:''Not to be mistaken with the

Salt Lake City Council Hall :''Not to be mistaken with the Council House, 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 ...

, a building of similar purpose and design.'' The Council House, often called the State House, was the first public building in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

; being constructed in 1849–50. The building stood in

Salt Lake City 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, th ...

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 ...

, on the corner of Main Street and South Temple Street. On June 21, 1883 the building was destroyed when a neighboring wagon depot caught fire and several barrels of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). T ...

exploded, spreading the fire to the Council House.

History

The Council House was originally built to accommodate the government of the provisional

State of Deseret The State of Deseret (modern pronunciation , contemporaneously ) was a proposed state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Salt Lake City. The provisional stat ...

. Deseret was never officially recognized by the

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

, and so

was organized by the U.S. Congress instead. Following the creation of the territory, it was decided to move Utah's

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

Fillmore, Utah Fillmore is a city and the county seat of Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,435 at the 2010 United States Census. It is named for the thirteenth US President Millard Fillmore, who was in office when Millard County was ...

(because of its centralized location). In Fillmore, the territorial government began construction of the

Utah Territorial Statehouse The Utah Territorial Statehouse, officially Territorial Statehouse State Park Museum, is a state park in Fillmore, Utah, preserving the original seat of government for the Utah Territory. Built from 1852 to 1855, the statehouse was initially inten ...

, yet the Council House continued to be used for official business until the statehouse was at least partially completed. During the first legislative session held in Fillmore, legislators complained about the lack of housing and adequate facilities in that city, so Salt Lake City was again designated Utah's capital. Once the capital returned to Salt Lake City, the Council House again was used as territorial offices and also housed several other entities such as the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, the ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'' and Deseret Boarding House. The building was also used as a meeting place by the leadership of

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), and

endowment Endowment most often refers to: *A term for human penis size It may also refer to: Finance * Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment) *Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to ...

sessions were held in the building until the completion of the

Endowment House The Endowment House was an early building used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to administer temple ordinances in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. From the construction of the Council House in 1852, Salt Lake City's ...

in 1855. On June 21, 1883, the building was destroyed when a neighboring wagon depot caught fire and several barrels of gunpowder blew up. The explosion and resulting fire destroyed several other buildings, including the offices of photographer

Charles Roscoe Savage Charles Roscoe Savage (August 16, 1832 – February 4, 1909) was a British-born landscape and portrait photographer most notable for his images of the American West. Savage converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his yout ...

, and caused damage to a number of nearby buildings, including ZCMI and the LDS Church tithing office. Today the Beneficial Tower (Gateway Tower West) sits on the Council House's former location.

References

External links

BYU Virtual Tours
- The Council House {{Coord, 40, 46, 10, N, 111, 53, 28, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-UT Utah Territory Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Government buildings completed in 1850 Government buildings in Utah Burned buildings and structures in the United States 1850 establishments in Utah Territory Meetinghouses of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah

History

See also

References

External links