Historic Main Street Walking Tour

Preservation Utah is leading a Historic Main Street Walking Tour on Sunday, October 25, from 10 AM to 11:30 AM. The route runs along Main Street between South Temple and 200 South, and it's a 90-minute look at the architecture and the stories that built this stretch of downtown Salt Lake City.

The tour is part of the organization's Historic Downtown Salt Lake City Walking Tour Guide, which covers ten buildings and sites along the way. Each stop comes with a description of its history and architecture, a photograph, and a set of thinking questions. You'll see the city's oldest commercial building, which went up before the Transcontinental Railroad was even finished, and three iconic commercial buildings by architect Richard Kletting. Along the route, the stories of Whiskey Street, the Pony Express, and the evolution of ZCMI unfold, with figures like William Jennings, David Keith, and Thomas Kearns woven in.

It's not all high-minded architecture, either. The tour touches on the city's rougher side, from the days when gambling and prostitution occupied half the buildings on Main Street. Because of that, the guide is recommended for classes studying early twentieth-century Utah.

Preservation Utah is the state's only nonprofit dedicated to historic preservation. They were founded in 1966, the same year the National Historic Preservation Act passed, and they're celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. The tour runs from 10 AM to 11:30 AM on Sunday, October 25, on Main Street between South Temple and 200 South.