| OCR Text |
Show Sa 1t Lake County Beehive House, 67 East South Temple, Salt Lake City (NR). sn_~l Dw.t8~ BuUt in 1854, the Beehive House was built to meet the dual needs of Brigham Young, second president of the Mormon Church and first govemor of Deseret, later Utah Terri tory. Above all, the Beehi ve House was to be a home for his family, but also an official mansion where the Mormon leader could receive and confer with other church leaders, state and federal dignitari's, and entertain prominent traveling visitors. During the lifetime of Brigham Young, many famous people were entertained in the Beehive House, including President Ulysses S. Grant, Emperor Dom Pedro of Braztl, General William T. Sherman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Jay Gould, Horace Greeley, and even the midget Tom Thumb and his tiny wife. !bJD ...at8-~~'-IIMIbAi::Jix8xx Architect for the home was Truman O. Angell, first church architect who was also responsible for the Salt Latce ~ Temple. As originally built in a Greek ReVival/ stYle, the main part of the house consisted of two stories and an attic, surmounted by a beehive-shaped cupola, the traditional Mormon symbol of industry. Surrounding the tower was a wooden railing or "widow's walt," reminiscent of the colonial east coast ~t.'.X.KX from whence hailed many of the early church pioneers. In the 1850's, Brigham Young had a nine-foot-high cobblerock wall erected around the Beehive House as protection from unfriendly intruders and as a make-work project for men who needed pmployment. Portions of this ~ wall (recently pushed back 23 feet to widen State Street north of the historic Eagle Gate) now border the home on the north and east sides. A three-story wing was added, along with other interior alterations, in 1888 by one of Brigham Young's sons who purchased the home. In 1893 the Mormon Church purchased the historic bullding to matte it the official residence of its president ~. although Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith were the only M- I(l ' ~ other presidents to occupy the house. Later it was used to house w~men II |
