Salt Lake City is the capital of Utah and was founded in 1847 as Great Salt Lake City by a group of Mormon pioneers led by their prophet, Brigham Young. They extensively irrigated and cultivated the arid valley. Today, Salt Lake City is still home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, also known as the Mormon Church). Salt Lake City has developed a strong outdoor recreation tourist industry based primarily on skiing. Our tour of the city hosted by an LDS member proved to be interesting. The Capital Building may be the finest that I have visited. The city as well as the county is laid out on a grid plan which to outsiders doesn’t make much sense and it confuses most GPS navigation systems but the local swear by it. The grid origin is the southeast corner of Temple Square. I don’t even begin to understand it but if it works for them, then so be it. 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. We found the city to be charming for a large city and our interaction with the locals was a pleasant experience.
Some highlights of the city tour
Our tour concluded with a dinner at one of Brigham Young’s many homes. This facility is near Temple Square. After dinner we took a leisurely tour of Temple Square, listened to the Tabernacle Choir practice in the new facility, visited the old Tabernacle and experienced the acoustics, viewed the famous organ, and enjoyed a beautiful evening promenade. Course only LDS members in good standing are ever allowed to enter the Temple. This was our last evening in Salt Lake City and it brought back many memories from my last visit in 1965. If I wait as long again to visit the city I’ll be 104 years old. Now that would be something to look forward to.
Photos of the Mormon Temple and surrounding grounds
Leave a Reply