Garden Grove - Garden Grove, Iowa
Pleasantly situated amid an abundance of timber on the east fork of the Grand River is Garden Grove, the first permanent encampment of the Latter-day Saints. The Saints made camp on April 24, 1846, and within two weeks the men had cleared 300 acres of land, planted crops, built log houses and cut 10,000 surplus rails for fencing.
Garden Grove, the first semi-permanent settlement on Potawatomi Indian lands in territorial Iowa, served as a Mormon way station from 1846 to 1852. Cabins and fences were built, wells were dug, and crops were planted to provide a resting place for those who could not continue and for those who would soon arrive.
They enclosed and planted 715 acres to supply food for later emigrants and established a village that is still in existence today. About 600 Latter-day Saints settled at Garden Grove. By 1852 they had moved on to Utah.
Orson Pratt recorded on May 10, 1846, "A large amount of labour has been done since arriving in this grove: indeed the whole camp are very industrious. Many houses have been built, wells dug, extensive farms fenced, and the whole place assumes the appearance of having been occupied for years, and clearly shows what can be accomplished by union, industry, and perseverance."
The present-day town of Garden Grove, Iowa, grew up near the old Mormon camp. The camp may be visited west of the present-day town of Garden Grove.