The “Mormon” Cultural Landscape and Region

Cultural Landscape “The forms superimposed on the physical landscape by the activities of man.” Carl Sauer “Recent Developments in Cultural Geography” (1927) Today many geographers also include identifiable human-induced changes to the natural landscape and the “atmosphere” of a place.

Peirce Lewis “Our human landscape is our unwitting autobiography, reflecting our tastes, or aspirations, and even our fears, in tangible, visible form.... All our cultural warts and blemishes are there, and our glories too; but above all, our ordinary day-to-day qualities are exhibited for anybody who wants to find them and knows how to look for them” “. . . the cultural record we have “written” in the landscape is liable to be more truthful than most autobiographies . . .” "Axioms for reading the landscape, some Guides to the American Scene" in Donald Meinig (ed) Interpretations of Ordinary Landscapes (New York, Oxford University Press, 1979 11-32

Caution “The student of landscape . . . Who tries to look at everything may wind up seeing nothing at all. We must be selective. At any give time we must concentrate on a few carefully chosen features . . . But we must never allow ourselves to forget that the features . . . are related . . . to all the other features of the landscape.” J.F. Hart The Rural Landscape (1998)

Brainstorm What are the characteristics of a “Mormon” Cultural landscape or what are some visible elements on the landscape that would indicate that you are in a region that is predominantly LDS? Note: The official name of the church is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Mormon is a nickname given to members of the church because of a book of scripture called the “Book of Mormon.”

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches

Which pictures are LDS churches? 2 3 1 5 4 6

Which pictures are LDS churches? 2 3 1 5 4 6

One Difference “Mormon” Baptist

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings Bishops’ Storehouse

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings Bishops’ Storehouse Toponyms

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings Bishops’ Storehouse Toponyms Church Related Names Deseret

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings Bishops’ Storehouse Toponyms Church Related Names Deseret Zion

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings Bishops’ Storehouse Toponyms Church Related Names Deseret Zion City layout—Grid Pattern

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings Bishops’ Storehouse Toponyms Church Related Names Deseret Zion City layout—Grid Pattern

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings Bishops’ Storehouse Toponyms Church Related Names Deseret Zion City layout—Grid Pattern

Features of a “Mormon” Landscape LDS Churches LDS Temples Seminary Buildings Bishops’ Storehouse Toponyms Church Related Names Deseret Zion City layout-Grid pattern Things you don’t see No private liquor stores No casinos No lottery

Some “relic” Features of a Mormon Settlement Irrigation ditches

Some “relic” Features of a Mormon Settlement Irrigation ditches Hay Derricks

Some “relic” Features of a Mormon Settlement Irrigation ditches Hay Derricks Lombardy Poplar Trees

Some “relic” Features of a Mormon Settlement Irrigation ditches Hay Derricks Lombardy Poplar Trees Cemeteries

Changing Landscape

Changing Landscape

Meinig’s Mormon Culture Region 1964 Core: centralized zone of concentration Greatest density of occupance Most intense organization and strength of cultural features/characteristics Domain: areas of dominance Less intensity and complexity of occupance, and characteristics Sphere: zone of outer influence only certain elements still evident People of identified culture are a minority

Mormon Culture Region Today Use the following maps to determine the boundaries of the core, domain and sphere of the Mormon Culture Region today. How did you determine the zones How did your zones compare to Meinig’s 1964 boundaries?

Locations of Deseret Book

Locations of Deseret Industries

Surveys of 10 Mormon Cultural Landscape traits Francaviglia, 1969 Hurd and Larson, 2000

LDS Meetinghouses Perry, Utah (pop. ~3800) Cardston, Alberta (pop. ~3500)

LDS Temples

LDS Membership as a percent of population by county, 2000 Source: Glenmary Research Center (Image--http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/geo/courses/geo200/religion.html

http://www.thearda.com/DemographicMap/

Meinig’s Mormon Culture Region 1964 Where is the “Mormon Culture Region today? Is the Mormon Culture Region larger or smaller than in 1964?