page_title: Utah State Capitol
section_title: Early houses of government
hierarchical_section_title: Utah State Capitol / Early houses of government
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the front of the Utah Territorial Statehouse in Fillmore, Utah.
context_page_description: The Utah State Capitol is the house of government for the U.S. state of Utah. The building houses the chambers and offices of the Utah State Legislature, the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, the State Auditor and their staffs. The capitol is the main building of the Utah State Capitol Complex, which is located on Capitol Hill, overlooking downtown Salt Lake City.
  The Neoclassical revival, Corinthian style building was designed by architect Richard K.A. Kletting, and built between 1912 and 1916. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Beginning in 2004, the capitol underwent a major restoration and renovation project. The project added two new buildings to the complex while restoring many of the capital's public spaces to their original appearance. One of the largest projects during the renovation was the addition of a base isolation system which will allow the building to survive as much as a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. After completion of the renovations, the building was rededicated and resumed normal operation in January 2008.
context_section_description: The first Euro-American settlers arrived in what would become Utah on July 24, 1847, which is now commemorated as Pioneer Day in the state. These settlers, Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young, appealed to the United States Congress for statehood in 1849, asking to become the State of Deseret. Their proposal was denied, but they received some recognition in September 1850 when the U.S. Government created the Territory of Utah as part of the compromise of 1850. A territorial assembly, known as the Utah Territorial Legislature, was created to be the governing body for the territory. The assembly met in various buildings including the Council House, which had originally been constructed to serve as capitol of the provisional State of Deseret, until the first capitol building was constructed.
  One of the first official acts of the assembly was to designate a capital city for the territory. On October 4, 1851, Millard County and its capital of Fillmore were created in the empty Pavant Valley for this purpose. The area was named for then current president Millard Fillmore. Its centralized location in the territory made it seem an  ideal place for Utah's capital city. Construction started on Utah's first capitol building, known as the Utah Territorial Statehouse, the next year. The building was designed by LDS Church Architect Truman O. Angell, and was funded with $20,000 (equivalent to $488 thousand in 2018) appropriated by the United States Congress.  The $20,000 was insufficient to pay for the capitol as designed, and so only the south wing was completed. In December 1855, the fifth Utah Territorial Legislature met in the building (it would be the first and only complete session in Fillmore). The next year the sixth Utah Territorial Legislature once again met in the statehouse, but the session was relocated to Salt Lake City after legislators complained about the lack of housing and adequate facilities in Fillmore. As a result, in December 1856 Salt Lake City was designated Utah's capital, and the statehouse in Fillmore was abandoned. Several buildings in Salt Lake City then served as temporary homes for the state legislature and offices for state officers, including the previously used Council House, and beginning in 1866, the Salt Lake City Council Hall.
caption: The Utah Territorial Statehouse
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Territorial Statehouse in Fillmore, Utah", "Image Make": "SAMSUNG", "Image Model": "SAMSUNG PL60 / VLUU PL60 / SAMSUNG SL420", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.6.11", "Image DateTime": "2011:01:12 16:04:23", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "COPYRIGHT, 2009", "Image ExifOffset": "550", "Image XPTitle": "[84, 0, 101, 0, 114, 0, 114, 0, 105, 0, 116, 0, 111, 0, 114, 0, 105, 0, 97, 0, ... ]", "Image XPKeywords": "[85, 0, 116, 0, 97, 0, 104, 0, 32, 0, 72, 0, 105, 0, 115, 0, 116, 0, 111, 0, 114, 0, 121, 0, 0, 0]", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "Image FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "35", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "41/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:05:26 15:38:11", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:05:26 15:38:11", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2172821/1114080", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "31/4", "EXIF ApertureValue": "607/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "361/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2736", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3472", "EXIF RelatedSoundFile": "RelatedSound", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "1", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "8532B6B6AFA04CE9B8A65F7CDF05C72A"}