By Hillary Gubler
hillary@newsroom.byu.edu
Maps detailing the changing face of downtown Salt Lake City.1854187518821893191119561966197819932000
After President Brigham Young declared, 'This is the right place, we'll stop here,' the early pioneers halted their worn wagons and picked up their shovels to build Zion's headquarters.
During the past 153 years, downtown Salt Lake has changed and grown from those pioneer days.
From construction on the tithing house and tabernacles to the building of the temple, LDS Church headquarters and the great effuses of a Conference Center, the property has a changing history.
Randall Dixon, Salt Lake City historian, said President Young owned much of the property where church offices and monuments are today.
In the latter half of the 1800s, President Young's homestead rested in the northwest corner of South Temple and State Street, Dixon said. Next to the Beehive and Lion houses there were barns, a pigpen and other assets for his wives and children.
On his private property, President Young maintained his houses and schools for his children, said Cecil Sharp, online reference librarian for the Salt Lake City Public Library. It was walled by a 9 foot high wall for years.
The Beehive and Lion Houses stand today as a memorial to President Young and the pioneers.
To the east of President Young's property stood 'a two story building of sun-baked mud-brick housed the general store,' according to The Story of One Main Street. 'A church store house stood beside it and next door a tiny, gabled-roofed building was the first home of the Deseret News.'
Most of the top of that block, facing North Temple, was scattered with houses, where the Whitneys and the Kimballs lived, Dixon said.
Over the years, the houses disappeared and church buildings have replaced the old residences.
The LDS Church Administration building opened in 1917, but according to LDS Church archives, it was not dedicated until 1978, the same year as the dedication of the south visitor center.
In 1956, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built the Relief Society House on the corner of Main Street and North Temple, according to the LDS Church Web site.
According to LDS Church archives, the Church Office Building was finished in 1972 and church officials moved into the building at that time.
However, the building was not dedicated until 1975 as part of the 24th of July celebration.
The 1911 built Hotel Utah replaced the old tithing offices and Deseret News building. It was renovated and dedicated as the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in 1993, according to the LDS Church Web site.
The JSMB houses the FamilySearch Center and the Legacy Theater that shows 'The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd,' a church produced film of an ancient American family, living around the time of Christ.
Across East Temple (as it was called back then, now known as Main Street) the church has also seen changes of its temple block.
President Young originally planned for a 40-acre temple block, according to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, but reduced the size 'for convenience.'
Temple Square's first tabernacle meeting house was dedicated on Apr. 6, 1852, according to the encyclopedia. This tabernacle was in use until 1870.
The tabernacle was replaced by the Assembly Hall, dedicated Jan. 8, 1882.
During construction of the Assembly Hall, Charles J. Thomas was 'appointed as the first official guide to Temple Square,' according to the encyclopedia. In 1876 he greeted 4,000 visitors at Temple Square.
As visitors to Temple Square and church membership have increased, so have the church exhibit areas, such as the north and south visitor centers.
In April 2000, the church opened a Conference Center to house the growing church membership for meetings such as general conference. The center seats 20,000.
On Oct. 7, the church opened a plaza, built on Main Street between Temple Square and LDS Church Headquarters.
The park-like atmosphere has connected the church owned property, adding to the years of change in downtown Salt Lake City.
Video of reactions to the Conference Center and the 170 annual conference.
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