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Historic Cove Fort Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Cove Fort is the only remaining 19th century fort built during the settling of the Utah Territory that still remains standing. Ira Nathaniel Hinckley, grandfather of President Gordon B. Hinckley, was called by Brigham Young to oversee the construction of the fort in 1867.

The fort is built of black volcanic rock with lime mortar; the walls are 100 feet square and 18 feet high.¹ The fort provided protection and supplies to travelers along the sparsely populated area along the Mormon Corridor between Salt Lake City and California.

As the area developed, the need for the fort waned. On August 21, 1919, President Heber J. Grant signed over the fort title to William Henry Kesler who had leased the land since 1903. It was subsequently purchased in 1988 by the Cove Fort Acquisition and Restoration Foundation, comprised of descendants of Ira Nathaniel Hinckley.

The fort was restored in 1988-89 after being deeded to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Cove Fort Acquisition and Restoration Foundation.

It was dedicated on May 9, 1992 by President Gordon B. Hinckley and is currently maintained by the Church.

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SOURCES

¹ Frank Beckwith, "Historic Old Cove Fort", Improvement Era, (April 1927).