The genesis of Pioneer Park can be traced back to just one week after the first pioneers arrived in 1847. The pioneers built a fort on the 10-acre property currently known as Pioneer Park. The "Old Fort" settlement was one of the first permanent Anglo-Saxon settlement west of the Mississippi River. One of the first schools in the West was built in the fort in October 1847. About 160 families and 1,700 people went through the square the first two years, according to the Utah Historical Society.

A letter to the editor by Oliver B. Huntington in the Deseret News on Aug. 10, 1888, described the inside of Old Fort, which now had walls all around the perimeter.

"Most of the houses were all built as part of the fort wall, with port holes for defense in case of ambush by Indians," the letter said.

There were 29 log homes on the initial site, which grew to 450 log cabins once the fort reached its peak size of 30 acres, according to the Salt Lake City Landmark Commission. Today, all physical evidence of those structures is gone.

There are many reports by Utah historians that the bell from the LDS temple in Nauvoo was once placed in the middle of the fort.

In records kept by the International Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Sons of Utah Pioneers and the Utah Historical Society, some referred to Old Fort as the Plymouth Rock or Jamestown of the West. The state's first known speed limit was also put into law at this time. Signs were posted within the fort that no one could ride through "faster than a slow trot." Those caught breaking the law had to pay a $1.50 fine.

On Dec. 9, 1848, the first official meeting of the new provisional state of Deseret was held at the fort. On July 24, 1849, the state's first elections were held there. But as more families moved outside the fort to more permanent residences, the fort became simply a campground for people who had just arrived in town and by 1890 was just a city park.

On July 24, 1898, Old Fort's name was officially changed to Pioneer Park. The park, with its playgrounds and two swimming pools, was a popular place for families and children around the turn of the century.

But even as early as the 1890s there are reports that state leaders thought about selling the land. Records indicate that the transformation from a family-friendly area into what Pioneer Park is known as today started in the 1940s. The railroad and other industries pushed residents away.

"Pioneer Park became less used and acquired a seedy reputation," according to the Salt Lake Historical Landmark Commission in a 2003 letter prepared for the City Council.