There was nothing haphazard about the origins of Salt Lake City," said historian Dale Morgan. "If ever there was a planned community, it was this one."
The plat itself was patterned after one originated in 1833 by Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, who visualized a checkerboard grid. For the first several decades, Main Street was indeed a "small town," a dusty, unpaved roadway in summer and a muddy mess in winter.Even though Salt Lake City has been known since for its clean, wide streets, it is the original buildings that make a lasting mark on any city.
"You can read the history of a place through architecture as much as you can through a book," says Allen Roberts, architectural historian and partner in Cooper and Roberts, a firm that specializes in historic preservation. "You can tell the age of a city through its buildings, as well as the sophistication and wealth of the people. You can tell the influences on a city by the imported styles and the materials used in its structures."
When giving architectural tours of the city, Roberts likes to stand on the steps of the Boston Building downtown and tell the story of Samuel Newhouse, how the mining boom made him wealthy, and how people began using out-of-state architects and imported materials.
"Buildings reflect directly the intended use and the aspirations of the owners. They are not just piles of materials. Every building tells a story or many stories."
Now, thanks to some fine work by the Utah Heritage Foundation, under the direction of Lisbeth Henning, a 44-page booklet, "Historic Downtown Salt Lake City Walking Tour Guide," has been published and is being distributed free to interested residents and visitors.
The booklet contains five one-hour tours, with instructions and historical background for each, so that anyone can pick it up and use it as a handy guide through the north downtown area -- Main Street, Time Travel on Main Street (a tour for kids 9-12), Exchange Place and Market Street and the Gateway-Railroad District.
There are several classy, historic structures included in one or more of these tours, such as the former Hotel Utah, now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, "a veritable white palace," on the corner of Main and South Temple. It opened for business on June 9, 1911, an opulent, 10-story structure, surmounted by a tower rising four stories above the roof gardens and capped with a mammoth beehive set on a pedestal.
Over the years, it became known as "the Grande Dame" of Western hotels.
For most of the 20th century, the Hotel Utah hosted Utah's most distinguished visitors and acted as a focal point of social activity. The exterior was sheathed with decorative glazed bricks and terra-cotta. The Heritage Foundation calls it "a lavish example of Second Renaissance Revival style architecture -- with a Utah touch."
Roberts notes that preservation is often a compromise, such as losing the public character of the Hotel Utah when it became the Joseph Smith Building, even though the facade, the ornate lobby and much of the building's character has been nicely preserved. "The reasons, I think, that people go to Paris, Rome and London is not because of new buildings, but because of old ones. If you tore down those old buildings, I think people would stop going. Old buildings are essential to the urban fabric."
One such building was the old Salt Lake Theater. Brigham Young's big dream, the theater was originally built at 98 S. State in 1862, with 1,500 seats in an elegant interior created by European craftsmen who were Mormon converts. It was a major American theatrical landmark where amateur acting groups and nationally known performers appeared. When it was demolished in 1928, city dwellers were forced to see a gasoline station constructed in the form of an airplane take its place.
In 1939, the Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. finished the first two stories of a new building on the site. An additional four stories were added in 1947, as the demands for telephones accelerated. This building is now a relatively rare example of art deco style architecture in Utah. A plaque on the southeast corner of the building commemorates the old Salt Lake Theater, still mourned by historians.
Other buildings on the tour include:
-- The Alta Club at 100 E. South Temple. The venerable building has housed the exclusive club for more than 100 years. Founded in 1883 by prominent Utah businessmen, the original members were chiefly non-Mormons in the mining industry. Mormons were officially excluded for a number of years, and women were not admitted until the late 20th century. The design is Italian Renaissance style and is noted for its arched windows and doors and recessed arcaded balconies.
-- The Boston and Newhouse Buildings at 9 and 10 Exchange Place. These were Utah's first skyscrapers. To bring Eastern sophistication to Utah, mining magnate Samuel Newhouse hired Henry Ives Cobb, the famous New York architect, to design these towers. He incorporated similar elements in each building but still managed to give each a distinctive appearance.
-- Street, 40 East. This area became Salt Lake City's red-light district from the 1870s to the late 1930s. There were several dozen buildings housing legitimate businesses on the first floor, while "female boarders" lived on the upper floors. As was true in other American cities, Salt Lake's prostitutes operated with tacit approval of local police. Commercial Street is now Regent Street, where the new nine-story Deseret News building sits and where movie crews love to congregate.
-- The Utah Commercial and Savings Bank Building, 22 E. 100 South. This Richardsonian Romanesque building features large blocks of red sandstone. Built in 1889, the building derived its name from a similar house-type, which was common to New York City in the late 19th century.
-- In 1875, the Deseret National Bank opened at 79 S. Main, with Brigham Young as president. The building had a three-story "pedestal," a simple eight-story "shaft" and an ornate three-story "capital." In 1919, the bank replaced its original building with the present Deseret Building, and in 1932 it merged with Security National Bank and became First Security Bank. The building's original name is carved above the west entrance.
-- The Eagle Emporium, 102 S. Main. Built in 1864, the Eagle Emporium is the oldest existing building in downtown Salt Lake City. It was constructed by William Jennings, Utah's first millionaire, to house his mercantile business. It remains the only commercial structure built prior to the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The building became the first home of ZCMI when Jennings leased it to the LDS Church.
Afterward, the building housed Zions First National Bank, which remains there today. The most interesting landmark on the site is the ornate clock in front, one of the few remaining pieces of 19th century street furniture in downtown Salt Lake City. The clock was made in Connecticut and erected on this site in 1873 and was originally powered by a water wheel under the street. Later, four large springs which had to be wound every five days made the clock run. In 1912, it was connected to an electric clock system inside the bank.
Although Roberts is critical of decisions in the 1920s to get rid of the Social Hall, the Salt Lake Theater and the Gardo House, he is glad that the LDS Church saved the Lion and Beehive Houses, which are also featured in the guide, at a time when some groups wanted to tear them down.
"Today," he says, "Main Street has our best collection of commercial architecture."
Recently, historic districts in cities have been defined by half of the buildings being categorized as historic, and Main Street qualifies. Roberts hopes to see the old Utah Theater, (the city's oldest cast-iron building), the Crandall Building and the Montgomery Ward building all restored.
Meanwhile, he is grateful that the railroad depots have been saved, as well as Exchange Place, "which defines the south end of the commercial district," and on the north end, " 'Preservation kitsch,' such as the ZCMI facade and Anderson Jewelry across the street, are not great preservation projects, but it's better than losing the buildings entirely."
Roberts believes that the popular referendum decision to save and restore the City-County Building represented "a major milestone in the city's preservation history." Since then, restoring buildings has become economically feasible, he says, with the City-County Building costing $2 million less than if it had been replaced by a new building.
"The buildings on Temple Square, the Boston and Newhouse buildings, as well as the old Post Office and the Kearns Building represent some of the most important historic structures in the city."
Free copies of the attractive and useful guide are available from the Utah Heritage Foundation at Memorial House in Memory Grove Park, from a variety of downtown hotels and bed & breakfasts, the Salt Palace Visitor Information Center and the Utah Travel Council. For more information, call 533-0858.