The Kearns Building

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The Kearns Building was named after a former U.S. senator from Utah named Thomas Kearns (1862–1918). Kearns worked his way up from the low-labor position of “mucker” in the Park City mines, finally striking it rich in his Silver King mine. Active in politics, he ran a successful bid for the U.S. Senate. Aware of his lack of education, he once confessed, “As you know, I am no orator. I am but a plain, blunt business man. What I lack in oratory I will try to make up in action.”

East entrance to the Kearns Building. 
David M. Whitchurch

Kearns was not reelected, failing to fi nd the political support he needed within the state. As a parting shot in 1905, he launched a bitter attack from the fl oor of the Senate against the LDS Church. Kearns had purchased the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper with his partner David Keith in 1901, and bitter anti-Mormon rhetoric filled the pages of the paper from 1905 until 1911, when the tone significantly mellowed. National magazines picked up on the Tribune charges and published scandalous articles about the Church during this same period. Publications in Britain also got in on the fray, making the first decade of the 1900's a difficult one for Church members because of their reputation in the eye of the general public.

The Kearns Building sits on the west side of Main Street, south of Temple Square. 
David M. Whitchurch

Kearns’s large and ornate Salt Lake mansion, given to the state by his wife, eventually became the official residence of the governor of the state of Utah. In a tribute published by the Salt Lake Tribune at his death, Kearns was called “a man of great natural ability and force of character . . . large in stature and great in soul. . . . He loved Salt Lake and was proud of the fact that he had been an important factor in its upbuilding.”

Thomas Kearns became a wealthy mining executive and then a senator from Utah.
Daughters of Utah Pioneers

The Silver King Mines plant used a gigantic flywheel, cables, and belts to haul ore out of the mine. 
Daughters of Utah Pioneers

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Deseret News Building

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The original Deseret News building sat facing South Temple Street,
where the Joseph Smith Memorial Building stands today.
Note the “Deseret Evening News” sign over the gate in front of the printing office. 

Daughters of Utah Pioneers

The Deseret News is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church first became involved in the newspaper business in June 1832, when W. W. Phelps published the Evening and Morning Star in Independence, Missouri.

Even after anti-Mormon mobs broke into the Phelps’s home and destroyed the press in 1833, the Church continued to publish various newspapers in Kirtland, Ohio, and Nauvoo, Illinois. Three years after the Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, the first edition of the Deseret News came off the press on June 15, 1850. Nearly 150 years later, on May 28, 1997, the new Deseret News Building was dedicated in Salt Lake City. This nine-story, circular building is constructed to represent a newspaper.

The logo found at the top of the building is identical to the masthead in the daily newspaper, and the windows are mathematically designed to the exact measurements of the columns in the daily newspaper. In addition to the unique exterior, the interior contains the latest technology. Inspiration for the Deseret News came in 1846 as the Mormon pioneers were camped on the west bank of the Missouri River at Winter Quarters.

As Brigham Young was contemplating the Saints’ future in the West, he recognized the importance of maintaining contact with the outside world. In the spring of 1847, President Young requested that William W. Phelps purchase a press and then transport it to the Mormon settlement in the West.

Painting of Willard Richards inside the Pioneer Memorial Museum.
Daughters of Utah Pioneers

Later that summer, Phelps borrowed sixty-one dollars from Alexander Badlam to purchase a Ramage press in Boston.

The new building for the Desert News is located one block south and one-half block east of the earlier building. 
From pioneer days, circulation has increased to more than one hundred fifty thousand readers every day. 
The Saturday edition includes an additional section titled Church News, 
which also circulates separately throughout the world.

David M. Whitchurch

Howard Egan, a future Pony Express agent, was designated to transport the press to the Salt Lake Valley in an oxen-pulled wagon. He arrived in August of 1849. Shortly thereafter, Brigham Young appointed Willard Richards as the first editor of the Deseret News. Then in June 1850, the first issue appeared, containing news that was both momentous and trivial.

Although only two hundred copies were produced in the first printing, Brother Richards envisioned a bright future for the newspaper, selecting the motto “Truth and Liberty.”

From 1854 to 1856 the Deseret News was published in the Tithing Office.
Utah State Historical Society

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Brigham Young University Religious Education presents

Hallowed Ground Sacred Journeys

Featuring BYU Religious Educators teaching about sites significant in

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

For more information, or to visit our interactive web site with dozens of additional sites to explore,

please visit VirtualTours.BYU.edu

______________________________________________

Hallowed Ground Sacred Journeys

is a co-production of

BYU Religious Education and Starrs Universal

This blog is a public service of The Watchmen Institute

and is distributed by B.U.M.P. LTD.

All Rights Reserved

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Pioneer Memorial Museum - International Society, Daughters of Utah Pioneers

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The Pioneer Memorial Museum is a fascinating place 

to explore Mormon Church Pioneer History

David M. Whitchurch

Built and maintained by the International Society, Daughters of Utah Pioneers (founded in 1901), this structure was built to preserve the history, artifacts, and landmarks of Utah pioneer ancestors.

There are hundreds of examples of beds, cribs, and chairs in the museum. 

Multiple floors house the innumerable donated and collected artifacts. 

The objects belonged to memorable Church figures as well as lesser known pioneers of the past.

John P. Starrs

This wagon was brought to Utah by Johnston’s Army in the late 1850s. 

The running gear is original, but the top part was burned, 

then later restored when placed in the museum. 

John P. Starrs

One could spend from a half an hour (for a quick walk-through) to a full day or two (for an in-depth historical study) here.

Furniture from the home of President Heber C. Kimball 

gives an idea of the comforts of home following the earliest pioneer times.

John P. Starrs

The Museum has been recognized as one of the world’s largest collections of nineteenth century pioneer artifacts.  It contains Mormon memorabilia, period furniture, and photographs. 

The Pioneer Memorial Museum displays clothing typical of early days in Salt Lake City.

John P. Starrs

Carriages like this were common conveyances in Salt Lake City until the coming of the automobile. 

David M. Whitchurch

The cane in the center with the knob at the end is believed to be the cane 

Willard Richards used to ward off guns at the Carthage Jail doorway when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed.

David M. Whitchurch

Brigham Young’s uniquely bent cane is also on display in the Museum 

© by Intellectual Reserve Inc.

Construction commenced on October 17, 1947, one hundred years after the arrival of the first pioneers.

The architectural design is patterned after the historic Salt Lake Theatre 

that was built several blocks to the southeast at 100 South State Street in 1861–62.

Brigham Young University

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Subscribe to our Free Newsletter 

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Brigham Young University Religious Education presents

Hallowed Ground Sacred Journeys

Featuring BYU Religious Educators teaching about sites significant in

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

For more information, or to visit our interactive web site with dozens of additional sites to explore,

please visit VirtualTours.BYU.edu

______________________________________________

Hallowed Ground Sacred Journeys

is a co-production of

BYU Religious Education and Starrs Universal

This blog is a public service of The Watchmen Institute

and is distributed by B.U.M.P. LTD.

All Rights Reserved

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________