Planning the City
Beginning Point of the City Survey
On July 28, 1847, Brigham Young walked between two branches of City Creek, waved his hands across the landscape and announced publicly that a temple would be built on that site. With that act, he established the heart of the city and the spot from which Salt Lake City would be organized.
The survey began at the southeast corner of Temple Square. Wide streets and ten-acre blocks radiate out from that point according to the cardinal points of the compass, with four blocks reserved for public gatherings, the design followed Joseph Smith’s plat of the City of Zion – the physical setting for a community striving to practice religious ideas.
While the imprint of Salt Lake City‘s origins is still evident, the home and garden lots in the heart of the city were soon replaced by a thriving business district.