Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SALT LAKE CITY

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 93 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SALT See also:LAKE See also:CITY , the See also:capital city of See also:Utah and the See also:county-seat of Salt Lake county, in the N.W. See also:part of Utah, immediately E. of the See also:Jordan See also:river in the Salt Lake Valley, near the See also:base of the Wasatch mountains, at an See also:altitude of about 4350 ft., about i' m. S.E. of the See also:Great Salt Lake, about 710 M. W. by N. of See also:Denver and about 930 M. E. of See also:San Francisco. Pop. (186o) 8236; (1900) 53,531; (1910 See also:census) 92,777. See also:Area, 51.25 sq. m. Of the See also:total See also:population in 'goo, 12,741 (nearly one-See also:fourth) were See also:foreign-See also:born, including 5157 See also:English,' 1687 Swedes, 965 Danes, 963 Germans and 912 Scotch; 35,152 were of foreign-parentage (one or the other See also:parent foreign-born); 278 were negroes, 214 See also:Chinese, 22 See also:Japanese. Salt Lake City is served by the Denver & Rio Grande, the See also:Union Pacific, the Western Pacific, the See also:Oregon See also:Short See also:Line, anal the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake See also:railways; it is also a See also:terminus of shorter roads to See also:Ogden, to Los Angeles and to Mercur, a See also:mining See also:town in the Oquirrh mountains ' The See also:early Mormon See also:missions in See also:England were very successful, and many of the leaders of the See also:church and those otherwise prominent in Salt Lake City have been of English See also:birth.(S. of Great Salt Lake) whose ores are reduced by the See also:cyanide See also:process. The Oregon Short Line and the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake have a union railway station (1909), and the Denver & Rio Grande and the Western Pacific also have a large union See also:rail-way station (191o). The See also:street railway See also:system is excellent; electric cars were introduced in 1889; and the street railways were reorganized by E. H.

See also:

Harriman, who bought a controlling See also:interest in them. The situation of the city is striking, with views of mountains and of the Great Salt Lake, and the See also:climate is dry and salubrious. The city is the headquarters of the Church of Jesus See also:Christ of Latter-See also:Day See also:Saints (see See also:MORMONS). The streets are laid out, according to the See also:plan of Brigham See also:Young, with city blocks of 'o acres each (66o ft. sq.) and streets 132 ft. wide, and well shaded with trees planted along irrigating ditches, fed by See also:mountain streams. Brigham (or See also:South See also:Temple) Street is a See also:fine See also:boulevard See also:running 3 M. from the Temple to Fort See also:Douglas. Most of the streets are numbered and named " See also:East " or " See also:West," " See also:North " or " South," from their direction from the centre of the city, the Temple See also:Block. See also:State Street is the See also:official name of First East Street ; and East Temple Street is called See also:Main, and South Temple Street (east of the Temple block) is called Brigham. The only See also:developed parks are See also:Pioneer and City See also:Hall, both small, and See also:Liberty See also:Park (I 10 acres), in which Brigham Young built a grist See also:mill in 1852 and which was bought from his See also:estate by the city in 1880. There are bathing parks on the shores of Great Salt Lake, 11-15 m. W. of the city—the best known being Saltair, which has a Moorish See also:pavilion; and 5 m. S. is Wandamere (formerly See also:Calder's) Park (64 acres). Three See also:miles E. of the city is Fort Douglas, established as See also:Camp Douglas in 1862 by See also:Colonel P.

See also:

Edward See also:Connor (182o-1891), afterwards prominently connected with the development of the See also:mineral resources of Utah; the fort overlooks the city, being more than 4900 ft. above See also:sea-level. In the city there are medicinal and thermal springs, and See also:water at a temperature of 98-104° F. is piped to a large See also:bath-See also:house (185o) in the N. part of the city. The most prominent buildings are those of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, particularly, in Temple Square, the Temple, See also:Tabernacle, and See also:Assembly Hall. The great Mormon Temple 1853–1893) has See also:grey See also:granite walls 6 ft. thick, is 99 X 186 ft., and has six See also:spires, the highest (220 ft.) having a See also:copper statue of the See also:angel See also:Moroni. The elliptical Tabernacle (187o) has a rounded, turtle-See also:shell shaped roof, unsupported by pillars or beams, seats nearly 'o,000, and has a large See also:pipe See also:organ (5000 pipes). The Assemby Hall (188o), also of granite, has an auditorium which seats about 2500. In 1909 a bishopric See also:building, with many of the business offices of the church, was built. Other buildings connected with the See also:history of the Mormon church are three residences of Brigham Young, called the See also:Lion House, the Beehive (the beehive is the See also:symbol of the See also:industry of the Mormon settlers in the See also:desert and appears on the state See also:seal), and the Amelia See also:Palace or Gardo House (1877), which is now privately owned and houses an excellent private See also:art See also:gallery. Three blocks E. of the Temple is St See also:Mary's, the See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:cathedral (19o9, 100-200 ft.; with two towers 175 ft. high). Other large churches are: St See also:Mark's Cathedral (1869, See also:Protestant Episcopal) and the First Presbyterian Church (1909). There is a large city and county building (1894), built of rough grey See also:sandstone from Utah county; it has a See also:dome on the See also:top of which is a statue of See also:Columbia; over its entrances are statues of See also:Commerce, Liberty and See also:Justice; its balconies command views of the neighbouring See also:country and of the Great Salt Lake; the interior is decorated with Utah See also:onyx. Other buildings are: the Federal building; the Packard Library, the public library of the city (1905), one block E. of Temple Block, which housed in 1910 about 40,000 volumes; and several business buildings.

Typical of the city is the great building of the See also:

Zion's Co-operative See also:Mercantile Institution, a concern established by Brigham Young in 1868—there are several large factories connected with it, and its See also:annual sales See also:average more than $5,000,000. A See also:monument to Brigham Young and the Utah Pioneers, crowned by a statue of Brigham Young, by C. E. See also:Dallin, was unveiled in 1897, at the intersection of Main and Brigham Streets. The city has numerous hospitals and charities, and there is a state See also:penitentiary here. In the S.E. part is the judgeMiner's See also:Home and See also:Hospital (Roman Catholic), a memorial to See also:John See also:Judge, a successful Utah miner. Salt Lake City has a See also:good public school system In the city is the University of Utah, chartered in '85o as the University of the state of Deseret and opened in See also:November 185o; it was practically discontinued from '851 until 1867, and then was scarcely more than a business See also:college until 1869; its See also:charter was amended in '884 and a new charter was issued in 1894, when the See also:present See also:style of the See also:corporation was assumed ; in 1894 6o acres from the Fort Douglas See also:reservation were secured for the campus. In 1909–1910 the university consisted of a school of arts and sciences, a state school of mines (1901), a normal school, and a preparatory See also:department. Other institutions of learning are: the Latter-Day Saints University (1887) and the Latter-Day Saints High School, St Mary's See also:Academy (1875; under the Roman Catholic Sisters of the See also:Holy See also:Cross), All Hallows College (1886; Roman Catholic), See also:Gordon Academy (187o; Congregational), See also:Rowland Hall Academy (188o ; Protestant Episcopal) and See also:Westminster College (1897; Presbyterian). There is a state Art See also:Institute, which gives an annual See also:exhibition, provides for a course of public lectures on art, and houses in its building the state art collection. The city has always been interested in See also:music and the See also:drama: the See also:regular See also:choir of 500 voices of the Mormon Tabernacle (organized in 189o) is one of the best choruses in the country, and closely connected with its development are the See also:Symphony See also:Orchestra and the Salt Lake Choral Society. Brigham Young was an admirer of the drama, and the Salt Lake See also:Theatre (1862) has had a brilliant history.

There is a Young Men's See also:

Christian Association (organized in 1890). The See also:principal clubs are the Alta, University, Commercial, Country, and See also:Women's. There are a Masonic Temple and buildings of the Elks and See also:Odd See also:Fellows. Salt Lake City is the great business centre of Utah and one of the main See also:shipping points of the West for agricultural products, live stock (especially See also:sheep), See also:precious metals and See also:coal; and the excellent railway facilities contribute greatly to the commercial importance of the city. In 1905 the value of the factory products was $7,543,983, being 76.3% more than in 1900 and being nearly one-fifth of the total value of the factory products of all Utah. There are three large See also:steam-See also:car repair shops in the city. Among the more valuable manufactures are: See also:newspapers, books, &c. ($924,495 in 1905), See also:malt liquors, See also:confectionery, See also:flour, foundry and See also:machine-See also:shop products, See also:dairy products, salt, knit goods, mattresses, See also:sugar, See also:cement, &c. See also:Electricity is largely used in the newer factories, the See also:power being derived from Ogden river, near Ogden, about 35 m. away, and from cataracts in Cottonwood See also:canyon and other canyons. The city is governed under a charter of 1851. The See also:government is in the hands of a See also:mayor, elected for two years, and of a unicameral municipal See also:council, consisting of 15 members, elected from the five wards of the city for two years or for four years. The See also:municipality owns the water See also:works.

In 1909 the assessed valuation, real and See also:

personal, was $52,180,789; the tax See also:levy was $677,411; and the city See also:debt was $4,399,400 (exclusive of $r,528,000, the bonded indebtedness of the city See also:schools). The history of the city is largely that of the Mormons (q.v.) and in its earlier years that of Utah (q.v.). The Mormons first came here in 1847; an advance party led by Orson See also:Pratt and See also:Erastus See also:Snow entered the Salt Lake Valley on the 22nd of See also:July. See also:President Brigham Young upon his arrival on the 24th approved of the site, saying that he had seen it before in a See also:vision; on the 28th of July he See also:chose the site for the temple. In See also:August the city was named " the City of the Great Salt Lake," and this name was used until 1868 when the See also:adjective was dropped by legislative See also:act. In the autumn the See also:major See also:body of the pioneers arrived. The first government was purely ecclesiastical, the city being a " stake of Zion " under a president; " See also:Father " See also:Joseph See also:Smith was the first president. The See also:gold excitement of 1849 and the following years was the source of the city's first prosperity: the Mormons did not See also:attempt to do any mining—Brigham Young counselled them not to abandon See also:agriculture for prospecting—but they made themselves See also:rich by outfitting those of the gold-seekers who went to See also:California overland and who stopped at the City of the Great Salt Lake, the westernmost See also:settlement of any importance. On the 4th of See also:March 1849 a See also:convention met here which appointed a See also:committee to draft a constitution; the constitution was immediately adopted, the See also:independent state of Deseret was organized and on the 12th of March the first See also:general See also:election was held. In 185o the city had a population of 6000, more than See also:half the total number of inhabitants of the Great Salt Lake Valley, which, as well as the See also:rest of Utah, was largely settled from Salt Lake City. In See also:January 1851 the general assembly of the state of Deseret chartered the city; and the first municipal election was held in See also:April of the same See also:year; the charter was amended in 1865. See also:Immigration from See also:Europe and especially from England was large in the earlier years of the city, beginning in 1848.

Salt Lake City was prominently identified with the Mormon church in its struggle with the See also:

United States government; in 1858 it was entirely deserted upon the approach of the United States troops. Since the See also:Civil See also:War, the non-Mormon See also:element (locally called " See also:Gentile ") has steadily increased in strength, partly because of See also:industrial changes and partly because the city is the natural point of attack on the Mormon church of other denominations, which are comparatively stronger here than elsewhere in Utah. See the bibliography under MORMONS and under UTAH; and particularly E. W. Tullidge, History of Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City, 188. the famous descriptions in See also:Captain Stansbury's See also:report (185o), and in R. F. See also:Burton's The City of the Saints (1861), and H. H. See also:Bancroft, History of Utah (San Francisco, 1890).

End of Article: SALT LAKE CITY

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SALT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch zout, Ger. ...
[next]
SALT RANGE