Salt Lake City is the capitol of the state of Utah, and is an ideal vacation destination because of its skiing, shopping, museums, and historical sites that tourists can visit and enjoy.
Salt Lake City's Tourist Appeal Today
Today, there are many things for visitors to see and do in Salt Lake City. The NBA's Utah Jazz bring professional sports excitement to the area, and the Off Broadway Theatre is a popular downtown spot for comedy and broadway style shows. The Clark Planetarium is a well known attraction for star shows, laser and music concerts, and science exhibits.
The Trolley Square is a National Historic Site and is housed in old-time trolley car barns, it's a major shopping, dining and entertainment district in downtown Salt Lake City. Lagoon Amusement Park is a beach waterpark, a historically accurate Pioneer Village, and offers musical entertainment. Gardner Village is a historic area that many tourists find interesting, built in 1877, it has been restored and includes Country Furniture and Archibald's Restaurant plus historic homes renovated into cozy shops around the mill. These attractions both new and old unfold from Salt Lake City's rich historic past.
Ancient History
The first people to inhabit the area that is now Salt Lake City and the state of Utah were the Anasazi Indians, the ancestors of the Pueblo people, the Anasazi were cliff dwellers. Navajo once lived in the area too, as well as the Ute tribe, whom the state of Utah was named after. Non- Indians did not settle in the area until the 19th century.
New Settlers Arrive
Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by a group of Mormon pioneers. The Mormons arrived in the area because they were escaping religious persecution in the United States to the east of the area. These pioneers were led by their religious leader Brigham Young. When Young first saw the valley where Salt Lake City was founded he said he knew, "...this was the place." Immediately, the pioneers began planting crops and planning the city of Salt Lake.
Originally, the city was to be called Great Salt Lake City, named for the large salt water lake to the west, but the "Great" would be dropped from the name in 1868.
The Mormons lived in self imposed isolation for years when their territory was still property of Mexico, but when the United States acquired the land because of the Mexican-American War, the Mormon state was absorbed into the U.S. territory of Utah. During the 1850's the Gold Rush ushered many new emigrants west through Great Salt Lake City. During the Civil War U.S. troops were stationed in the town. The railroad connecting the East and West coasts of the U.S. was completed in 1869. Salt Lake City was now connected to the rest of the U.S. by rail, and now the mining industry would move into the city as well. Copper, silver, gold, and lead mines popped up by the hundreds, and smelters also opened later to refine the ore. Mining remains one of the main industries in the state of Utah today.
Utah Becomes a State
As soon as the area was absorbed as U.S. territory, the Mormons began petitioning Congress for state-hood, it took 46 years and 6 petitions before Utah became the 45th state of the Union in 1896. The U.S. government denied the admission of Utah in to the Union because of their practice of polygamy, the Mormons were reluctant to give up what they considered part of their religion, until in 1890, when Wilford Woodruff, the President of the Mormon Church resolved that members of the church should all follow the laws of the United states, which bans polygamy.
Many of the buildings one will see today in Salt Lake City were built in the early 1900's. Including Eagle Gate, which marked the entrance to Brigham Young's estate. City parks were also built, streets paved, newer sewer systems and street lighting added, and the State Capitol, and many other well known historic buildings were also built at this time.
Between 1900 and 1930 the city's population nearly tripled, with a lot of the wealth coming from the mining industry. Today the city is trying to reform and come to terms with its mining industry legacy, due to its effect on the environment. Other industries are becoming more prevalent, such as the biomedical industry, high technology, and software firms, although mining is still very important to the economy of the city.
