Buildings and sites of Salt Lake City around Downtown Salt Lake City. Buildings and sites of Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, Utah has many historic and notable sites within its immediate borders/ Although the entire Salt Lake City metropolitan area is often referred to as "Salt Lake City", this article is concerned only with the buildings and sites within the official city limits of Salt Lake City. Religious, particularly LDS buildings, are prominent in Salt Lake City. Settled by Brigham Young and 147 other pioneers on July 24, these Latter-day Saints were fleeing persecution after the death of Joseph Smith. Young originally intended the city and
Salt Lake City population of today. Salt Lake City's street grid system is based on the north-south east-west grid plan developed by early church leaders, with the Salt Lake Temple constructed at the city's center. Due to its proximity to the Great Salt Lake, the city was originally named "Great Salt Lake City"; however, the word "great" was dropped from the official name in 1868 by the 17th Utah Territorial Legislature. Immigration of international members of the 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