called Dell Fork, where the Mountain Dell Reservoir is located, down to what eventually became the center of Sugar House, at about what now is Twenty-first South and Eleventh East Streets. Due to the narrowness of Parley’s Canyon, the road crossed the stream sixteen times en-route. It was not a super highway but far surpassed the route down Emigration Canyon. Although some travelers complained about the roughness of the road, those familiar with both routes still preferred it to the original route. To help reimburse Pratt for the costs of construction, a toll or passage fee was charged. The advertisement continues: $.75 for a two-horse outfit, ten cents for each additional pack or saddle animal, and sheep a mere cent per head.”

The toll gate was located on the north side of the stream directly below where the SUP Headquarters is located on the south rim of the canyon at 3300 East Street. Impressions of the old dirt road still can be seen in the hollow, running in front of the relic foundations of Dudler’s Inn. The road ran along the north side of Suicide rock, and when the railroad was introduced it passed the rock on its south side.

A big celebration was held upon the opening of the new road on July 4, 1850. Thus was presented a new route where incoming travelers, whether in wagons, on horseback, the Pony Express, handcarts, walking or eventually even with a stage coach, might safely make their way into the valley.

Eventually the road became part of the transcontinental Lincoln Highway and later I-80 and all follow the mouth of the canyon to the turn-off for East Canyon, now at Jeremy’s Ranch, and later east of Silver Creek Junction in Echo Canyon where the trail turns north to Echo and points east.

This is SUP Marker #76, to see the other SUP Markers visit this page.  This marker is located in Parley’s Historic Nature Park along with 4 others (listed on the park’s page).

Sandstone Wall & Aquaduct

Parley’s Creek, originally known by the Indian name Obit-Ki-Ke-Che Creek, was the largest stream of water which flowed from the Wasatch Mountains into the valley. This creek had beginning high in the Wasatch Mountains to the north near what became known as Pratt’s Pass, near Lookout Peak. It ran through the pass near Little Mountain Summit and over into Parley’s Canyon where it was joined by other streams on its journey into the valley. From its entrance into the valley the water coursed its way northwest until it finally joined the Jordan River near Fifth South Street on its way to Great Salt Lake.

With the growth area west and north of the mouth of Parley’s Canyon, it became apparent that a way had to be found to carry the water to those needing it. Ditches were dug which were fine for those living in the bottom lands of the hollow, but it was soon determined that its walls were to be built with a conduit running along its top, like those done by the ancient Romas but on a much smaller scale, water could be lifted up to the plateaus on the north and south sides of the hollow. A water commission was formed of property owners in the bottoms as well as on the north and south plateau areas to determine how this was to be done as well as to see that the water was fairly distributed.

The walls were built of sandstone blocks from the canyon and were constructed with the channel on the top to convey the water as needed. The reservoir was built in 1891 and the walls shortly after. Only a relatively small segment remains. It is still a handsome piece of masonry, forty feet high where it cut across a ravine and an arch was laid up to allow for the water draining through the ravine to be unhampered in its course to Parley’s Creek. Early photographs show lombardy poplars had been planted along the route, at least along the segment still extant.

This section of the north wall is all that remains of either wall. The rocks were either abandoned in place or lifted out and used for construction of other buildings or left on the valley floor. The water needs were provided for in the construction of the Mountain Dell Reservoir five miles up the canyon in 1915.

This is SUP Marker #77, to see the other SUP Markers visit this page.  This marker is located in Parley’s Historic Nature Park along with 4 others (listed on the park’s page).