South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, courtesy Utah Heritage Foundation

Utah Heritage Foundation will host the 41^st Annual Homes Tour on Saturday, May 5, on Salt Lake’s Millionaires Row – South Temple Street.

First envisioned in Joseph Smith’s Plat of the City of Zion, South Temple was meant to be the finest and most prominent avenue in Salt Lake City, as well as a model for other cities and towns in the West, according to a press release.

Named one of the American Planning Association 10 Great Streets in America, South Temple is known throughout Utah for its historic residential design and craftsmanship, diversity of land uses, and the integration of multiple forms of transportation throughout history — as well as commitment on the part of the community to preserve its legacy.

Running eighteen blocks long, the street encompasses everything from a mature tree-lined, mixed-use district with historic homes, churches, commercial services and retail establishments to the city’s central business area and downtown.

Originally a dirt road, South Temple or Brigham Street developed as a stately residential street as mining became an economic powerhouse in Utah.  The wealthiest families built their mansions along South Temple and today it is home to the world’s richest compendium of religious and non-religious buildings: Mormon and Masonic temples, Presbyterian and Catholic churches, historic fraternal clubs and stately homes of a bygone era.

South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, courtesy Utah Heritage Foundation

In the 1960s and ‘70s, the community began fighting a trend of demolition as property values continued to increase. This played a very large part in initiating preservation efforts in Utah. Salt Lake City responded to citizen demands for designation of South Temple as Utah’s first local historic district. This district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

South Temple residents didn’t want to protect only historic buildings and mansions, but also the small, important details and features, such as carriage steps, hitching posts, and sandstone retaining walls. The city even repurposed the original lattice posts used for streetcars into modern-day streetlamps.

The homes included are kept secret until the day of the tour, so the photos used here, provided by the Utah State Historical Society, are just examples of mansions found along South Temple.

Tours begin at 617 E. South Temple in front of the Utah Arts Council from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and cost $20 the day of or $15 in advance when you register at www.utahheritagfoundation.org by May 1.  A special combo ticket for both this tour and the June 16 Salt Lake Modern Tour of the St. Mary’s neighborhood is $25 in advance. More information about the June tour is available at www.slmodern.org.

15 Bytes

UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.