Things to do / Travel Guide
Taste bread baked by costumed actors portraying Mormon pioneers, look a 6,000-pound eagle in the eye, and learn about the northern Utah landmark event that irrevocably altered the course of U.S. history.
This is the Place Heritage Park, Salt Lake City
This place needs no further introduction? For informative and interactive history, this is indeed the place! At the This is the Place Heritage Park's Old Deseret Village you can watch more than 200 costumed volunteers reenacting a 19th-century Mormon pioneer community amidst restored adobe houses, churches, schools, and shops. Artisans keep busy in their period workshops, bakers bake (and give you a taste), women churn butter, quilters quilt, and community members live their simple, daily lives as you walk or take a whimsical wagon ride around the community. Old Deseret Village is open from Memorial Day-Labor Day, Monday-Saturday. Also on the grounds is This is the Place Monument, dedicated to the 1847 moment at which Brigham Young and his crew stood atop Wasatch Mountain Range gazed out onto sprawling Salt Lake Valley. Intending to establish a Mormon Promised Land, Young declared: “This is the place.”
Wheeler Historic Farm, Salt Lake City
Milk a cow, trim candlewicks, sit back and enjoy a tractor-drawn wagon ride, or tour a farmhouse and learn about the farming life of the 75-acre Wheeler Historic Farm. An excellent introduction to every aspect of the dairy farming culture that characterized the lives of Salt Lake County families from 1890-1920, the Wheeler Historic Farm in Salt Lake City offers historic demonstrations and exhibits, many of which explain progressive farming methods from this period. The farm is open year-round from dawn until dusk. While admission to the farm is free, there is a small charge for attending special events and activities.
Beehive House, Salt Lake City
Tourists swarm to taste the carefully preserved history at Beehive House on East South Temple Street in Salt Lake City. The beehive, the Utah state insignia and symbol of industriousness, is an appropriate title for this painstakingly-restored National Historic Landmark, once the home of the city's founder and Utah's first governor, Brigham Young. Built in 1854, Young's large family lived in the house for close to 25 years. Peruse period furnishings on a free guided tour of the family's living quarters and learn about the lifestyle of a wealthy 19th-century family.
Also on the grounds is the 1856 Lion House (closed to the public), so named for its imposing lion statue. Leer back at this ferocious beast and then walk around to the southeast corner of Beehive House to peer up at the massive 6,000-pound eagle with its 20-foot wingspan posed to symbolically embrace those who once passed through Eagle Gate, Beehive's former entrance. Visitors can then walk one block east of Beehive House to Young's gravesite, if they so choose, at Mormon Pioneer Memorial Cemetery on First Avenue.
Golden Spike National Historic Site, Promontory
Driving a spike into the heart of the American Frontier, on May 10th, 1869 the United States changed forever. East Coast met West Coast on that fateful day, when more than 1,770 miles of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad tracks were finally linked. This was an historical moment that eventually facilitated the true nationalization of U.S. industry, politics, and culture. Track the history of the first, transcontinental railroad at Golden Spike National Historic Site in Promontory near Brigham City. Take the Big Fill Loop 1.5-mile walk to see the ravine that was filled in before the tracks were laid or drive the 16-mile Promontory Auto Tour for an introduction to the methods used for the railroad's construction. You can pick up a tour brochure with helpful explanations and background at the site's visitor's center. At the historic site you can take part in the lively reenactment of the driving of the spike every May.
Fort Buenaventura, Ogden
Adventure awaits at mountain-man Miles Goodyear's Fort Buenaventura, located on 84-acres near the Weber River. Established in 1846, the fort was the first permanent settlers' trading outpost in the Great Basin area, and it served as a rest stop for travelers. Historians have recreated Fort Buenaventura with remarkable precision; today visitors can peruse the artifacts and buildings as well as enjoy the area's ponds and pleasant natural setting.
Historic Temple Square, Salt Lake City
Even if you know little about Mormonism, a stop at Historic Temple Square should rate high on your to-do list while in Salt Lake City. Wait at the foot of the flagpole in the square and take one of the free tours offered by the Latter-Day Saint missionaries in nearly 30 different languages that leave every 30 minutes. You will learn about the regal red sandstone six-spired Salt Lake Temple (only baptized Mormons may enter) and the sparkling silver-domed Salt Lake Tabernacle containing the 11,600-pipe, 32-foot tall organ, which provides accompaniment for the world-class Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Miracle of the Gulls Monument, also in Historic Temple Square, honors the time a late-1840s harvest was nearly devastated by drought and crickets. In the nick of time saving-grace seagulls swooped onto the scene, gulped down the crickets, and the early pioneers salvaged their crops. Lording over the city, the giant Brigham Young Monument at the intersection of Main Street and South Temple Street is a sight to behold; a bronze Brigham Young (flanked by a fur trapper, a Native American, and a pioneer family) celebrates the success of his settlement of Salt Lake City.
Grounds of the Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City
Walk around the grounds of the Utah State Capitol at 300 North Street and State Street and you can get a taste of regional history. The building spectacular (inside and out): enjoy photo exhibits of the state's mining, art, and architectural history (indoors), and then stroll the nearly-40 acres of luxuriant, grassy lawns to see statues and monuments dedicated to prominent figures in Utah's history. The Mormon Battalion Monument commemorates the participation of Mormon soldiers in the Mexican War of 1846, and Memory Grove honors Utah's war martyrs from WWI and of subsequent combat until the present day.
Family History Library, Salt Lake City
Mormons believe that even ancestors who have passed away can be spiritually redeemed. As a result, the Mormon Church has built the largest genealogical library in the world. Spend some time investigating your own family history amidst the astounding collection in the Family History Library, located on North West Temple Street in downtown Salt Lake City. Boasting a staggering 2.2 million rolls of microfilmed records, 742,000 microfiche, 300,000 books, and 4,500 periodicals from all over the world, the library's entire collection is meticulously preserved and organized. There is information available from more than 110 countries and territories, and the holdings expand on an ongoing basis. Literally hundreds of volunteers and professionals are standing by to help you use computers, microfiche, and microfilm machines, as well as other resources, to access the information you need. The Family History Library is open year-round from Monday-Saturday, and searching the library's collection is free for the public.
Historical Sites in Salt Lake City, Park City, Northern Utah
Historical-Sites
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