The historical marker, created by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, stands on the corner of a residential property located at 2490 East 3900 South. The marker, which is of the newer design, reads:

Uriah Nephi Smart Tannery

In a deep hollow south of 3900 South, Uriah Nephi Smart built his tannery in 1880. This two story building was thirty feet wide and one hundred feet long. It was built of adobe bricks, which were made from clay taken from a bank north of the building site. The foundation was of red sandstone from Red Butte Canyon, and the lumber in the building was red pine from Millcreek Canyon. There were eight large redwood vats on the bottom floor which were used to soak the hides, some in lime water to loosen the hair, and others in tannic acid to soften the hides. Uriah Smart made his own tannic acid from pine bark, ground in a mill south of the tannery. He also made his own neat's-foot oil used to soften the leather by boiling down animal bones in large cast-iron kettles. On the top floor of the tannery the leather was fleshed and softened, sheep and goat skins were tanned, and the hides were stored.

No. 444                                   1988                                Salt Lake Olympus County

A Deseret News story about the placement of the marker, reads:

DUP PLACES MARKER IN MEMORY OF OLD TANNERY

Published: Saturday, Nov. 12 1988 12:00 a.m. MST

The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers has commemorated the building of the Uriah Nephi Smart tannery, constructed in 1880, by placing a historic marker near the corner of 2490 East (Mercury Lane) and 39th South.

The marker was placed on land donated by Rowland Smart, a grandson, near the original site of the tannery.The tannery consisted of a two-story building 30 feet wide by 100 feet long nestled in a deep hollow south of what is now 39th South. The building featured a sandstone foundation made of rocks from Red Butte Canyon and adobe bricks made from the clay of a nearby creek embankment. Large redwood vats were used to hold lime water for loosening the hair from pelts and tannic acid mixtures used for softening the leather.

Water for the vats, which were housed on the lower level, was drawn from a spring above the tannery site. The water was piped in using a gravity flow system as the tannery was some 30 feet lower than the springs. The upper floor was used for fleshing and softening the leather and for storing finished products.

Smart made his own tannic acid from pine bark, ground in a mill located south of the tannery. He also used large cast-iron kettles to boil down animal bones to make oil for softening the leather.

The tannery operated on the site from 1880 until 1921 when the building was torn down.

A bronze plaque was attached to a large rock to create the historic marker. LaVerne A. Diehl, county marker chairman, said the rock for the monument was donated from a local quarry and the plaque was donated by the national DUP organization. A brief dedication ceremony was held in the parking lot of Our Savior Lutheran Church, across from the monument site.

In addition to a brief history and description of the tannery, the plaque features an artist's rendering of the former building."