Metal plaque on native iron rich rock with the following enscription:
Cedar City's Iron Heritage
Cedar City's rich deposits of iron ore were first recorded by Spanish explorers Dominguez & Escalante in 1776. In 1850, Mormon leader Brigham Young sent a group of colonists to mine these deposits to provide needed iron implements to western settlers. This colonization became known as the "Iron Mission". In 1923, Union Pacific constructed a rail line which allowed for increased production but by the mid 1980's foreign competition and domestic tax issues led to the closure of the mines. This area still holds one of the nation's richest deposits of iron.