Salt Lake City: The Amazing Capital of Utah
With a bustling population of over 1.25 million residents, Salt Lake City is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. Founded in 1847 by a group of Mormon pioneers, the capital city of Utah received its name from the nearby Great Salt Lake, which is the largest of its type in the Western portion of the world. The Great Salt Lake has also gained notoriety since the 1800s when the workers of the nearby salt company claimed to have seen a monster with the body of a crocodile and the head of a horse. This legend became known as the “North Shore Monster.” Over the years, reports of other monsters living in the lake have become part of local lore, including the sighting of what Native Americans referred to as “water babies,” which are similar to mermaids, and who try to lure people into the lake to drown.
Salt Lake City is home to the largest genealogical library in the world. It is known as the Family History Library, which remains in the care of the Mormon Church to this day. Additionally, Salt Lake City became famous when Colonel Sanders opened the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in the world in the city in 1952. It is worth mentioning that the original store is still in the same location it has occupied since then.
Speaking of food, Salt Lake City is notorious for having the highest consumption of Jell-O in the entire world. Because of this, its previous nickname of the “Mormon Corridor” has now been changed to the “Jell-O Belt.”
One of the most curious facts about Salt Lake City is the width of the streets downtown. The reason for this is that Brigham Young, who created the design of the city in its initial phase, wanted the streets to be wide enough to allow the ox-driven carts of the settlers to be able to turn around comfortably, without creating backups due to complicated maneuvers.
Been to Salt Lake City. The lay out is very user friendly. A nice town, (I’ve been to many) good dining, entertainment & whatever you do take the tour of the Morgan Tabernacle.