Salt Lake City, Utah
State capital
City of Salt Lake City[1]
Clockwise from top: The skyline in July 2011, Utah State Capitol, TRAX, Union Pacific Depot, the Block U, the City-County Building, and the Salt Lake Temple
Flag Seal
Nickname:  “The Crossroads of the West”
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap Interactive map of Salt Lake City
Coordinates: 40°45′39″N 111°53′28″WCoordinates: 40°45′39″N 111°53′28″W
Country	United States
State	Utah
County	Salt Lake
Platted	1857; 166 years ago[2]
Named for	Great Salt Lake
Government
• Type	Strong Mayor–council
• Mayor	Erin Mendenhall (D)
Area [3]
• City	110.81 sq mi (286.99 km2)
• Land	110.34 sq mi (285.77 km2)
• Water	0.47 sq mi (1.22 km2)
Elevation	4,327 ft (1,288 m)
Population  (2020)[4]
• City	200,133
• Rank	122nd in the United States 1st in Utah
• Density	1,797.52/sq mi (701.84/km2)
• Urban	1,178,533 (US: 41st)
• Urban density	3,923.0/sq mi (1,514.7/km2)
• Metro	1,257,936 (US: 47th)
• CSA	2,746,164 (US: 22nd)
Demonym	Salt Laker[5]
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6
ZIP Codes	show ZIP Codes[6]
Area codes	801, 385
FIPS code	49-67000[7]
GNIS feature ID	1454997[8]
Major airport	Salt Lake City International Airport
Website	Salt Lake City Government

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,^[10] the city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which had a population of 1,257,936 at the 2020 census. Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo Combined Statistical Area, a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along a 120-mile (190 km) segment of the Wasatch Front, comprising a population of 2,746,164 (as of 2021 estimates),^[11] making it the 22nd largest in the nation. It is also the central core of the larger of only two major urban areas located within the Great Basin (the other being Reno, Nevada).

Salt Lake City was founded July 24, 1847, by early pioneer settlers led by Brigham Young, who were seeking to escape persecution they had experienced while living farther east. The Mormon pioneers, as they would come to be known, entered a semi-arid valley and immediately began planning and building an extensive irrigation network which could feed the population and foster future growth. Salt Lake City’s street grid system is based on a standard compass grid plan, with the southeast corner of Temple Square (the area containing the Salt Lake Temple in downtown Salt Lake City) serving as the origin of the Salt Lake meridian. Owing to its proximity to the Great Salt Lake, the city was originally named Great Salt Lake City. In 1868, the word “Great” was dropped from the city’s name.^[12]

Immigration of international members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), mining booms, and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad initially brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed “The Crossroads of the West”. It was traversed by the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, in 1913. Two major cross-country freeways, I-15 and I-80, now intersect in the city. The city also has a belt route, I-215.

Salt Lake City has developed a strong tourist industry based primarily on skiing, outdoor recreation, and religious tourism. It hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and is a candidate city for the 2030 Winter Olympics. It is known for its politically liberal culture, which stands in contrast with the rest of the state’s highly conservative leanings.^[13] It is home to a significant LGBT community and hosts the annual Utah Pride Festival.^[14] It is the industrial banking center of the United States.^[15] Salt Lake City and the surrounding area are also the location of several institutions of higher education including the state’s flagship research school, the University of Utah. Sustained drought in Utah has more recently strained Salt Lake City’s water security and caused the Great Salt Lake level drop to record low levels,^[16][17] and has impacted the local and state economy.^[18]

• 1History
• 2Geography
  • 2.1Layout
  • 2.2Cityscape
  • 2.3Neighborhoods
  • 2.4Climate
  • 2.5Parks
    • 2.5.1City parks
• 3Demographics
• 4Economy
• 5Law and government
• 6Education
• 7Culture
  • 7.1Museums and the arts
  • 7.2Performing arts
  • 7.3Music
  • 7.4Festivals
  • 7.5Conventions
  • 7.6Events
  • 7.7Media
• 8Main sights
• 9Sports and recreation
  • 9.1Professional sports
  • 9.2Amateur sports
• 10Transportation
  • 10.1Roads
  • 10.2Public transportation
    • 10.2.1Transit bus service
    • 10.2.2Light rail
    • 10.2.3Commuter rail
    • 10.2.4Intercity bus and rail services
  • 10.3Air transportation
  • 10.4Cycling
• 11Sister cities
  • 11.1Friendship cities
• 12See also
• 13Explanatory notes
• 14References
• 15Further reading
• 16External links

History

External video
10 Towns that Changed America, WTTW, 56:02, segment from 12:00–16:20[19]

Before settlement by members of the LDS Church, the Shoshone, Weber Ute,^[20] and Paiute^[21] had dwelt in the Salt Lake Valley for thousands of years. At the time of Salt Lake City’s founding, the valley was within the territory of the Northwestern Shoshone.^[22] One local Shoshone tribe, the Western Goshute tribe, had names for the Jordan River, City Creek, and Red Butte Canyon (Pi’o-gwût, So’ho-gwût, and Mo’ni-wai-ni).^[23] The Goshutes (or, Gosiutes) also lived in the vicinity of Salt Lake and the valleys to the west.^[24] The land was treated by the United States as public domain; no aboriginal title by the Northwestern Shoshone was ever ceded or relinquished by treaty with the United States.^[25] The first explorer of European descent in the Salt Lake area was likely Jim Bridger in 1825, although others had been in Utah earlier, including some who traveled as far north as the nearby Utah Valley (the 1776 Dominguez-Escalante expedition were undoubtedly aware of Salt Lake Valley’s existence). U.S. Army officer John C. Frémont surveyed the Great Salt Lake and the Salt Lake Valley in 1843 and 1845.^[26] The Donner Party, a group of ill-fated pioneers, had traveled through the Great Salt Lake Valley in August 1846.

 

 

 

First Salt Lake City Plat Map, “Great Salt Lake City Plot A”, 1857

 

 

 

Salt Lake City c. 1880 by Carleton E. Watkins

The settling of Salt Lake City dates to the arrival of the Latter-day Saints in July 1847.^[27] They had traveled beyond the boundaries of the United States into Mexican Territory^[28] seeking a secluded area to safely practice their religion away from the violence and the persecution they experienced in the United States. Upon arrival at the Salt Lake Valley, president of the church Brigham Young is recorded as stating, “This is the right place, drive on.” Brigham Young is said to have seen the area in a vision before the wagon train’s arrival. They found the broad valley empty of any human settlement.

Geography

 

 

Satellite photo of Salt Lake County

 

 

 

Astronaut photography of Salt Lake International Airport in west SLC, taken from the International Space Station (ISS). North is at bottom.

 

 

 

Salt Lake City and adjacent suburbs, facing south

Salt Lake City has an area of 110.4 square miles (286 km²) and an average elevation of 4,327 feet (1,319 m) above sea level. The lowest point within the boundaries of the city is 4,210 feet (1,280 m) near the Jordan River and the Great Salt Lake, and the highest is Grandview Peak,^[57] at 9,410 feet (2,868 m).^[58]

The city is in the northeast corner of the Salt Lake Valley surrounded by the Great Salt Lake to the northwest, the steep Wasatch Range to the east, and Oquirrh Mountains to the west. Its encircling mountains contain several narrow canyons, including City Creek, Emigration, Millcreek, and Parley’s which border the eastern city limits.

The burgeoning population of Salt Lake City and the surrounding metropolitan area, combined with its geographical situation, has led to air quality becoming a concern. The Great Basin is subject to strong temperature inversions during the winter, which trap pollutants and decrease the air quality. The Utah Division of Air Quality monitors air quality and issues alerts for voluntary and mandatory actions when pollution exceeds federal safety standards. Protests have been held at the Utah State Capitol and Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation in the Utah State Legislature to make public transportation free during January and July, when air quality is usually at its worst.^[59] The population of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area is projected to double by 2040, putting further pressure on the region’s air quality.^[60]

The Great Salt Lake is separated from Salt Lake City by extensive marshlands and mudflats. The metabolic activities of bacteria in the lake result in a phenomenon known as “lake stink”, a scent reminiscent of foul poultry eggs, two to three times per year for a few hours.^[61] The Jordan River flows through the city and is a drainage of Utah Lake that empties into the Great Salt Lake.