The location of the park is where, on July 24, 1847, Brigham Young first saw the Salt Lake Valley, which would soon become the new home for the Mormon pioneers.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe Young had a vision shortly after they were exiled from Nauvoo, Illinois.

In the vision, he saw the place where the Latter-day Saints would settle and "make the desert blossom like a rose" and where they would build their State of Deseret.

The words, "this is the place," were soon heard throughout the wagon train as the Mormon pioneers descended into the valley, their long journey having come to an end.

In 1917, B. H. Roberts and a Boy Scout troop built a wooden marker identifying the spot where Young's party had first entered the valley.

In 1957, a group of private citizens bought much of the land now contained in the Park and gave it to the State of Utah to preserve it from commercial development.

[2] The village began around 1959, when a small visitors' center was constructed near the Monument; it featured a large mural by local artist Lynn Fausett.

Well-attended, the monument convinced the legislature in 1971 to appropriate $100,000 to prepare a master plan for the creation of a living history museum.

In 1998, the state legislature approved the creation of the private, non-profit This Is The Place Foundation that would manage the Park.

The construction of a replica of the original BYA, the school that became Brigham Young University, was funded by gifts from donors including Stanley and Mary Ellen Smoot.