Beehive House
Encyclopedia
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
, an early leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). The Beehive House gets its name from the Beehive sculpture atop the house. It was designed by Young's brother-in-law
Brother-in-law
A brother-in-law is the brother of one's spouse, the husband of one's sibling, or the husband of one's spouse's sibling.-See also:*Affinity *Sister-in-law*Brothers in Law , a 1955 British comedy novel...
and architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
of the Salt Lake Temple
Salt Lake Temple
The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...
, Truman O. Angell
Truman O. Angell
Truman Osborn Angell served many years as Church Architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was a member of the vanguard company of Mormon pioneers, entering the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. He designed the Salt Lake Temple, the Lion House, the Beehive House, the...
, who later designed Young's other residence, the Lion House.
The Beehive house was constructed in 1854, two years before the Lion House. The Lion House is adjacent to the Beehive House, and both homes are one block east of the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square
Temple Square
Temple Square is a ten acre complex located in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In recent years, the usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities immediately adjacent to Temple Square...
on the street South Temple in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. It is constructed of adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
.
Young was a polygamist, and the Beehive House was designed to accommodate him and his wives and his children by them. As Young's family grew, the Lion House was built to accommodate them and became his official residence after its construction. Upon completion of the Lion House Young briefly shared The Beehive House with his senior (and only legally recognized) wife Mary Ann Angell (1803–1882), though she chose to make her home in a smaller private residence called White House on the property. Young's first polygamous wife, Lucy Ann Decker Young (1822–1890), possibly due to her seniority, became hostess of the Beehive House and lived there with her nine children.
The Beehive House is connected by a suite of rooms to the The Lion House. This suite included Young's offices and his private bedroom where he died in 1877.
The Beehive House served as the executive mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
of the Territory of Utah
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
from 1852 to 1855 and was where Young entertained important guests. Beehive House was replaced as the Executive Mansion by the much grander Second Empire mansion Gardo House which was not completed until after Young's death, at which time it was briefly occupied by Young's successor John Taylor and his successor Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff, Sr. was the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death...
while the Young family maintained Beehive House as part of Brigham Young's personal estate. There was much dispute and some litigation by Young's heirs as to what was Brigham Young's property and what was the church's property and the home was among the properties in contention; title to Beehive House was ultimately given to Young's heirs who then sold the house to the LDS Church. As church property it was used as the official home of Church Presidents Church Presidents Lorenzo Snow
Lorenzo Snow
Lorenzo Snow was the fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1898 to his death. Snow was the last president of the LDS Church in the nineteenth century.-Family:...
and his successor Joseph F. Smith
Joseph F. Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, both of whom died in the mansion. Smith, who died in 1918, was the last LDS President to practice polygamy at the time of his death (Heber J. Grant
Heber J. Grant
Heber Jeddy Grant was the seventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He was ordained an apostle on October 16, 1882, on the same day as George Teasdale...
practiced polygamy as a young man but ceased when the Church abandoned the teaching) and shared the residence four of his wives.
After Joseph F. Smith's death the mansion became the home economics
Home Economics
Home economics is the profession and field of study that deals with the economics and management of the home and community...
wing of Latter-day Saint University, and then a dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
for young women. The Young Women's organization of the Church also rented out rooms in the home for wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
receptions.
A beehive atop the mansion was used by Young to represent industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, an important concept in Mormonism. In fact, prior to statehood, the territorial government requested that the state be named Deseret
State of Deseret
The State of Deseret was a proposed state of the United States, propositioned in 1849 by Latter-day Saint settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years and was never recognized by the United States government...
, another word for "Honeybee" according to Latter-day Saint belief. Instead, the United States government chose to name the state Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, after the Ute Indians
Ute Tribe
The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...
, though the beehive was later incorporated into the state's official emblem.
Under Church ownership, the Beehive House, at 67 E. South Temple, was restored in 1960. It is now a historic house museum with period furnishings (many original to the house) to depict the Young family's life in the mid-19th century.