One block Woods Cross
The most historically dense block in Woods Cross
Hogan Park, and the burial ground the water table moved
One block on West 1500 South, a block north of City Hall, carries two Daughters of Utah Pioneers markers, a log cabin built of native logs in the late 1850s and moved twice since, and the 1849 burial ground of the settlement that grew into Woods Cross. The settlers gave up that ground because the water rose under it, which is the same thing a careful buyer checks on the flat, west side of this crossroads town today.
By Scott Buehler, Moving Utah
Updated October 2026
The short answer
Hogan Park is a neighborhood park at 750 West 1500 South in Woods Cross, a block north of City Hall on the flat valley floor. What earns it a page is the history packed into one square of grass: two Daughters of Utah Pioneers markers, the log Hogan cabin, and the settlement's 1849 burial ground, with the cabin and the marker to the graves standing about a hundred feet apart. The park is free, open from five in the morning to eleven at night under the city's own code, and thirty minutes covers the history. One practical note before you go: Woods Cross bans animals other than service animals from its parks by ordinance, so this is not a place to walk the dog.
One block, in numbers
1849
the first burial in the settlement's ground
1940
the year marker 58 was raised on 1500 South
1976
the year marker 404 was raised at the cabin
1978
the year the cabin was moved into the park
The first grave
An 1849 burial ground, and the water that eventually moved it
Daughters of Utah Pioneers marker number 58, titled Pioneer Cemetery and raised in 1940, sets out the story in a few lines. In the early summer of 1849 the first known death occurred in Sessions Settlement, and this plot was chosen as the burial ground. The first burial was Charles Peter Hogan, the eighteen month old son of Eric and Halga Hogan, who died after eating poisoned parsnips. Nearly a score of people were eventually buried here, including pioneers, Native people, and a California emigrant whose headstone stands on the opposite side of the monument.
Then comes the line that makes this more than a plaque. The marker records that later sub irrigation caused the settlers to locate a new cemetery. In plainer terms, the water table under these flats rose far enough that the burial ground could not be kept, and the community moved it. A hundred and seventy five years on, the high water on the west side of Woods Cross is still the first thing a careful buyer asks about, and it is still what governs how a lot drains and what can be built on the flats. The place has been telling anyone who reads the marker the same thing since 1940.
One point of confusion is worth heading off. This is not the Daniel Wood Cemetery, a separate private family plot dedicated in 1858 about a mile away in the Bountiful area. Two marked pioneer grounds a mile apart are exactly the sort of thing that easily gets merged into one.
The cabin
Built of native logs in the late 1850s, used as a granary, and moved twice since
Daughters of Utah Pioneers marker number 404, titled Hogan Pioneer Cabin and raised in 1976, stands with the building it describes. Between them the two plaques tell it this way. Eric G. M. Hogan, a Norwegian immigrant recorded as the first South Bountiful settler, arrived in 1848 and built a first cabin near 934 West and 1500 South for his wife Halga and their children. He later built the surviving cabin of native logs for his wife Ingeborg. One plaque gives the year as 1857 and the other as 1858, so both are worth carrying.
The cabin's later life is the ordinary fate of a building that outlives its purpose. It served as a granary, was presented to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, moved to Latter-day Saint chapel grounds in 1934, and moved again to Hogan Park in 1978. Two moves mean the cabin is an artifact standing on ground it was not built on, which is worth knowing before you read too much into where it sits relative to the burial ground.
There is no visitor center, no admission, and no interpretation beyond the plaques themselves. It is a fifteen minute stop that rewards reading slowly, and it is the single most historically dense corner of Woods Cross.
The Hogan name coincidence
The park carries the surname of the family the markers describe, who were here from 1848. The firm selected to build the new city complex, Hogan Construction, happens to carry the same common Norwegian surname, and there is no connection between the two. It is the sort of coincidence that gets repeated wrong, so it is worth naming plainly once and setting aside.
What is changing
A new city hall and a redesigned park, on the same block
As of 2026, Woods Cross is designing a new city hall and a redesigned Hogan Park as one complex, with the whole of it at the drawing stage. Method Studio was selected for the architecture and Hogan Construction for the building.
For a visitor the useful way to hold this is simple. The markers and the cabin are the part of the block meant to carry through a redesign, and the courts, the fields, the playground and the pavilion are the part a redesign would rework. So treat any amenity list for this park as a snapshot rather than a promise, and check the current plan with the city if you are counting on a particular court or field.
Visiting the park
What the park code says, which is more useful than an amenity list
Woods Cross does not publish a page describing what is in each of its parks, but it does publish its parks ordinance, Title 8 Chapter 8-06 of the municipal code, and that document answers the questions people actually arrive with. Parks may be used between five in the morning and eleven at night. No animal of any species may be brought into a city park except a service animal accompanying its owner, so Hogan Park is not a place to walk the dog. No alcohol, no hunting or fishing, no camping, no fires except in a designated facility, and no firearms or fireworks without a permit.
A few clauses are more useful than they sound. Bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, rollerblades and scooters are allowed except where posted otherwise, which settles a question that is genuinely unclear in a lot of Utah cities. Snowmobiles and off highway vehicles are banned outright. A vehicle or trailer left in a park lot for more than a continuous twenty four hours counts as storage and may be towed. If a court, a field or the pavilion is the reason for your trip, call the city first on 801-292-4421, both because reservations run through the city and because the block is in the middle of a redesign.
Getting there
Hogan Park sits a block north of City Hall on the 800 West civic spine, so from anywhere in the city the directions are the directions to City Hall. Off I-15, take exit 316 at 500 South, go east to 800 West and turn south; the park is on the southeast corner at 1500 South. The marker to the burial ground faces West 1500 South and reads best on foot.
DirectionsBefore you go
- Leave the dog at home. Animals other than service animals are not allowed in Woods Cross parks.
- The two plaques at the cabin give different build years, 1857 and 1858, so do not be thrown by seeing both.
- Some aggregator sites file the park under West Bountiful. It is a Woods Cross city park at 750 West 1500 South.
- The block is being redesigned as part of the city hall project, so courts, fields and the pavilion may change. Call the city before planning around them.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
Quick answers
Hogan Park, answered
More than the ball courts suggest. One square of grass a block north of City Hall holds two Daughters of Utah Pioneers markers, number 58 titled Pioneer Cemetery and raised in 1940, and number 404 titled Hogan Pioneer Cabin and raised in 1976, along with the log cabin itself and the 1849 burial ground of the settlement that grew into Woods Cross. Around that history are a playground, a pavilion and covered tables, ball courts and fields, and a walking path. Woods Cross does not publish a per park amenity list, so confirm the current one on 801-292-4421.
At 750 West 1500 South in Woods Cross, on the southeast corner of 800 West and 1500 South, a block north of City Hall. From City Hall it is about a tenth of a mile, a three to four minute walk. Coming off I-15, take exit 316 at 500 South, go east to 800 West, then south to 1500 South. Some aggregator sites file the park under West Bountiful, but it is a Woods Cross city park.
There was, and it is marked. In the early summer of 1849 the first known death occurred in Sessions Settlement, and this plot on what is now West 1500 South was chosen as the burial ground. By the account on the 1940 marker, nearly a score of people were eventually buried there, including pioneers, Native people and a California emigrant whose headstone stands on the opposite side of the monument. The settlers later moved to a new cemetery, and the marker is what stands on the site today.
The first burial in the Woods Cross pioneer ground. He was the eighteen month old son of Eric and Halga Hogan, and the marker records that he died after eating poisoned parsnips in the early summer of 1849. His father, Eric G. M. Hogan, was a Norwegian immigrant recorded as the first South Bountiful settler, who arrived in 1848 and built the family's first cabin near 934 West and 1500 South. The park carries the family's surname.
Because of the water table. The 1940 marker states that later sub irrigation caused the settlers to locate a new cemetery, which is to say groundwater rose far enough under these flats that the burial ground could not be kept. It is the most useful line on the block, because the same condition still governs the west side of this city. Groundwater, drainage and what a lot does in a wet spring are ordinary things to check on the Woods Cross flats, and the place has been saying so on a plaque since 1940.
In the late 1850s, and the two plaques at the site give different years. Eric G. M. Hogan built the surviving cabin of native logs for his wife Ingeborg, and one plaque reads 1857 while the other reads 1858. The cabin later served as a granary before being presented to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, and it has been moved twice, to Latter-day Saint chapel grounds in 1934 and to Hogan Park in 1978, so it stands on ground it was not built on.
No. Hogan Park carries the surname of the family whose 1848 arrival and 1850s cabin are documented on the two Daughters of Utah Pioneers markers standing in the park. Hogan Construction is the firm selected to build the new city hall and park complex, alongside Method Studio for architecture. The two share a common surname and nothing else, and the coincidence is worth clearing up.
As of 2026, the city is designing a new city hall and a redesigned Hogan Park as one complex. The markers and the cabin are the part meant to carry through; the courts, fields, playground and pavilion are what a redesign would rework, so treat the amenity list as a snapshot.
No. Woods Cross Municipal Code section 8-06-080 bans animals of any kind from city parks except a service animal accompanying its owner, so Hogan Park is not a place to walk the dog. The same code sets park hours from five in the morning to eleven at night, allows bikes, skateboards, skates and scooters except where posted, and bars alcohol, fires outside a designated facility, and firearms or fireworks without a permit.
One block explains this city, and the rest of it takes a partner who works south Davis
The marker on 1500 South says the settlers moved their cemetery because the ground was too wet to keep it, and a hundred and seventy five years later groundwater, drainage and what a lot does in a wet spring are still the first questions worth asking on the west side of Woods Cross. Those are parcel level questions rather than city level ones, and they are answered by walking the ground with somebody who has walked a lot of it. Tell me what you are weighing and I will put you with a Davis County partner agent who works these streets, and stay on the file for the financing side.
Or call Scott: (435) 357-4345or send Scott a message
Keep going
Continue your Woods Cross research
Eight more doors into Woods Cross, chosen for what this page covers.
Questions about Woods Cross?
Call Scott, send a message, or find out what your Woods Cross home is worth. No pressure, no obligation.
Referral Disclosure: For moves outside Southern Utah, I can connect you with trusted local agents. If you choose to work with one, their brokerage pays my brokerage (Real Broker, LLC) a referral fee from their commission. This costs you nothing extra, and you are never obligated to use my referral.