Salt Lake City Cemetery’s longest-serving sexton, Mark Smith, honored with new arboretum
The arboretum was unveiled on Saturday and honors the cemetery ‘s longest serving sexton, Mark Smith.
Salt Lake City leaders unveiled a new arboretum in the city’s historic cemetery on Saturday morning, dedicated to their longest-serving sexton, Mark Smith.
“Naming after sexton Mark Smith is appropriate as he was a valued civil servant who loved the cemetery and its beautiful canopy,” Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a press release. It was said that Saturday was Smith’s birthday. He died in 2019.
The arboretum – in the southwest corner of the cemetery, near the main entrance – has 80 species of trees, from Austrian pine to zelkova, and each tree is marked with a small plaque at its base. Visitors can find a map online and in the sexton’s office.
“Over the past 170 years, generations of Salt Lake City residents have planted and cared for trees to improve the quality of life. As a result of those efforts, a forest for humans grew, ”Tony Gliot, director of urban forestry of Salt Lake City, said in the press release.
Gliot and his team worked with Arbnet, an accreditation group, on the recognition last year, and the arboretum is the first officially accredited arboretum on urban property, according to the press release.
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