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SALT LAKE CITY — If there’s anything we know about Salt Lake City, it’s that the snow is prime, the Mormons are abundant and our secret sauce contains ketchup and mayonnaise.
If you grew up anything like I did, you’ve skied through gorgeous, pine-tree laden mountains, strolled among glittering Christmas lights on Temple Square and tasted the perfected art of beef and pastrami in the Crown Burger.
But unless your father is Timothy Marsden, it’s possible you didn’t grow up as the recipient of “gee-whiz” moments involving the lesser-known facts of our beloved, mountainous home.
If you haven’t tuned me out by now, here are five interesting facts about Salt Lake City.
The Walker Center
Whether the sun is shining high in the sky or rain is pelting passersby with a vengeance, the weather will be evident atop one building in Downtown Salt Lake.
The Walker Center weather tower blazes or flashes blue or red lights depending on the day’s forecast. For example, a flashing blue light indicates it is cloudy, while a solid blue light represents clear skies. If it is raining, the tower will shine a bold red, and snow will bring forth a flashing red light.
The tower was taken down in the early '80s due to a change in city sign ordinances. In 2008, a replica was erected atop the Walker Center and Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker flipped the switch on.
Gravity HillIf you’re driving uphill above Memory Grove Park and east of the state Capitol, put your car in neutral and you may experience a strange phenomenon. Rather than rolling backward, your car will roll forward, according to Enjoy Utah.
There are legends that attempt to explain what is experienced on “Gravity Hill,” including magnets being placed inside the wall of the capitol, drawing cars toward it and a Native American curse that makes people gravitate toward the Utah State Capitol, Enjoy Utah says.
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The Beach BoysThe Beach Boys’ hit songs have been heard worldwide, but one popular jingle was inspired by a Utah woman.
Shirley England’s father owned a radio station and frequently promoted The Beach Boys, and the band overheard England complaining about how she was in trouble, because her dad took his T-Bird away from her after she drove to Shore’s Drive-In rather than the library.
The escapade made for some good musical material, apparently, and The Beach Boys scripted their song “Fun, Fun, Fun” on the way back to the airport.
Wide StreetsHave you ever noticed that the streets of Salt Lake City are particularly wide? 132 feet to be exact.
The streets are wide enough for a covered wagon and four oxen to be able to turn around, according to FamilySearch. In 1833, Joseph Smith prepared a city-planning document called the City of Zion plan, which included a regular grid pattern and wide streets, according to BYU.Additional plans included houses being constructed 25 feet away from the street, landscaping in the front yard and gardens in the back.
“Four 132-feet-wide streets bounded a central square, but other streets were narrower,” BYU reported.
Great Salt Lake monster
We've likely all been a little scared for our lives while trying to avoid the Bear Lake Monster, but it was only recently I learned of the North Shore Monster that was supposedly seen at the Great Salt Lake, according to Atlas Obscura.
"In 1877, Salt Works employees claimed to have seen a monster with a crocodile body and a horse head, though it is likely that what they saw was a bathing bison," Atlas Obscura reported.
According to Mysterious Universe, the "monster" was said to have exuded a "deep bellowing noise" and chased the employees up a hill, where they hid.
"Upon returning to where they had seen the monster the day before, they discovered overturned boulders, tracks and ground torn up by the thrashing creature," Mysterious Universe said.
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