- Salt Lake City celebrates 175 years since its incorporation on Friday.
- Originally named Great Salt Lake City, it became Utah’s capital in 1856.
- Seraph Young cast the first U.S. female ballot in Salt Lake City.
SALT LAKE CITY — Pioneers settled in what would become Salt Lake City in 1847, and the land has ties to the ancient Pueblo people and Native American tribes well before that, but this year marks a pivotal anniversary in the city’s history.
Salt Lake City officially became a city 175 years ago on Friday, when the city incorporated. A little more than 6,000 people lived in the entire county at the time, a fraction of the city’s current population that is now estimated to be over 215,000 and counting.
In honor of its dodransbicentennial, the following are a few facts about the city’s history.
Salt Lake City wasn’t originally Utah’s capital
Utah’s capital city wasn’t always Utah’s capital city. The city incorporated only months after the U.S. designated Utah as a territory, but Fillmore — a little more than 125 miles to the southwest — was originally Utah’s capital city…