Traveling to Salt Lake--Archives and Libraries

Besides the Family History Library, here are 7 other Archives and Libraries you shouldn't miss while you are in town (with thanks to Russell Lynch for his article in the March 2010 issue of Crossroads).

• The Utah State Archives holds Utah historical records back to 1850. It includes Utah vital records, land record, mining claims and government documents. The Research Center is at 300 South Rio Grande Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Tel. (801) 533-3535 Fax (801) 533-3504 and they are open Mon. - Thurs. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
• The LDS Church History Library is a new facility on the corner of 15 East and North Temple Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84150. It houses over 260,000 books, 500,000 historic images, and 150,000 journals and diaries. They cover immigration to Utah, and territorial information for the early pioneer settlements covering much of the western United States. It is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m, Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m, and Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. The library is hosting an open house for the conference on Wednesday April 28th from 5:30 to 7:30.
• The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Archive has already been talked about on the NGS blog by Christy Fillerup. The facility is being renovated, but has portions open to the public. They have over 100,000 histories on file with an extensive collection of artifacts and photographs covering the people who arrived in Utah prior to 1869. It is open Monday through Friday 9am to 4pm (you need to arrive by 3) and is located at 300 North Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84103-1699. Phone: 801-532-6479
• The Marriott Library at the University of Utah is home to the Western Americana Collection that covers western United States history from 1550 to 1900. It also has large collections of microfilmed British newspapers and published federal documents. The library is accesible from the University Trax line, and is located at 295 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0860
• (801) 581-8558. Library hours are 7 am to midnight. (Don't you love college libraries :-)
• The Salt Lake Public Library is a beautiful facility located not far from the Family History Library along the main Trax line. It houses indexes and microfilms of the two main Utah newspapers, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News as well as city directories and other regional documents. It is located at 210 East 400 South Salt Lake City UT 84111 (801) 524-8200 and is open on Mon.-Thurs. 9 a.m.-9 p.m, Fri.-Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m, and Sunday 1-5 p.m.
• And the Lee Library at Brigham Young University actually houses the BYU Family History Library, the second largest family history facility in the world. It has more than 200,000 duplicates of microfilms from the Salt Lake Family History Library as well as outstanding map and newspaper collections and as well as one of the largest county history collections in the United States. I have found many an elusive ancestor in the county history collection at the Lee library. The Lee library is a one hour drive south of Salt Lake in the center of the BYU campus in Provo Utah. Hours are Monday–Friday: 7:00 am–12 midnight and Saturday: 8:00 am–12 midnight.
• There is also the Sons of the Utah Pioneers Library located on 3301 East 2920 South, Salt Lake City, UT and is open Tuesday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. They house a collection of thousands of manuscripts, biographies and family histories of Mormon pioneers, as well as the many Utah pioneers of other faiths and religions who came to the region before 1869.

And FYI, the Everton Library a collection of 60,000+ books, manuscripts, records, pedigree charts, newletters, photographs and family histories was one of the largest privately held genealogical libraries in the United States. It was started by the Everton family in 1945 publishers of The Everton Genealogical Helper. Upon the decline of the Everton company, the collection was donated to the Logan City Library, about a 1 1/2 hour drive north of Salt Lake. The collection has been processed and will be open to the public sometime in the summer of 2010.

And FYI #2 The Salt Lake County Library System is a collection of 19 libraries that circulates over 15 million items a year and has a wealth of programs and exhibits running constantly. It is one of the best funded library systems in the country with strong voter support and a high patron participation including over 25,000 participating in the summer reading program. In fact, 79% of the population of Salt Lake County is registered for a county library card.