Downtown Salt Lake City

Temple Square

When you visit Salt Lake City, you'll find that Temple Square is the center of the city and everything is a grid out from it. This idea began with the Mormon church founder Joseph Smith and Brigham Young instituted it here in Salt Lake. You may also notice when you visit that the streets are very wide. This was by design. Brigham Young wanted streets wide enough so you could turn a ox team and cart around. Unfortunately, the blocks remained large rather than get divided up as was intended. The streets remained large too as everything was designed for cars as Salt Lake grew, but we’re trying to fix that and make the city more walkable.

Temple Square
Temple Square is much more than a religious icon. It's a collage of fascinating history, singular architecture, and gourmet dining. Temple Square in Salt Lake City  is Utah's most popular tourist destination. 

The Salt Lake Temple is a worldwide icon of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the heart of Temple Square. The massive granite edifice was constructed in a neo-gothic style over the course of a 40-year period between 1853 and 1893.

They originally used Utah sandstone for the foundation, which was buried when troops were sent out to Utah during tensions in the 1850s. When they uncovered it, they saw the sandstone had cracked, so they replaced a lot of it with granite.

The Mormon temple is reserved for special ceremonies, sacraments, and rituals for members of the Mormon church, so only they are allowed in. But since it is being renovated now, anyone will be allowed to tour it before it begins to be used again when the renovations are complete

Salt Lake Tabernacle
Home of the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Tabernacle, located just north of the Assembly Hall, is an architectural and acoustic wonder. The famous organ at the front of the Tabernacle contains 11,623 pipes, making it one of the largest and richest-sounding organs in the world, and the building was constructed so that even the drop of a pin at the front of the building can be heard throughout the building. The Tabernacle is usually open daily for tours. In addition, the public is welcome to attend choir rehearsals on Thursday evenings and the Music and the Spoken Word broadcasts on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am.

Assembly Hall
Construction began in 1877 and completed in 1882. It was used as a church and gathering place for members of the Mormon church. Now it is a place for free concerts

Conference Center
This building contains a 21,000-seat auditorium and an 850-seat theater. It also houses an array of artworks that tell about scripture stories, Church teachings and organization, etc. Free, guided tours of the Conference Center are available daily from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m, and tours of the beautiful rooftop gardens are available April through October. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and during the month of December.

Hotel Utah
It was once the premier hotel in Utah. As Utah grew, people knew they needed a nice hotel for everyone coming into the city, especially with all the new wealth. It opened in 1911 and hosted most major Utah events for the following 76 years. It originally had a bar and served alcohol, but the hotel closed in 1987 and reopened as an event center and restaurant owned by the Mormon church as the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. And you definitely can’t get a drink there now. But it does have some great views and a great restaurant at the top as well as banquet halls for parties and events. It is currently closed for renovation as well.

Beehive House
The Beehive House was built in 1854 as the primary residence of Brigham Young as the first territorial governor of Utah and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was primarily a residential home, but was also used to entertain guests and dignitaries, including President Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Mark Twain.

Lion House
The Lion house was also a family home of Brigham Young. Brigham Young was married to 56 women, but only 27 were part of his households, and he only had children with 16 of his wives, which ranged between the ages of 15 and 69 when he married them. He had either 56 or 57 children depending on the source, which is roughly an average of 3.5 children per wife, which was below the average at the time.

Arena and Gateway

• Vivint Arena
  • Built in 1991 and home of the Utah Jazz, which moved to Utah from New Orleans in 1979, hence the name “Jazz”
• Devereaux House
  • Built for William Staines in 1857 and later expanded by William Jennings, who was believed to be Utah’s first millionaire. He made his money primarily in the mercantile business, creating the Eagle Emporium, which he eventually sold to the Mormon church which became a component of ZCMI, the largest department store in the west. The mansion is now owned by the Mormon church and is used as a reception center
• Union Pacific Depot
  • The Union Pacific Depot was built in 1909 and served as the center of railroad passenger operations for Union Pacific in Salt Lake
  • It was used by Amtrak for a time
  • It is now part of the Gateway mall and is a concert venue
• Gateway mall
  • Clark Planetarium has many exhibits that are free, as well as an IMAX theatre and a Dome theatre for shows
  • The mall used to be an open-air shopping center but is now much more focused on entertainment, art, and dining
• ​Holy Trinity Cathedral - The Greek Orthodox community of Salt Lake City organized in 1905 to form its first church, becoming the 14th Greek Orthodox parish community in the United States and the oldest between the Mississippi River and the Pacific coast. The building on South Temple was completed in 1925 after the community outgrew their old building.

Theatre and Salt Palace

• Capitol Theatre - The Capitol Theatre is home to Ballet West (one of the top companies in America), the Utah Opera, and many other performances. It was built in 1913 and named the Orpheum Theatre, but later renamed the Capitol Theatre.
• Salt Palace - The Salt Palace was originally built in 1899 but destroyed by a fire in 1910. It was rebuilt and demolished a few times until its current form. It hosts large and small events. One of my favorites is the annual Comic Con called FanX

Main Street / Whiskey Street

• CityCreek is the premier shopping in downtown Salt Lake. It is open air, but can be closed in the winter or bad weather. It is owned by the LDS church as part of the revitalization of downtown
• Prior to City Creek, there were two malls here, including ZCMI, one of the first department stores in the US and the largest in the West. You can see the original cast iron facade of the ZCMI department store still there when you visit.
• Eagle Emporium is the oldest commercial building in downtown. It later became a branch of Zions Bank. The clock outside was erected in 1873.
• Eccles Theater - This theater is a newer addition to downtown. The main theater seats about 2500 people and has had a number of broadway performances. Also a great place for large conferences.
• ​Gallivan Center - This is a year-round open space that is home to concerts, food trucks, performances, and ice skating in the winter.
• Whiskey Street, which was originally the name of Main Street until 1906, was known for its many watering holes. Mormons were actually famous for “Valley Tan” in the 1800s. In fact, Brigham Young owned a distillery near the mouth of Parley’s Canyon. So spirits were an important part of early life here in Utah until the temperance and prohibition era, when they changed to taking a much stricter stance that we still see today.
• Salt Lake Stock and Mining Exchange Building - Built in 1909, this was the center of financial and mining exchange for about 70 years, especially as Salt Lake boomed.