Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as Mormons, founded Salt Lake City in their quest to find freedom from religious oppression. They have put their stamp on the city and Utah as a whole. We limited ourselves to walking around Temple Square, the heart of the Church. Salt Lake City's street numbering system is based on the street's location relative to the square. The square is bounded by North Temple, South Temple, West Temple and State Street. The streets are numbered 100 West, 200 West, etc. as they go west of the square and the east, north and south streets are similarly numbered. Our campground is due west of Temple Square at West North Temple and 1400 West.

We walked through the square and entered several of the buildings. The Temple itself seemed to be busy with a number of weddings. As we walked by we could see a bride and groom entering the Temple while another was having their pictures taken at the fountain in front of it. The Mormons like to keep track of their ancestry and in the process have created one of the major genealogical databases and libraries in the world. We went to the Family Research Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to look up members of our family in the computer database (available online). Because of privacy issues, only deceased members of a family will be on the database and then only if submitted. They also have census data, but the most current is for the 1930 census (again for privacy reasons). We also went to the Family History Library which has an extensive collection of family histories. We wanted to see the museum but got into a conversation with one of the docents, who also happened to be a missionary, and never saw the museum because we had to leave to hear an organ recital at the Conference Center.

The Temple construction was begun in 1853 and completed 40 years later. It is constructed out of granite quarried about 23 miles from Salt Lake City. The outer walls are nine feet thick at the ground and narrow to six feet at the top. While these pictures were taken, we could see one wedding party entering the Temple and another (top, right) was having their pictures taken.
The Temple as seen from the front of the Church Office Building. The Joseph Smith Memorial Building is at left.
Church Administration Building
The Beehive Building, home of Brigham Young
The Lion House, built by Brigham Young to house his family. The basement had a dining room with seating for 70. The ground floor had sitting rooms and bedrooms for wives and children. The third floor had bedrooms for children and childless wives, one under each of 20 dormers.
The Lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building
The Tabernacle, above, undergoing major renovations and seismic reinforcements, was surrounded by a construction fence and unavailable to visitors.

The Assembly Building, right, surprised us. At first glance you can rightly think that this is a synagogue because of the six pointed star at the apex above the door.
Family History Library
Museum of Church History and Art
Church Conference Center
Conference Center auditorium seats 21,000
The Conference Center pipe organ has 7,708 pipes but is dwarfed by the Tabernacle organ which has 11,623 pipes.