Many people associate Salt Lake City, Utah, with the Mormon religion. While it is true, Salt Lake City is centered around the Mormon faith, mixed within the Mormon Temple and church offices are a lot of interesting places to visit. Thankfully for all of you, furrylittlegnome is here to show you what she saw.
Founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, a young Mormon from the Northeastern part of America, Salt Lake City is the capital of the western state of Utah. Brigham Young and other Mormon pioneers were trying to escape the violence inflicted upon them from the rest of the country who frowned upon their faith.
A few quick facts: Salt Lake City is run on a grid plan. The streets run North, South, East and West. Temple Square serves as the starting point. Also, as you can see from furrylittlegnome’s photos below, Salt Lake City is full of smog!
Caffeine is prohibited in the Mormon faith, and while gnome thought she would be suffering for three days without a cup of tea or a latte, she was pleasantly surprised to see that caffeinated beverages can be found everywhere! Also, young Mormons on their missions greet you on the street and offer assistance in any way.
Check out The Lion House. Built in 1856, The Lion House was built for Brigham Young and his large family. A polygamist, Young had two dozen wives and over fifty children! It is now a bakery serving sweets and other baked goods. Furrylittlegnome sampled quite a few slices of cake.
The Beehive House is also a former home of Brigham Young. This house, built in 1854, is a museum and shows what life was like in the 1800s.
Have you ever seen a city hall in America look like this?
This building in Salt Lake City is beautiful!
Of course, the main attraction is the Mormon Temple. Imposing and luxurious, you can tour the grounds, but unless you are a qualified, baptized Mormon in good standing, you cannot go inside.
With The Pioneer Log Home and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building as other points of interest, anybody of any faith could come here and have a wonderful experience – and if not, travel the 45 minutes East to Park City!
furrylittlegnome 
Great post! Brings back memories as my sister briefly relocated to Salt Lake City many years ago. A beautiful city to see whether of the Mormon faith or not. Thanks Furry. 🙂
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by.
FLG – Remind me to tell you about my trip to Salt Lake…
Suzanne
Uh-oh.
Lovely photos as usual. Interesting that a house of worship would restrict anyone.
Good point. Did you know that whenever a temple is finished being built, it is open to the public? Granted, it’s for only a fortnight or so. Furrylittlegnome remembers when the Mormon Temple outside of Boston opened for a few weeks to the public and there were long lines to get in!
While most houses of worship would prefer their brand of faithful, the generally don’t restrict folks. Though some have been known to have police or paid guards during some special holidays where they know they’ll be ‘packing them in’ so to speak.
Hi Jodie,
I never made it to Salt Lake but loved the whole area. As of matter of fact, we have friends that are Mormon in Vermont. They live chose to us in FL and also our neighbors back home. We scoop them in with our group and although they are practicing Mormon, we serve and drink wine around them. We went to their daughter’s wedding, at the library in Boston and talk about a night to remember..it was gorgeous dining on library tables with her daughter’s favorite books on each table. They also have a house (I think 2 now) in Salt Lake and have told us to go out anytime too and have invited us to stay. Next time you come to Vermont and come to our house we’ll introduce you. I think they love us because we are always doing fun things and include them. Loved your article.
Xx
Peggy
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Furrylittlegnome thanks you! You should try a Salt Lake City / Park City trip. FLG thinks you will love it and Wyoming is close by for the “hunter” of the family.
This is a place I’d like to visit, but I didn’t realise it had a smog problem. The architecture looks impressive and it’s a relief to know that caffeinated beverages are available. With 24 wives and over twice as many children, Brigham Young must have been a most energetic fellow.
HaHaHa!