April 1 2024 Las Vegas
Click here for:
Mon March 11 Day 1 Toronto to Fort Wayne
Tue Mar 12 Day 2 Fort Wayne to St. Louis
Mar 13 Day 3 St. Louis
Mar 14 Day 4 St. Louis MO to Tulsa OK
Mar 15 Day 5 Tulsa OK to Amarillo TX
Mar 16 Day 6 Amarillo TX to Gallup NM
Mar 17 Day 7 Gallup NM to Las Vegas NV
Mar 18 Day 8 Las Vegas
Mar 19-20 Day 9 - 10 Las Vegas
Mar 21 Day 11 Las Vegas
Mar 21 Day 11 Las Vegas Bellagio
Mar 22 Day 12 Las Vegas
Sat Mar 23 Day 13 Las Vegas Hockey
Mon Tue Mar 25 - 28 Day 15-18 Las Vegas see Weekly Recap Route 66 Coffee
Sat Mar 30 Day 20 Las Vegas see Weekly Recap Brioche
It was a chilly 3C when we got up. John went out to Starbucks for coffees.
Salt Lake City was founded on July 24, 1847, by early pioneer settlers led by Brigham Young who were seeking to escape persecution they had experienced while living farther east. The Mormon pioneers, as they would come to be known, entered a semi-arid valley and immediately began planning and building an extensive irrigation network which could feed the population and foster future growth. Salt Lake City's street grid system is based on a standard compass grid plan, with the southeast corner of Temple Square (the area containing the Salt Lake Temple in downtown Salt Lake City) serving as the origin of the Salt Lake meridian. Owing to its proximity to the Great Salt Lake, the city was originally named Great Salt Lake City. In 1868, the word "Great" was dropped from the city's name. Immigration of international members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), mining booms, and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the West".
We can see this building from our hotel room.
Millions of people visit Temple Square every year to marvel at the pristine architecture and beautifully manicured gardens. Salt Lake’s original founders actually labeled the city streets based on their distance from the Temple, which is why you’ll see street names like “North Temple” and “South Temple." Other corresponding street names are a numbered grid, also showcasing the distance from the Temple—200 South (signifying two blocks south of the Temple), 300 South (signifying three blocks south of the Temple), 400 South, 500 South—you get the idea. Salt Lake was mapped and created with this building in mind, making it not just a place of worship, but one of historical significance as well.
However, starting in 2019, Temple Square began a major structural renovation, closing much of the grounds for an estimated four to six years!
The Assembly Hall on Temple Square is a Gothic Revival style building finished in 1882. It was built as place of worship for local Latter-day Saint congregations in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Tabernacle
The key purpose of constructing the building was to allow Latter-day Saints to gather and hear the word of the Lord. From 1867 to 2000, the Church’s twice-yearly general conferences were held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. At these conferences, Latter-day Saints listen to the counsel of Church leaders under the guidance of the prophet and President of the Church.
Brigham Young, who was the Church President at the time of construction, proposed the original design idea of a large dome building with no columns to interfere with the line of sight to the podium. Bridge builder Henry Grow used a lattice truss design so the Tabernacle roof was able to span its 150-foot width without center supports. The exterior of the completed building is 150 feet wide, 250 feet long, and 80 feet high. The building was constructed by hand and almost entirely with local materials. Only the window glass, nails, bolts, and other metal parts were imported. The columns and balcony trim are faux-painted wood. The benches were hand-painted to look like oak, which was similar to what early Latter-day Saints had in their homes before coming to the Salt Lake Valley, rather than the available Utah pine. A balcony was later added to the Tabernacle in 1875.
Brigham Young wanted to build the structure so speakers could be heard from a long distance. The building’s acoustics allow a pin drop to be heard from 170 feet away. The unique design helped the Church achieve its goals of allowing a large congregation to hear the prophet and other Church leaders speak. Thousands of meetings, concerts, lectures, and other public events have taken place in the Tabernacle. Twelve presidents of the United States have spoken from the Tabernacle’s pulpit, as well as leading suffragist Susan B. Anthony, trans-Atlantic pilot Charles Lindbergh, and many other prominent people. The Tabernacle was the first building in the United States to be designated as a National Historic Civic Engineering Landmark.
There were quite a few Mormons walking around the area. Yes, the young men look and dress like The Book of Mormon! See them on the left.
The Conference Center construction began in 1997 and was completed in 2000. The 1.4-million-square-foot building features multilevel floors, terrace views of the Salt Lake Temple, and a rooftop garden. It was built over an entire city block from the same granite deposits that were used to build the Salt Lake Temple in the 1800s. It was dedicated in 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of the Church.
The FamilySearch Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the largest genealogical libraries in the world. It is located in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, on the southwest side of Temple Square. The library is operated by FamilySearch, a nonprofit genealogical organization owned by the Church and dedicated to connecting families across generations. The library is free of charge and open to the public.
We were hungry so started wandering to find something.
The monument was erected in 1859 and commemorates the entrance to Brigham Young's property at the mouth of City Creek Canyon. It was originally topped by a wooden eagle, refurbished several times and eventually replaced by the current 4,000-pound, bronze eagle, with a wingspan of 20 feet (6.1 m). Grant R. Fairbanks, a son of sculptor Avard Tennyson Fairbanks, assisted by his brothers Justin and David, sculpted the eagle perched on a beehive using Ralph Ramsay's original statue as the model. Ralph Ramsay carved the original wooden eagle, which is on display at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum located at 300 North Main Street.
The first Eagle Gate was remodeled and enlarged with new stone piers and wider inverted arches in the early 1890s (with Ralph Ramsay's eagle rebuilt and fortified); designed by Don Carlos Young, an architect son of Brigham Young. Due to the widening of State Street in the early 1960s, the prior monument including Ramsay's eagle was removed and replaced with a much wider and larger third generation Eagle Gate, designed by Salt Lake City architect George Cannon Young. Young was the son of Don Carlos Young and the grandson of Brigham Young. The monument is one of Salt Lake City's best known pioneer landmarks, and its current design is one of Salt Lake City's best standing examples of Mid-Century Modern design.
The Old Hansen Planetarium is a three-story building built in 1904 and located at 15 South State Street. It has served many functions throughout its history. Originally built in 1904 as the Salt Lake City Public Library, the building was renovated in 1965 to become the Hansen Planetarium. After the planetarium closed and was replaced by the Clark Planetarium in 2003, the building was remodeled into the O.C. Tanner Company Flagship jewelry store, which opened in 2009. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Salt Lake Theatre Marker
The bronze bas-relief is signed “Mahonri” and dated 1940 in the lower right.
The bronze bas-relief is signed “Mahonri” and dated 1940 in the lower right.
INSCRIPTION
Long, long be my heart with such memories filled;like the vase in which roses have once been distilled.
You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will,
but the scent of the roses will hang ’round it still.Thomas Moore
“The people must have amusement as well as religion” —Brigham Young
The Salt Lake Theatre, 1860–1923, erected on this site under the direction of President Brigham Young, dedicated March 6, 1862.
Erected 1940 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints & The Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co.
Mahonri Mackintosh Young (August 9, 1877 – November 2, 1957) was an American social-realist sculptor and artist. During his lengthy career, he created more than 320 sculptures, 590 oil paintings, 5,500 watercolors, 2,600 prints, and thousands of drawings. However, he is primarily recognized for his sculpture. His work includes landscapes, portraits, busts, life-size sculptures, monuments, and engravings.
Large commissions for sculptures from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) were particularly lucrative for him.
Born into a family of rich Mormon pioneer heritage, Young was the grandson of the second President of the LDS Church and first Governor of Utah, Brigham Young.
Born into a family of rich Mormon pioneer heritage, Young was the grandson of the second President of the LDS Church and first Governor of Utah, Brigham Young.
Lots of murals in this area.
Gun shop...
Virgin Mary
Shoes on the wires.
Raining now - time to head back.
Great Trip. The buildings, the architecture, the murals, the information all fantastic!! Thank you!
ReplyDelete