Nielsen's Grove (Also Known as Lakeview Garden)

Address: 1800-2000 South Sandhill Road
In a fond memento of yesterday, Nielsen's Grove recalled the people and events of another day. Those events colored and molded an era over a century ago, when life was simpler and the general prosperity of the time allowed people to do things for leisure, rather than by necessity.

Such was the milieu in which Danish immigrants, Jorgen Christian Nielsen and his wife, Annie Byer, found themselves when they moved to Lakeview in 1876. Annie died in 1880.

in 1880 Nielsen bought the Grove property from Harold B. Skinner, the original land patent holder. Although he followed the cabinetmaking trade for many years, Nielsen was also known as the first florist in the area. Using a natural spring as the central feature of the grove, Nielsen designed and planted an elaborate park and amusement area, attracting many people.

Surrounding the pond was silverleaf poplar, mulberry trees and shrubbery. Trellis structures, planted with grape vines and climbing roses, covered at least ten picnic areas. The grove was ornamented with four marble statues, allegedly carved by an itinerant stone carver. Two of those statues are presently on exhibit at the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum in Provo. A covered bowery with a dance floor was among the structures in the grove. A big attraction was a twelve-seat, center-pivot, human-powered swing.

It is believed that Jorgen Nielsen performed most of the work on the grove himself, assisted by special trades when they were necessary. There is no way of knowing if all of the structures were built at the same time or over a lengthy period of time. Today all that remains at the site are some of the trees planted by Nielsen and the spring-fed pond. A popular recreational area for many years, the site was purchased by the City of Orem in 1995 for park development.

(Orem Historic Homes and Sites of Interest.  Orem, UT: Historic Preservation Advisory Commission, 2009.) Used with permission.