:''Not to be mistaken with the

Council House A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

, a building of similar purpose and design in Salt Lake City.'' The Salt Lake City Council Hall is currently home to offices of the Utah Office of Tourism and the Utah Film Commission and is located on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...

. Built in 1864-66, the building is historically important as the Old Salt Lake City Hall or just Old City Hall from 1866 to 1894. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1975, as an emblem of (and site of events relating to) the conflicts between the governments of the

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

and the United States in the 19th century.

Construction

Council Hall was originally Salt Lake City Hall, built to replace an older, smaller city hall completed just six years earlier on the eve of the

Utah War The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US go ...

, a standoff between

Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

("Mormons") and federal troops. This small city hall was almost immediately inadequate for the growing city, so planning work on a new City Hall began by 1863. Ground for the new hall was broken on February 8, 1864 under the direction of the prolific Salt Lake City

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

William H. Folsom who was then the official architect for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). Built at First South and 120 East ( more on Salt Lake City's coordinate system),

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

for the structure was delivered from Red Butte Canyon on Utah's first chartered

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

. The well-furnished

Greek revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

building was completed at a cost of $70,000. In January 1866, City Hall was dedicated by George Q. Cannon, a prominent LDS leader. Many other LDS leaders attended the dedication including

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as chu ...

. This is unsurprising because territorial and city politics were controlled by " The People's Party", which was the political organ of the LDS Church. The mayor at the time was People's Party member

Abraham O. Smoot Abraham Owen Smoot (February 17, 1815 – March 6, 1895) was an American pioneer, businessman, religious leader, and politician. He spent his early life in the Southern United States and was one of seven children. After being baptized a member ...

, the first of six mayors that would use the building. The People's Party would control Mayor's office until 1890 when the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(territorial non-Mormon party) gained control of city government, partially because of anti-polygamy legislation which barred many Mormon polygamists from holding office.

History

Six rooms on the first floor housed the mayor's office and other city departments. From 1866 until the completion of the

Salt Lake City and County Building The Salt Lake City and County Building, usually called the "City-County Building", is the seat of government for Salt Lake City, Utah. The historic landmark formerly housed offices for Salt Lake County government as well, hence the name. History ...

in 1894, the City Hall was the seat of Salt Lake City Government and meeting place for the Utah Territorial legislature. The Rose Room on the second floor served both as a general courtroom and the legislative floor. The Assembly Hall was often the site of tension between Mormons, non-Mormons, and federal troops, but possibly the most dramatic event occurred in August 1874; Mayor

Daniel H. Wells Daniel Hanmer Wells (October 27, 1814 – March 24, 1891) was an American apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the 3rd mayor of Salt Lake City. Biography Early life Wells was born in Trenton, New Yor ...

declared

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...

from the balcony of City Hall. This was in response to

US Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated ...

arrests of several Salt Lake City police officers in concert with taking over the polls for election of a Utah representative to

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. After 1894 the city used the Hall as police headquarters until 1915. Following this the building was used in minor capacities by the city. To make way for a federal office building downtown, the old City Hall was relocated to

in 1961. The building itself and land were donated by the city and the LDS Church to the state of Utah. The LDS Church also underwrote most of the $300,000 cost for dismantling the building exterior into 325 sandstone slabs. They were numbered and reassembling around all-new woodwork on Capitol Hill. The state paid for most landscaping, furnishing, and other peripheral work at the building's current location just south of the

State Capitol This is a list of state and territorial capitols in the United States, the building or complex of buildings from which the government of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia and the organized territories of the United States, exercise its ...

. Restoration was done under the direction of architect

Edward O. Anderson Edward Oliver Anderson (May 16, 1891 – August 9, 1977) was an American architect based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a church architect for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Early career Anderson began his educ ...

, and was mostly finished by 1962. The building was renamed "Council Hall."

References

External links

The Utah Office of Tourism

The Utah Film Commission

Council Hall history
from Utah Office of Tourism (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

file) * {{National Register of Historic Places Office buildings in Salt Lake City City and town halls in Utah National Historic Landmarks in Utah Government buildings completed in 1866 1866 establishments in Utah Territory National Register of Historic Places in Salt Lake City Relocated buildings and structures in Utah

Construction

History

See also

References

External links