Car Tour
July 16, 2015
2:00 p.m.
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1. Daughters Utah Pioneer Museum (300 North Main Street)
The Pioneer Memorial Museum (also
known as DUP Museum) houses the
world’s largest collection of artifacts on
one subject, and features displays and
collections of memorabilia from the
time the earliest settlers entered the
Valley of the Great Salt Lake until the
joining of the railroads at a location
known as Promontory Point, Utah on
May 10, 1869.
As you enter the Pioneer Memorial
Museum, you walk back into history.
Here are the belongings of a hardy pioneer people who migrated 2,000 miles west
across the plains from Nauvoo, Illinois, and from all parts of the world to seek
religious freedom and to build a great city in the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding
areas.
The artifacts of the pioneers may surprise you. While the museum displays plenty of
necessary objects fashioned out of the scarce resources available in Utah, the
pioneers also leave a material record of remarkably ornate decorative arts. They
carefully tended their luxury items -- as small and delicate as crystal salters or as
large and cumbersome as pianos -- all the way across the continent. The museum
displays many of these treasures that reminded them of "home" or their loved ones
they were leaving behind. Also, pioneer craftsman were astoundingly adaptable to the
materials available in Utah, making gorgeous pine furniture and painting it in a
fashion that makes it look like more expensive wood, such as mahogany. Early
Utahns also owned some of the finest goods available at the time, brought in either
with ox team or by railroad later. From rugged, homemade utilitarian objects to
elaborate Victorian decor, you can see the full range of the material record of the
resilient pioneers at the Pioneer Memorial Museum.
Daughters of Utah Pioneers ("DUP") was organized April 11, 1901, under the
leadership of Annie Taylor Hyde (daughter of John Taylor) in Salt Lake City. .
DUP consists of 185 companies overseeing the activities of 1,050 camps in 15 states
and Canada with a total living membership of 21,451. The organization is open to
any woman who is "over the age of 18 years, of good character, and a lineal or legally
adopted descendant of an ancestor who came to Utah before the completion of the
railroad on May 10, 1869.
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Each year the Board sponsors the publication of historical material into a hardbound
book. At the present time there have been five multi-volume sets of books published:
Heart Throbs of the West; Treasures of Pioneer History; Our Pioneer Heritage; An
Enduring Legacy; Chronicles of Courage and Pioneer Pathways. A four volume set of
women's histories called Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude containing the stories
of 8,000 women was published in 1998.
In 1928, the DUP began an official campaign to raise money for the construction of
their own museum. In December 2002, the daughters placed a monument on the
east side of their museum in Salt Lake City entitled "Ever Pressing Forward - Lest We
Forget" showing a pioneer mother and son looking back on a small daughter's grave
as they press on the trail. This is a motto they would like every person with Utah
pioneer heritage to incorporate into their lives.
Admission is free. Research Hours: Monday through Friday 9 am to 4 pm and
Wednesday until 7:30 pm
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2. State Capitol Building – (350 N State Street)
The Utah State Capitol is the house of
government for the U.S. State of Utah.
The building houses the chambers and
offices of the Utah State Legislature,
the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, Attorney General, the State
Auditor and their staffs. The capitol is
the main building of the Utah State
Capitol Complex, which is located on
Capitol Hill, overlooking downtown
Salt Lake City.
The Neoclassical revival, Corinthian
style building was designed by architect Richard K.A. Kletting, and built between
1912 and 1916. The groundbreaking ceremony took place December 26, 1912. A
large amount of soil had to be excavated from the hill side, as the eastern side of the
site was as high as the building’s planned fourth story. The excavation was done
using a steam shovel which dug into the hillside filling its large dipper, after which it
turned around and emptied the dirt into a temporary Dinkey train. The small train
then carried the soil to the nearby City Creek Canyon where it was dumped. The
capitol was to be built of stone, with a concrete and steel superstructure. The
original construction cost was $2,739,538 and replacement cost is estimated at
$31,000,000.
The capitol’s architect was inspired by Classical architecture, and some local
newspapers compared the early designs to Greece’s Parthenon. Many of the
building’s details rely on the Corinthian style, in which formality, order, proportion
and line are essential design elements. The building is 404 feet long, 240 feet wide
and the dome is 250 feet high.
The exterior is constructed of Utah granite (Quartz monzonite mined in nearby Little
Cottonwood Canyon), as are other Salt Lake City landmarks such as the Salt Lake
Temple and LDS Conference Center. The stone façade is symmetrical, with each side
being organized around a central pedimented entrance. Fifty-two Corinthian
columns, each 32 feet tall by 3.5 feet in diameter sitting on an exposed foundation
podium, surround around the south (front), east and west sides of the capitol.
The building’s interior has five floors (four main floors and a basement). The floors
are made of marble from Georgia.
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Gravity Hill
Above Memory Grove Park, and just East of the Utah State Capitol, there is a road
known as “Gravity Hill”. Logic says that when you stop on a hill, put your car in
neutral, your car is going to roll downhill, right? Not at Gravity Hill; instead, your
vehicle rolls up the hill.
Legend is told that when the Utah State Capitol was being built, they wanted people
to be “drawn” to it, so they constructed it with several magnets inside the wall.
Because of this, it pulls your car towards it.
Another legend is that the Utah State Capitol is built on a Native American Burial
ground. The story is told that the natives to this land were not happy about the State
Capitol being built on their land, so they put a curse on it that would “cause people
to gravitate” towards the building.
The truth is this phenomenon occurs because the landscape appears that you are
going uphill, when in reality you are traveling downhill, thus causing your vehicle to
“roll uphill”.
To get there take North Temple to State Street, go through the intersection, turn on to
2nd Avenue, go up the hill to B Street, turn left, go up the hill to 11th Avenue, go
straight to Bonneville Blvd. You come to a point where another road leaves the main
road and veers uphill to the left. Stay on the main road another 100 feet, stop, put it
in neutral, and you’ll coast back “uphill”.
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3. View of Brigham Young’s original lay-out of Salt Lake City from Capitol
Hill
Salt Lake City, as well as the county, is
laid out on a grid plan. Most major
streets run very nearly north-south and
east-west. The grid's origin is the
southeast corner of Temple Square, the
block containing the Salt Lake Temple of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints; the north-south axis is Main
Street; and the east-west axis is South
Temple Street. Addresses are coordinates
within the system (similarly to latitude and longitude). The streets are relatively wide,
at the direction of Brigham Young, who wanted them wide enough that a wagon team
could turn around without "resorting to profanity". These wide streets and grid
pattern are typical of other Mormon towns of the pioneer era throughout the West.
Though the nomenclature may initially confuse new arrivals and visitors, most
consider the grid system an aid to navigation. Some streets have names, such as
State Street, which would otherwise be known as 100 East. Other streets have
honorary names, such as the western portion of 300 South, named "Adam Galvez
Street" (in honor of a local Marine corporal killed in action) or others honoring Rosa
Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., César Chávez, and John Stockton. These honorary
names appear only on street signs and cannot be used in postal addresses.
In the Avenues neighborhood, north-south streets are given letters of the alphabet,
and east-west streets are numbered in 2.5-acre blocks, smaller than those in the rest
of the city.
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, planned the layout in the
"Plat of the City of Zion" (intended as a template for Mormon towns wherever they
might be built). In his plan the city was to be developed into 135 10-acre lots.
However, the blocks in Salt Lake City became irregular during the late 19th century
when the LDS Church lost authority over growth and before the adoption of zoning
ordinances in the 1920s. The original 10-acre blocks allowed for large garden plots,
and many were supplied with irrigation water from ditches that ran approximately
where modern curbs and gutters would be laid. The original water supply was from
City Creek. Subsequent development of water resources was from successively more
southern streams flowing from the mountains to the east of the city. Some of the old
irrigation ditches are still visible in the eastern suburbs, or are still marked on maps,
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years after they were gone. At its peak, irrigation in the valley comprised over one
hundred distinct canal systems, many originating at the Jordan Narrows at the south
end of the valley.
Salt Lake City Blocks Show Thoughtful Planning
If you take a stroll around any
city block in downtown Salt
Lake, expect that the trip will
take much longer than it
would to circle a block in any
other state. This is due to the
fact that Salt Lake City has
the largest city blocks in the
United States. The early
settlers in the Utah valley
weren’t trying to win a
competition; they were simply
following a plan to accommodate their agricultural and lifestyle needs. In fact, the
plan for the area’s layout was conceived long before the pioneers even arrived in
Utah.
The plan for the town was developed by Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Smith’s plan called for each community to be laid
out in a square grid pattern, with sufficient land for each family of settlers to have
their own home, orchard, and garden. Joseph Smith never lived in the Salt Lake
Valley. Nevertheless, his plan for the City of Zion (called the Plat of Zion) was carried
out by the early pioneers who settled the land. The grid plan called for the area to be
developed in symmetrical 7 x 7 blocks with wide streets.
The city was laid out in a series of plats with the original being Plat A. This plat was
laid out with 135 10-acre blocks. The blocks were numbered sequentially with block
1 starting at the corner of 300 West and 900 South. As the territory grew, more
blocks were added to the grid. In addition to the block numbering system, settlers
had simplicity and convenience in mind when they set up the numbering system and
addresses. The addresses on the north and east sides of the streets use even
numbers and those on the west and south sides use odd numbers.
The development of each block within the entire grid was proof of the effective
planning that went into settling the valley. The houses on the blocks were positioned
up front with a garden and barn in the back. No house on any of the blocks faced
each other. This gave the home owners a feeling of spaciousness and privacy and
exhibited a level practicality. Due to the limited water resources flowing into the area
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from small streams, this grid pattern created a much more feasible set up for
irrigation. Also, settlers found that it was much more convenient to have their barns
and domestic animals near their homes instead of outside the city limits.
Within the blocks there was space for public squares that included churches,
schools, and other community buildings. Evidence of the original “public squares”
exists today which includes Temple Square, the Old Fort (Pioneer Park), the
city/county building (Washington Square) and the University of Deseret/Utah (now
West High School).
Before the pioneers moved west, they experimented with the block-type settlement in
Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. But the topography of Utah’s Great Basin adapted well to
the grid structure.
The early settlements had a rich social and cultural atmosphere. One of the early
pioneer leaders, Brigham Young, recognized that the area’s agriculture was strong.
Their crops and fruit trees were flourishing and the settlers maintained a strong
sense of community. This type of environment was important; therefore, there was no
urgency to develop into a commerce-based society.
Many other cities throughout the United States designed their cities based on
European styles. But Utah sports the country’s only home-grown layout and has
received national recognition for its originality in city planning and development.
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4. Ensign Peak
Ensign Peak is a peak in the
foothills near downtown Salt Lake
City. It is approximately one mile
north of the Utah State Capitol
and sits almost directly behind it.
On July 26, 1847, Brigham Young
and other early members of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints climbed this hill and
gave it its present name. The hill
has religious significance in LDS
Church history and in its
symbolism.
President Boyd K. Packer of the LDS Church said:
“On July 26, 1847, their third day in the valley (the second having been the Sabbath),
Brigham Young and some others climbed this peak. They thought it a good place to
raise an ensign to the nations. Heber C. Kimball wore a yellow bandana. They tied it to
Willard Richards’s walking stick and waved it aloft, an ensign to the nations. Brigham
Young named it Ensign Peak.
Then they descended to their worn-out wagons, to the few things they had carried
2,000 miles, and to their travel-weary followers. It was not what they possessed that
gave them strength but what they knew.
They busied themselves plowing up gardens, putting up shelters against the winter
soon to come. They prepared for others already on the prairie following them to this
new gathering place.
A revelation, written nine years earlier, directed them to “arise and shine forth, that
thy light may be a standard for the nations; And that the gathering together upon the
land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the
storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole
earth” (D&C 115:5–6).
Perhaps they wondered what kind of wrath or storm could be poured out that they
had not already experienced. They had endured savage opposition, violence, terrorism.
Their homes had been burned, their property taken. They were driven from their
homes time after time after time. There would be no end to the kinds of challenges
that the early Saints would face. New challenges would be different than, but certainly
not less than, that through which they had made their way.
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5. Early Utah Mansions
McCune Mansion - (200 N Main Street)
The building of the McCune Mansion began
in 1898 and was completed at a cost of $1
million in 1901.
Early American entrepreneur and railroad
tycoon Alfred W. McCune built the Mansion
as his family home. Noteworthy interior
details, shipped from around the world,
include rare materials, such as Utah Onyx,
Nubian and Irish marble, French tapestries,
South American mahogany, Russian
leather, and German mirrors. The exterior
was built of native Utah sandstone and the
roof, covered with tiles made in the Netherlands.
Exotic woods like bird’s-eye maple, South American blond mahogany and 400-yearold English oak radiate warmth and beauty throughout. Guests admire the gold leaf
hand gilding, the exquisite murals, decorative scagliola and the detailed artwork
echoing century-old brushstrokes. Today original Russian impressionist paintings
accent the décor, while the glow from fireplaces and antique fixtures blend with the
warmth of the magnificently carved wood to create a most gracious environment.
When the McCune Family decided to move to Los Angeles in 1920 they donated the
Mansion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which, in turn, used it to
establish the McCune School of Music.
The McCarthey Family purchased the Mansion in 1999 and generously returned the
mansion to its original splendor and exemplary workmanship while faithfully
preserving its historical legacy and community prominence.
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Governor’s Mansion - Kearns Mansion (603 E South Temple)
The Kearns Mansion is the official
residence of the Governor of Utah.
Built in 1902 by United States Senator
and mining magnate Thomas Kearns,
the house was designed by notable
Utah architect Carl M. Neuhausen,
who also designed the Cathedral of the
Madeleine in Salt Lake City.
Thomas Kearns was born in Canada,
but his family emigrated to Nebraska
when he was a child. At the age of 17, he left the family farm to seek his fortune out
West. He reached Park City in 1883 and worked his way up from mucker--the lowest
paying job in the mine--to owner of the Silver King Mine which made him a
millionaire. Thomas Kearns married Jennie Judge, became an influential
businessman in Salt Lake City, was part owner of the Salt Lake Tribune and,
eventually, was elected a U.S. Senator.
The elegant home was built using the finest materials by the finest craftsmen
available, resulting in a quality and style similar to that of Eastern mansions like
those of the Vanderbilts and Carnegies. The mansion was completed in 1902 at a
cost of $350,000. One newspaper called it “the finest house anywhere in the west”.
It has 32 rooms, elegant decorations, and all the most modern technologies.
There is a large reception hall in French oak that boasts a mosaic floor of hand-cut
marble. The library contrasts black Flemish oak with African red marble, and the
dining room exhibits Russian mahogany walls and ceiling. A multi-headed shower
closet was among the technical innovations in the mansion, which also included
three vaults for jewels, silver, and wine. Neighbors commented that a ton of coal was
required daily in winter for heat.
In February 1937 Jennie Judge Kearns donated the Kearns Mansion to the State of
Utah after the passing of Senator Kearns. The mansion was donated with the
condition that it serve as the Governor's Residence. For the next twenty years the
governors of Utah used the mansion as their primary residence. From 1957 to 1977,
the Utah Historical Society occupied the mansion as a library, museum, and office
space. In 1977, Governor Scott Matheson proposed that the mansion be restored as a
governor's residence and after an extensive renovation the mansion became a
residence once again in 1980.
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On December 15, 1993 a fire, caused by faulty wiring on the Christmas tree in the
main hall, destroyed much of the mansion. A long and painstaking restoration was
begun, to restore the mansion to its original state and salvage as much of the
historical interior as possible.
The $7.8 million restoration brought the home back to its original 1902 style, while
providing many current safety standards, such as a fire sprinkler system, new wiring
and plumbing, new heating and cooling, a security system, and seismic upgrades.
The mansion became a residence again in 1980. Governors Matheson, Bangerter,
Leavitt, Walker, Huntsman and Herbert have lived in the home.
Edward Day Woodruff Home – (225 N. State Street)
This home was built in 1906 and is now
operated as the Inn on the Hill. Edward
Day Woodruff came to Utah in 1890 from
Rock Springs, Wyoming where he had been
a surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad.
He hired the prestigious architectural firm
of Headlund and Wood to build his family’s
11,000 square foot home. The second
Renaissance Revival style home, one of the
grandest homes on Capitol Hill, was
completed in 1906. Fashioned after an English manor, the living room walls were
covered with leather and canvas hand painted by famous local artist, William
Culmer. Decorated in the style of the period, the interior featured the finest
craftsmanship of the day as well as Tiffany stained glass and Oriental rugs.
Devereaux House – (340 W South Temple)
The Devereaux House, also
known as the Staines-Jennings
Mansion, was built in 1857 for
William Staines. The house was
expanded by William Jennings
(Mayor of Salt Lake City from
1882 to 1885). The house was
the first to be built on a scale
that could be described as a
“mansion” in the Salt Lake
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Valley. It was a social center for the area, and was the scene of a meeting between
Brigham Young and Governor Alfred Cumming to resolve the Utah War. The house
was sold in 1867 to local entrepreneur William Jennings for $30,000 who added to
the house. Jennings, believed to be the Salt Lake Valley’s first millionaire, named the
house “Devereaux” for a family property at Yardley, Birmingham in England.
Jennings lived there with his wives Jane and Pricilla, who had eleven and fourteen
children respectively. Jennings was visited at the house by Secretary of War William
Seward and General Philip H. Sheridan in the 1860s and by General William
Tecumseh Sherman in the 1870s, whose visit implied a tolerance of Mormon
polygamy in Utah by federal officials. Following Jennings’ death in 1886 the house
passed through several hands, and was at one time an alcohol treatment facility.
David Keith Mansion – (529 E South Temple)
This showpiece was designed by
Frederic Hale and built in 1900 for
David Keith, an immigrant from Nova
Scotia, who was partner with Thomas
Kearns in Park City’s Silver King mine.
The three-story Keith mansion, with
its ballroom and notable octagonal
rotunda, had fifteen lesser rooms,
most of them paneled with Honduran
mahogany and native birch. Built at a
cost of $35,000 the mansion may have
been given its opulent styling in an
effort by mining magnate David Keith’s wife to outshine one just completed for Daniel
Jackling, and another under construction by Keith’s Park City mines partner,
Thomas Kearns.
The original skylight on the second floor mezzanine came from Tiffany’s of New York,
as did most of the chandeliers. Other features include a cathedral-like octagonal
rotunda, a ballroom, and a wine cellar. The butler’s pantry was equipped with a
warming table through which hot water circulated. A walk-in refrigerator was cooled
by one ton of ice. In the laundry, wet clothes were hung in a closet through which
hot air circulated.
A grand carriage house to the east, set back from the street behind an entrance
bracketed by stone bowl-shaped planters, was built to include a bowling alley,
shooting gallery, and servant’s quarters.
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Salt Lake Mayor Ezra Thompson and his family purchased the home and lived there
from 1919 through the late 1930s and it was later leased to Terracor, a landdevelopment firm.
In 1986 a fire charred and blackened much of the building’s handsome interior. The
Tiffany glass skylight above the mezzanine was shattered. Delicate metal work of its
decorative chandelier had melted, and much of the lustrous cherry-wood paneling
was irretrievably lost.
In mid-1987 work began on an eighteen-month project that brought the treasured
building to its present, better-than-former state. Bob Baird, an expert glassworker
and artist, duplicated the lost Tiffany skylight and window. Violin-maker Paul Hart
duplicated the original hand-carved wooden decorations. Furniture-makers Geoff
Fitzwilliam and MacFinlayson rebuilt the curving staircase.
In addition to the mansion, a flanking, back-of-the-grounds gem is the two-story
carriage house. Perhaps the largest such structure in the city, it has also been
carefully remodeled to serve as company offices. As with the mansion proper, the
integrity of the carriage house has been tastefully preserved.
Walker Mansion – (610 E South Temple)
This mansion was built in 1904 on
Salt Lake’s historic South Temple
for Matthew Walker, co-founder of
Walker Bank. The mansion has a
red tile roof, arched colonnade,
cream-colored stucco exterior, and
broad balcony. In the foyer, Walker
had an Aeolian organ with pipes
extending to the third floor where a
Tiffany’s skylight and chandelier
graced the ceiling. Other luxuries
included a wine cellar, bowling
alley, and stable. The architect was Frederic Hale, who also designed the Keith
mansion.
Through the years it was altered and converted to office space. It took a thorough
restoration project spanning over three years to bring the mansion back to its former
glory. The centerpiece of the building is the grand entryway with its vaulted ceiling
inlaid with stained glass artwork.
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The Kahn House – (678 E South Temple)
The Kahn House is a Victorian showplace
with “gingerbread,” leaded glass, shingled
gables, a graceful tower, shady porches,
artfully managed brick chimneys and other
Victorian elements designed by Henry
Monheim, dating to the 1880s. Nowadays,
the turreted building is no longer a
residence. The businessmen who now own
the home have preserved it in meticulous
style.
The first member of the Jewish Kahn family
to reach Utah, Prussian-born Samuel Kahn,
settled in Great Salt Lake City in 1859, where he promptly became a partner in a dry
goods firm. A younger Kahn brother arrived and the brothers joined forces with one
George Bodenburg to establish a wholesale and retail grocery and dry goods business
that was soon serving customers in the mining towns of Idaho and Montana as well
as Utah.
Walter & Esther Filer House – (943 E South Temple)
The Walter and Esther Filer House was built in
the early 1900’s and is now known as Haxton
Manner. In 1889 Mr. Filer was associated with
the Stanley B. Milner mining enterprises of Salt
Lake City. Another prominent individual who
lived in the home includes Anthony Godbe,
president of the Consolidated Mining &
Smelting Company and owner of some of the
finest apartments in Salt Lake City.
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Albert Fisher Mansion and Carriage House – (1206 W 200 S)
In 1893 Albert Fisher had a mansion constructed in a
sparsely populated neighborhood on Salt Lake City’s west
side near the banks of the Jordan River. Fisher, who had
immigrated to Utah from Seebach, Baden, Germany in
1881, chose the location on 200 South because of its
proximity to his work. The two-story, twelve-room house,
designed in the Victorian Eclectic style, stood a stone’s
throw from what eventually became the largest brewery
in Utah, the A. Fisher Brewing Company.
Fisher’s beer business was booming at the turn of the
century. By 1905 Fisher was brewing 75,000 barrels to
distribute to the many taverns he owned in the Salt Lake
Valley. A. Fisher Brewing, along with the Salt Lake
Brewing Company, was bigger than Coors. Such skillful
brewing and entrepreneurial know-how made Albert
Fisher an industry titan and Fisher Mansion matched his titanic status in the
brewing industry and in Salt Lake. A. Fisher Brewing was the only brewery to reopen
in Utah after the repeal of Prohibition.
The Fisher mansion remained a well-used and well-loved structure in Salt Lake for
120 years, adapting to new functions and changing to fulfill the needs of the
surrounding community. For its first 51 years members of the Fisher family
inhabited the house. In 1945, Albert and Alma’s daughter leased the mansion to the
Catholic Church. The residence became a convent for Our Lady Queen of Peace and
Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters. Then in 1970 the mansion became St.
Mary’s Home for Men, an alcohol and drug abuse treatment facility.
In 2006, the Salt Lake City government purchased the house, which was originally
the home of a prominent German brewer. Restoration costs were estimated at over
$1.7 million, so the city began raising money by arranging tours of the property, and
$150,000 was obtained through a federal grant.
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Armstrong Mansion – (667 E 100 S)
The Armstrong mansion was built in
1893 as the family home of Francis and
Isabelle Armstrong. Francis Armstrong
was a two-time elected mayor of Salt
Lake City (1886 and 1888) and
entrepreneur, notably in the Taylor,
Romney & Armstrong lumber and
construction company. The mansion is
one of the finest examples of Queen
Anne Style architecture in Salt Lake
City. The Mansion included a beautiful
master bedroom, Victorian dining room, library, parlor, and living quarters for house
staff. The Mansion was also proudly one of only three homes in all of Salt Lake City
to provide indoor-plumbing and running water for its occupants.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral – (231 E 100 S)
Built in 1871, it is the third oldest
Episcopal Cathedral in the United States
and the oldest continuously used worship
building in Utah. It was designed by
noted architect, Richard Upjohn, in the
Gothic Revival style. The church’s pipe
organ, built in Scotland and dating back
to 1854, is said to be the oldest in Utah.
The original cornerstone was laid in 1870
under the supervision of Bishop Daniel
Sylvester Tuttle with funding from the Episcopalians in New York and Pennsylvania.
The cathedral was consecrated on May 14, 1874. A fire in 1935 gutted the
sanctuary, but the church was rebuilt following the original design.
The early Episcopal Church left its mark in the community such that by 1880,
members of the church had established St. Mark’s School for Boys, Rowland Hall
School for Girls, and St. Mark’s Hospital. Rowland Hall St. Mark’s School is now
merged and offers education today for K-12.
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6. Brigham Young’s Gravesite – (194 East 1st Avenue)
The grave of Brigham Young is located in the Brigham Young Family Memorial
Cemetery in downtown Salt Lake City Utah. He was born June 1, 1801 at
Whitingham, Vermont and died August 29, 1877 at Salt Lake City, Utah. Brigham
Young was second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He
led the Mormon pioneers from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley. He became
Governor of the Provisional State of Deseret and later Governor of the Territory of
Utah. The grave site is open to the public and can be viewed most anytime.
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7. The Stump (the valley’s only tree (1847) when the pioneers entered Salt
Lake Valley (240 South 600 East)
A little strip of grass between 300 and 400 South on 600 East holds a treasured memory and
a bit of a mystery. At one time, not far from the median, stood a huge cedar tree, known as
the “lone cedar tree,” that was said to have sheltered the pioneers, miners, and various
travelers who came out of Emigration Canyon down 300 South, which was then known as
Emigration Street or Emigration Road.
The tree eventually died. But the lone tree was not forgotten. The Daughters of Utah
Pioneers wanted to keep its memory alive. On July 4, 1933, the group dedicated a memorial
that still stands. The cupola sheltered about 3 feet of the original tree, known as the Old
Cedar Post. A plaque, still there, reads: “The street to the north was originally Emigration
Road – the only approach from the East. Over this road the pioneers of 1847 and
subsequent years entered the valley of the Great Salt Sea. They found growing near this site
of lone cedar and paused beneath its shade. Songs were sung and prayers of gratitude
offered by those early pilgrims. Later the cedar tree became a meeting place for the loggers
going to the canyons, children played beneath its branches, lovers made it a trysting place.
Because of its friendly influence on the lives of these early men and women we dedicate this
site to their memory.”
Although the memorial was placed in the middle of 600 East, it originally stood at 300 South
and 600 East. The tree, or rather what remained of it, was moved. “It was in someone’s
yard.”
But something mysterious happened on September 21, 1958. Vandals cut away the
remaining trunk on the memorial, leaving only a flat stump. An old police report from the
Salt Lake City Police Department says “Officer Hendricksen found that the tree of 6th East
and 4th South had been cut down. In checking it was found that there was one old saw mark
on the tree about 20 inches from the ground, and the other about 16 inches from the
ground. These saw cuts were only part way through and then the post or tree was broken off
probably with some considerable force.”
The report went on to say that, “Marilyn Hilton (a witness) stated that at 9:30 p.m. she
noticed a group of five or six boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 15 walking south on
6th East from 3rd South. The girls were wearing pedal pushers and the boys were wearing
Levis.”
A search of the area revealed nothing, not the suspects, nor the remains of the tree. In short,
no one knows where the tree is.
In 1960, a new memorial was built to explain what happened to the tree. The new addition
says: “Lone Cedar Tree. Although willows grew along the banks of streams, a lone cedar tree
near this spot became Utah’s first famous landmark. Someone in a moment of
thoughtlessness cut it down, leaving only the stump which is part of this monument. In the
glory of my prime I was the Pioneers’ friend.”
Now even the stump is gone, and all that remains is the pedestal is rested on.
19
8. This is the Place Monument and Pioneer Village – (2601 E Sunnyside Ave)
This Is The Place Monument
On July 24, 1847, Wilford Woodruff came out
of the mouth of Emigration Canyon, "in full
view of the great valley or Bason [of] the Salt
Lake and land of promise held in reserve by the
hand of GOD for a resting place for the Saints
upon which a portion of the Zion of God will be
built. We gazed in wonder and admiration
upon the vast rich fertile valley. . . . Our hearts
were surely made glad after a Hard Journey
from Winter Quarters."
In 1917 B. H. Roberts and a Boy Scout troop built a wooden marker identifying the
spot where Brigham Young’s party had first entered the valley. In 1921 this was
replaced by a white stone obelisk that still stands east of the 1917 monument.
In 1947, on the 100th anniversary of the entry of the pioneers into the valley, This is
The Place Monument designed by Mahonri M. Young, was dedicated at a ceremony
attended by nearly 50,000 people. 60 feet high and 84 feet wide, it features 15
plaques and many statues and bas-reliefs honoring the Mormon Pioneers, American
Indians and others who explored the Great Basin.
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.
Statuary Walk
This walkway along the lawns featured various sculpture and monuments
highlighting pioneer life. The National Pony Express Monument also is located here.
This Is The Place Heritage Park
The location of the park is where, on July 24, 1847, Brigham Young first saw the Salt
Lake Valley that would soon become the Mormon pioneers' new home. Members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that 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. As the account goes, Brigham
Young was very sick with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and was riding in the back
of a wagon. After exiting Emigration Canyon and cresting a small hill, he asked to
look out of the wagon. Those with him opened the canvas cover and propped him up
so he could see the empty desert valley below. He then proclaimed, "It is enough. This
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is the right place. Drive on." 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. The statement was first attributed to Young by
Wilford Woodruff more than thirty years after the pioneer advent.
Over the next several years, tens of thousands of Mormon pioneers emerged from
Emigration Canyon and first saw their new home from this same location. A Utah
state holiday, Pioneer Day, occurs each year on July 24 to commemorate the Mormon
pioneers' entry into the valley.
This 450-acre Living History site offers visitors a look at life in 19th Century Utah
from the Mormon arrival in 1847 to statehood in 1896. Heritage Village, located
within the Park, presents a pioneer experience for all ages. At Settlers' Pond, a Native
American Village explores the cultures of Utah's first residents.
Brigham Young's Forest Farmhouse was moved in 1975 from the Forest Dale area in
the central valley to the Park for restoration. In 1979, five original pioneer homes
were donated to the Park and restored; a small bowery was constructed. The 1980s
included a replica of the original Social Hall, located in downtown Salt Lake City, two
adobe homes, two frame homes and one log cabin were relocated to the Park. The
blacksmith shop also was completed. 1992 through 1995 was a period of major
expansion in which the Manti Z.C.M.I store was dismantled and reconstructed in the
Park, a pioneer dugout home was constructed, 15 replica structures were built and
the Hickman Cabin was relocated from Fairview to the Park.
Children can ride a pony, visit the Petting Corral, ride a mini-train, do actual pioneer
chores and make take-home crafts, among other things. Adults will enjoy authentic
craft demonstrations by working tradesmen and visiting the 40+ original or replica
homes and shops in the Village.
Dining is available at the Monument Cafe and Huntsman Grill. Cold
drinks/snacks/old-fashioned candy are sold at the ZCMI general store, an original
building brought to the Park from central Utah. Shopping is at the Visitors' Center
just outside the Village gate.
Admission to Heritage Village: $8/adults, $6/children (3-11) and seniors (55+) Hours:
Daily, 9 am - 5 pm (limited programming Sundays)
This Is The Place Heritage Park is located at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, across
the street from Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. The Park is accessible from I-15 via the
600 South Exit (continue east on 800 South to the Park); and from I-80 via the
Foothill Boulevard exit (continue north to Sunnyside Avenue, then turn east).
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History & Culture
The history of the Mormon Trail cannot be understood without an awareness of the
Mormon religion itself. The great Mormon migration of 1846-1847 was but one step
in the Mormons' quest for religious freedom and growth.
The Mormon religion, later known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
was founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830 in Fayette, New York. Membership
grew rapidly, but not all were enthused about Smith's new religion. Persecution of the
Mormons led to subsequent moves westward for the church, first to Ohio, then to
Missouri and then to Nauvoo, Illinois. Smith envisioned a permanent settlement in
Nauvoo. But both the Mormons' time in Nauvoo and Smith's life were to be shortlived.
From 1839 until 1846, the Mormon church was headquartered in Nauvoo where
church members were able to prosper and practice their religion peacefully. But
before long, tensions arose when many citizens began to view the Mormons with
contempt.
Mormon practices such as polygamy, in combination with the quick growth of the
church, contributed to a growing intolerance among some Illinois citizens. Hostilities
broke out and on June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by
an angry mob while jailed in Carthage, Illinois.
Brigham Young stepped in as Smith's successor and immediately began furthering
Smith's plans for a move to the Far West. By now, the Mormon population of Nauvoo
neared 11,000, making it one of the largest cities in Illinois. Yet the persecution of
Mormons continued. In one month alone in 1845, more than 200 Mormon homes
and farm buildings were burned around Nauvoo in an attempt by foes to force out
the Mormons.
Possible locations for a new home for the Mormons included Oregon, California and
Texas. But with Smith's acquisition of John Fremont's map and report of the West in
1844, the Salt Lake region of Utah was chosen as the Mormons' destination. Young
and his devotees made plans for an exodus to this new land. By 1846 the Mormon
migration had begun.
The 1846 Trek
When Brigham Young and 3,000 Mormons set out for Utah on February 4, 1846,
expedition leaders expected to reach their goal by the coming winter. But unforeseen
difficulties forced the Mormons to abandon their original schedule. The journey was
split into two sections: Nauvoo to Omaha, Nebraska in 1846; and, Omaha to the Salt
Lake Valley of Utah in 1847.
22
The first section - 265 miles - tested the Mormons most severely. Although plans had
already been made for the first group to leave Nauvoo in the spring of 1846, rumors
of federal persecution and revocation of the Nauvoo city charter persuaded Brigham
Young to begin the move earlier than expected.
February that year in Iowa was marked by harsh weather and bitter cold. With 500
wagons, the Mormons grimly faced miles of axle-deep mud bogs and rough, obscure
trails. Many of the emigrants were unskilled in trail life and leadership was
disorganized. Because of the hurried departure, important provisions had been left
behind by many families. All of these factors combined to cause difficulties on a day
to day basis.
Yet as the Mormons forged ahead, they became more organized and began traveling
in groups of 10s, 50s or 100s. To make things easier on Mormons who had delayed
their departure from Nauvoo, improvements were made to the route along the way.
Settlements such as Garden Grove and Mt. Pisgah were established to provide way
stations for the coming immigration.
Finally, by June 13, 1846, the first group of Mormons reached the Missouri River at
Council Bluffs, Iowa. It had taken 120 days to cross 265 miles for an average of 2.25
miles a day. Some of these Mormons stayed in Council Bluffs, which was renamed
Kanesville, while others crossed the Missouri and established Winter Quarters in
present-day Omaha.
Brigham Young decided that the original plan to reach the Rockies by fall was now
impossible. The Mormons would be staying on the Missouri until the following spring.
Winter Quarters would prove to be a harsh stopping place during the winter of 18461847.
The 1847 Trek
By the time the spring of 1847 approached in Winter Quarters, nearly 400 Mormon
lives had been lost to various causes. Yet there was a vital bit of good news during
their stay.
The news came when the famous Jesuit, Father Pierre Jean de Smet, passed through
Winter Quarters on his way east. The Jesuit was one of the few white men who had
ever seen the Great Salt Lake. His information on routes and conditions was
extended freely to the Mormons, who eagerly anticipated their next move west.
On April 5, 1847, Brigham Young led the first Mormon wagon train out of Winter
Quarters bound for Utah. Conditions, timing, experience and organization were on
the Mormons' side this time and the trip went much easier than the previous year's
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trial. 148 people, three of whom were women, 72 wagons, and a large collection of
livestock made up this first group.
For this first leg of the journey, the Mormons generally followed the Oregon Trail, also
known as the Great Platte River Road. The well-beaten route took them along the
Platte River through Nebraska, then along the North Platte River to Fort Caspar, then
across Wyoming to Fort Bridger.
At Fort Bridger on July 9, the Mormons left the Oregon Trail with 116 miles left to go.
The previous year, the Reed-Donner party had blazed a route across Utah on their
way to California. The Mormons took advantage of this route and followed it through
the Wasatch Range and into the Great Salt Lake region. Yet this last 116 miles were
the most difficult of the entire journey.
The people were filthy and weary and both wagons and livestock were weakened from
the previous 1,000 miles of trail. The Wasatch Range proved to be a formidable
barrier with its brush-choked canyons and steep passes.
Finally, on July 24, 1847, the first group of Mormons arrived at their new home in
the Great Salt Lake Valley. Immediately, the Mormons began establishing the
makings of a town and planted crops in preparation for the coming Mormon
emigrants. From 1847 to 1869, until the completion of the transcontinental railroad,
nearly 70,000 Mormons would make the journey along the Mormon Trail.
24
Rio Tinto Kennecott
Rio Tinto Kennecott
mines essential
elements that make m
odern living possible.
From medicine, food
and shampoo, to cell
phones, computers,
CAT scans and hybrid
electric cars, nearly
everything you use
today relies on
materials that they
produce.
The mine has been a fixture in the Salt Lake Valley for more than 109 years. They
are the largest private economic driver in Utah. No other private sector operation has
generated more production, exports, income and employment than Kennecott.
Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation (KUCC), a division of Rio Tinto Group, is a
mining, smelting, and refining company. Its corporate headquarters are located in
South Jordan, Utah. Kennecott operates the Bingham Canyon Mine, one of the
largest open-pit copper mines in the world in Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake County,
Utah. The company was first formed in 1898 as the Boston Consolidated Mining
Company. The current corporation was formed in 1989.
Utah Copper Company had its start when Enos Austin Wall realized the potential of
copper deposits in Bingham Canyon, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Salt Lake City,
Utah in 1887 and acquired claims to the land. Underground mining in the area was
begun in 1890.
In 1907, the Utah Copper mill in Magna started operation. The Bingham and Garfield
Railway opened in 1911 to transport the ore, replacing the Denver and Rio Grande
Railroad's line. In 1936, Kennecott acquired all the assets of the Utah Copper
Company.
During World War II, Bingham set new world records for copper mining and produced
about 30% of the copper used by the Allies. Many women also worked in the mines,
mills, and smelters.
As the mine in Utah expanded, it subsumed the land on which the town of Bingham
was built, and the city ceased to exist in 1971.
25
Today, as the second largest copper producer in the United States, Kennecott Utah
Copper provides about 18-25% percent of the U.S.'s copper needs. Kennecott’s
Bingham Canyon Mine is one of the largest man-made excavations in the world. It is
one of the top producing copper mines in the world with cumulative production at
more than 19 million tons of copper. In 2011, Kennecott produced approximately
237,000 tons of copper, along with 379,000 troy ounces of gold, 3.2 million troy
ounces of silver, about 30 million pounds of molybdenum, and about 1 million tons
of sulfuric acid, a by-product of the smelting process. Since Rio Tinto purchased
Kennecott Utah Copper in 1989 it has invested about $2 billion in the modernization
of KUC’s operations. KUCC has also spent more than $350 million on the cleanup of
historic mining waste and $100 million on groundwater cleanup. Rio Tinto employs
2,400 people and hundreds of contractors in Utah.
26
Brigham Young University – Provo, Utah
Brigham Young University (often
referred to as BYU or, colloquially,
The Y) is a private research
university located in Provo, Utah.
It is owned and operated by The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (LDS Church), and,
excluding online students, is the
largest religious university and one
of the largest private universities in
the United States, with 34,000 oncampus students.
The main campus in Provo, Utah,
sits on approximately 560 acres nestled at the base of the Wasatch Mountains and
includes 295 buildings. BYU's Harold B. Lee Library, which The Princeton Review
ranked as the No. 1 "Great College Library" in 2004, has approximately 8½ million
items in its collections, contains 98 miles of shelving, and can seat 4,600 people. The
Spencer W. Kimball Tower is the tallest building in Provo. BYU's Marriott Center,
used as a basketball arena, can seat over 22,000 and is one of the largest on-campus
arenas in the nation. Interestingly absent on the campus of this church owned
university is a campus chapel. Notwithstanding, each Sunday LDS Church services
for students are conducted on campus, but due to the large number of students
attending these services, nearly all of the buildings and possible meeting spaces on
campus are utilized.
Approximately 98 percent of the university's 34,000 students are members of the
LDS Church. Students attending BYU are required to follow an honor code, which
mandates behavior in line with LDS teachings such as academic honesty, adherence
to dress and grooming standards, and abstinence from the consumption of drugs and
alcohol. An education at BYU is also less expensive than at similar private
universities, since "a significant portion" of the cost of operating the university is
subsidized by the church's tithing funds.
History
Brigham Young University's origin can be traced back to 1862 when a man named
Warren Dusenberry started a Provo school in a prominent adobe building called Cluff
Hall, which was located in the northeast corner of 200 East and 200 North. On
October 16, 1875, Brigham Young, then president of the LDS Church, personally
purchased the Lewis Building. Said Young about his vision: "I hope to see an
27
Academy established in Provo... at which the children of the Latter-day Saints can
receive a good education unmixed with the pernicious atheistic influences that are
found in so many of the higher schools of the country."
The average GPA for students admitted in 2013 was 3.82. U.S. News and World
Report describes BYU's selectivity as being "more selective" and compares it with
such universities as the University of Texas at Austin and The Ohio State University.
In addition, BYU is ranked 26th in colleges with the most freshman Merit Scholars,
with 88 in 2006.
For 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked BYU as No. 62 for national universities
in the United States. BYU is also ranked No. 19 in the U.S. News and World Report's
"Great Schools, Great Prices" lineup, and No. 12 in lowest student-incurred debt. Due
in part to the school's emphasis on undergraduate research, in rankings for 20082009, BYU was ranked No. 10 nationally for the number of students who go on to
earn PhDs, No. 1 nationally for students who go on to dental school, No. 6 nationally
for students who go on to law school, and No. 10 nationally for students who go on to
medical school.
In 2009, the university's Marriott School of Management received a No. 5 ranking by
BusinessWeek for its undergraduate programs. In 2010, an article in the Wall Street
Journal listing institutions whose graduates were the top-rated by recruiters ranked
BYU #11. Using 2010 fiscal year data, the Association of University Technology
Managers ranked BYU #3 in an evaluation of universities creating the most startup
companies through campus research.
Scientists associated with BYU have created some notable inventions. Philo T.
Farnsworth, inventor of the electronic television, received his education at BYU, and
later returned to do fusion research, receiving an honorary degree from the
university. Harvey Fletcher, also an alumnus of BYU, inventor of stereophonic sound,
went on to carry out the now famous oil-drop experiment with Robert Millikan, and
was later Founding Dean of the BYU College of Engineering. H. Tracy Hall, inventor of
the man-made diamond, left General Electric in 1955 and became a full professor of
chemistry and Director of Research at BYU. While there, he invented a new type of
diamond press, the tetrahedral press.
Over three quarters of the student body have some proficiency in a second language
(numbering 107 languages in total). This is partially due to the fact that 45 percent of
the student body at BYU have been missionaries for LDS Church, and many of them
learned a foreign language as part of their mission assignment. During any given
semester, about one-third of the student body is enrolled in foreign language classes,
a rate nearly four times the national average. BYU offers courses in over 60 different
languages, many with advanced courses that are seldom offered elsewhere. Several of
28
its language programs are the largest of their kind in the nation, the Russian
program being one example. The university was selected by the United States
Department of Education as the location of the national Middle East Language
Resource Center, making the school a hub for experts on that region. It was also
selected as a Center for International Business Education Research, a function of
which is to train business employees in international languages and relations.
Beyond this, BYU also runs a very large study abroad program, with satellite centers
in London, Jerusalem, and Paris, as well as more than 20 other sites. Nearly 2,000
students take advantage of these programs yearly. In 2001, the Institute of
International Education ranked BYU as the number one university in the U.S. to offer
students study abroad opportunities. The BYU Jerusalem Center, which was closed
in 2000 due to student security concerns related to the Second Intifada and, more
recently, the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, was reopened to students in the Winter
2007 semester.
A few special additions enhance the language-learning experience. For example,
BYU's International Cinema, featuring films in several languages, is the largest and
longest-running university-run foreign film program in the country. BYU also offers
an intensive foreign language living experience, the Foreign Language Student
Residence. This is an on-campus apartment complex where students commit to
speak only their chosen foreign language while in their apartments. Each apartment
has at least one native speaker to ensure correct language usage.
The campus is home to several museums containing exhibits from many different
fields of study. BYU's Museum of Art, for example, is one of the largest and most
attended art museums in the Mountain West. The Museum of Peoples and Cultures
is a museum of archaeology and ethnology. It focuses on native cultures and artifacts
of the Great Basin, American Southwest, Mesoamerica, Peru, and Polynesia. Home to
more than 40,000 artifacts and 50,000 photographs, it documents BYU's
archaeological research. The BYU Museum of Paleontology was built in 1976 to
display the many fossils found by BYU's Dr. James A. Jensen. It holds many artifacts
from the Jurassic Period (210-140 million years ago), and is one of the top five
collections in the world of fossils from that time period. It has been featured in
magazines, newspapers, and on television internationally. The Monte L. Bean Life
Science Museum was formed in 1978. It features several forms of plant and animal
life on display and available for research by students and scholars.
The BYU Ballroom Dance Company is known as one of the best formation ballroom
dance teams in the world, having won the U.S. National Formation Dance
Championship every year since 1982. BYU's Ballroom dance team has won first place
in Latin or Standard (or both) many times when they have competed at the Blackpool
29
Dance Festival, they were the first U.S. team to win the formation championships at
the famed British Championships in Blackpool England in 1972.
The Young Ambassadors are a song and dance performing group with a 50-year
history at BYU. In the 1960s their world tour stops included Lebanon, Jordan, and
Iraq. The group has performed in over 56 nations. The royalty of Thailand and
Jordan, along with persons of high office in countries such as India, have been
among their audiences.
Many visitors to BYU, and Utah Valley as a whole, report being surprised by the
culturally conservative environment. Brigham Young University's Honor Code, which
all BYU students agree to follow as a condition of studying at BYU, prohibits the
consumption of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, etc. The Princeton Review has rated
BYU the "#1 stone cold sober school" in the nation for several years running. BYU's
2014 "#1 stone cold" sober rating marked the 17th year in a row that the school had
earned that rating. According to the Uniform Crime Reports, incidents of crime in
Provo are lower than the national average. Murder is rare, and robberies are about
1/10 the national average.
30
University of Utah – Salt Lake City
The University of Utah (also referred
to as the U, the U of U) is a public
coeducational space-grant research
university in Salt Lake City, Utah. As
the state's flagship university, the
university offers more than 100
undergraduate majors and more than
92 graduate degree programs.
Graduate studies include the S.J.
Quinney College of Law and the
School of Medicine, Utah's only
medical school.
The university's athletic teams, the Utes, participate in NCAA Division I athletics as a
member of the Pacific-12 Conference. Its football team has received national attention
in recent years for winning the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and the 2009 Sugar Bowl.
The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General
Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest institution of
higher education. It received its current name in 1892, four years before Utah
attained statehood, and moved to its current location in 1900.
History
A Board of Regents was organized by Brigham Young to establish a university in the
Salt Lake Valley. The university was established on February 28, 1850, as the
University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, and
Orson Spencer was appointed as the first chancellor of the university. Early classes
were held in private homes or wherever space could be found. The university closed
in 1853 due to lack of funds and lack of feeder schools.
Following years of intermittent classes in the Salt Lake City Council House, the
university began to be re-established in 1867. The university moved out of the
council house into the Union Academy building in 1876 and into Union Square in
1884. In 1892, the school's name was changed to the University of Utah, and John R.
Park began arranging to obtain land belonging to the U.S. Army's Fort Douglas on the
east bench of the Salt Lake Valley, where the university moved permanently in 1900.
Additional Fort Douglas land has been granted to the university over the years, and
the fort was officially closed on October 26, 1991. Upon his death in 1900, Dr. John
R. Park bequeathed his entire fortune to the university.
31
The university grew rapidly in the early 20th century but was involved in an
academic freedom controversy in 1915 when Joseph T. Kingsbury recommended that
five faculty members be dismissed after a graduation speaker made a speech critical
of Utah governor William Spry. One third of the faculty resigned in protest of these
dismissals. Some felt that the dismissals were a result of the LDS Church's influence
on the university, while others felt that they reflected a more general pattern of
repressing religious and political expression that might be deemed offensive. The
controversy was largely resolved when Kingsbury resigned in 1916, but university
operations were again interrupted by World War I, and later The Great Depression
and World War II. Student enrollment dropped to a low of 3,418 during the last year
of World War II, but A. Ray Olpin made substantial additions to campus following the
war, and enrollment reached 12,000 by the time he retired in 1964. Growth
continued throughout the following decades as the university developed into a center
for computer, medical, and other research.
During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the university hosted the Olympic Village, a
housing complex for the Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as the opening and
closing ceremonies.
Campus takes up 1,534 acres, including the Health Sciences complex, Research
Park, and Fort Douglas. It is located on the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley, close
to the Wasatch Range and approximately 2 miles east of downtown Salt Lake City.
The health sciences complex, at the northeast end of campus, includes the University
of Utah Medical Center, Primary Children's Medical Center, the Huntsman Cancer
Institute, the Moran Eye Center, and the Spencer Eccles Health Sciences Library. At
the southeast end of campus is Research Park, which is home to research companies
including ARUP Laboratories, Evans & Sutherland, Sarcos, Idaho Technology, and
Myriad Genetics.
The university offers 72 undergraduate majors. Students at the undergraduate level
can also create an individualized major under the direction of the Bachelor of
University Studies program and the supervision of a tenure-track faculty member.
The university is classified as a research university with very high research activity
by the Carnegie Foundation, with research and training awards for 2010-2011
amounting to US$410,563,908. The university's research expenditures were the
67th highest in the nation in the Center for Measuring University Performance's 2008
report. Additionally, the university was the 58th highest for federal research
expenditures, 52nd for National Academy of Sciences membership, 50th for faculty
awards, 51st for doctorates awarded, and 42nd for postdoctoral appointees
32
Of admitted freshmen in 2007-2008, the average GPA was 3.4 and the average ACT
score was 23.5. The university uses an admissions index number that gives equal
weight to GPA and ACT/SAT scores.
The University of Utah has the only accredited architecture program in Utah, as well
as the only medical school.] The medical school has made several notable
contributions to medicine, such as establishing the first Cerebrovascular Disease
Unit west of the Mississippi River in 1970 and administering the world's first
permanent artificial heart, the Jarvik-7, to Barney Clark in 1982.
The university has made unique contributions to the study of genetics due in part to
long-term genealogy efforts of the LDS Church, which has allowed researchers to
trace genetic disorders through several generations. The relative homogeneity of
Utah's population also makes it an ideal laboratory for studies of population genetics.
The university is home to the Genetic Science Learning Center, a resource which
educates the public about genetics through its website.
In March 2012, the university received unanimous approval from the board of
trustees to create a new academic college, the College of Dentistry, which is the
university's first new college in sixty years. The new college has received funding for a
new structure and has started as a debt-free program.
The University of Utah was one of the original four nodes of ARPANET, the world's
first packet-switching computer network and embryo of the current worldwide
Internet.
The S.J. Quinney College of Law, founded in 1913, was the only law school in Utah
until the 1970s.
The University of Utah College of Pharmacy is 4th in the nation for NIH research
grants. The department of Pharmacology and Toxicology within the School of
Pharmacy is world renowned for research in epilepsy treatment with their
Anticonvulsant Drug Development (ADD) program.
In 2002, the university was one of 20 schools to make the U.S. News & World Report
College Sports Honor Roll. In 2005, Utah became the first school to produce No. 1
overall draft picks in both the NFL draft and NBA draft for the same year.
In 2004–2005, the football team, coached by Urban Meyer and quarterbacked by Alex
Smith, along with defensive great Eric Weddle, went 11–0 during the regular season
and defeated Pittsburgh 35–7 in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, becoming the first team from a
conference without an automatic Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bid to go to a BCS
bowl game. The team ended its perfect 12–0 season ranked 4th in AP polling.
33
2008–2009 was another undefeated year for the football team, coached by Kyle
Whittingham, as they finished the season 13–0 and defeated Alabama 31–17 in the
2009 Sugar Bowl. Utah finished the season 2nd in AP polling, their highest rank
ever. At the end of the season, the Utes were the only unbeaten team in the country,
with the nation's longest active streak of bowl victories.
The Utah Utes moved to the Pac-12 Conference for the start of the 2011–2012
football season.
The women's gymnastics team, the Red Rocks, has won ten national championships,
including the 1981 AIAW championship, and placed 2nd nationally eight times. As of
2013, it has qualified for the NCAA championship every year since 1976, the only
program to do so.
A large portion of university students live off-campus, as the university is located in a
large metropolitan area and has beds for less than 10% of its undergraduate
population in residence halls and single student apartments. An additional 1,115
family apartments are available to students, staff, and faculty.
The University of Utah has a dry campus, meaning that alcohol is banned on
campus. In 2004, Utah became the first state with a law expressly permitting
concealed weapons on public university campuses. The University of Utah tried to
uphold its gun ban but the Utah Supreme Court rejected the ban in 2006.
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City Creek Shopping Mall
The City Creek Center is a mixeduse development with an upscale
open-air shopping center, office and
residential buildings, fountain, and
simulated creek near Temple Square
in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It
is an undertaking by Property
Reserve, Inc. (the commercial real
estate division of the Corporation of
the President of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(LDS Church) and Taubman
Centers, Inc. The center integrates shopping and residential elements, with foliagelined walkways and streams covering three blocks in the heart of downtown Salt
Lake. The City Creek Center opened to the general public on March 22, 2012. This
shopping, office and residential center encompass nearly 20 acres of downtown Salt
Lake City. The City Creek Center is part of an estimated $5 billion sustainable design
project to revitalize downtown Salt Lake City. The City Creek Center project itself has
been estimated to cost around $1.5 billion
The City Creek Center features 700,000 ft of mixed-use residential, office and retail
space with the main mall itself featuring an open-air design. The City Creek Center
also won an award for its retractable roof. The mall is intended to cater
predominantly to pedestrian traffic. Multi-level sidewalks feature six total acres of
green space, fountains, and a stream. A pedestrian skyway links the two city blocks
across Main Street. The site is served by the City Center station of the TRAX light rail
system, and a large underground parking lot capable of holding 5,600 vehicles.
The skybridge connecting the 2 upper floors of the shopping center across Main
Street weighs 320,000 pounds and includes roof panels that can be opened, glass
walls and interior benches. The skybidge itself is located directly above the City Creek
Center's TRAX light rail station.
SWA, which provided landscape architecture and urban design services, organized
the site along the city’s street-grid to keep City Creek Center integrated to the urban
fabric and took inspiration from the town’s original City Creek to create a 1.2 km
waterway traversing the property as a pedestrian-oriented green space. Other
elements of the landscape design support the overall concept of urban living, with
pocket parks, roof gardens, and landscape connections throughout the project.
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The City Creek Center is anchored by two national department stores: Nordstrom and
Macy's. Nordstrom has a two-level, 124,000 sq ft store located on West Temple Street,
and Macy’s occupies a three-level store of 150,000 sq ft, located on the east block of
Main Street. There is approximately 300,000 sq ft of additional retail space for
specialty stores. A Harmons grocery store is located on the east most block, at the
corner of 100 South and 200 East streets. The northeast area containing the Key
Bank Tower and adjoining Eagle Gate Tower contains the Food Court with a view to
the west. The mall has a valet-assisted underground parking located under the Key
Bank Tower.
There are approximately 300 housing units, consisting of condos and apartments, in
the City Creek Center located in five residential towers. Other apartments are mostly
built along 100 South Street, with some constructed along South Temple Street as
well.
The Marriott Downtown at City Creek Hotel is the only hotel located in the City Creek
Center.
The LDS Church has stated that no tithing money was used for construction of the
complex, with the project financed through the church's commercial real-estate arm,
Property Reserve, Inc.
In 2008, the Sierra Club praised the church for being "good stewards" of the
environment in its City Creek Center development.
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