Iosepa

What remains of Iosepa can still be visited. Pronounced Yo-say-pa, (Hawaiian for Joseph) this small, remote village survived the harsh desert atmosphere for 28 years. The little colony began in 1889 by Hawaiian LDS converts who came to Salt Lake City beginning in 1875 to be close to the LDS Temple. However, because of a lack of available land with water in Salt Lake Valley, and the converts desire to live as a group, the LDS Church bought property for them in Skull Valley. By 1917 the community was abandoned after it was announced that an LDS Temple was to be build in Hawaii. In August 1989, LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the cemetery as the final resting place for the Hawaiians. The population reached its height in 1911 when there 228 residents.