Eagle Gate 1859
Truman O. Angell - Architect
Hiram B. Clawson - Designer
Ralph Ramsay & William Dell - Carvers
1891
J. Don Carlos Young - Architect
1963
Geo. Cannon Young F.A.J.A. - Architect
George S. Nelson - Engineer
Grant E. Fairbanks - Sculptor
Erected in co-operation with
The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
David O. McKay, President, &
Utah State Department of Highways
G. Taylow Burton, Director
The Eagle Gate marked the entrance
to the homestead of Brigham Young.
During the early settlement of
the valley, Brigham Young was
allotted the land lying athwart
the mouth of City Creek Canyon.
His New England heritage prompted
him to desire the privacy given
by a high wall around the property
as well as for the protection it
afforded.
Erected in 1859, the gate has
through the years become the
symbol of the man who built it.
The original eagle and the
supporting beehive were carved from
five laminated wooden blocks and
rested upon curved wooden arches,
having their anchor on the cobblestone
wall surrounding the estate.
Large wooden gates closed the
twenty-two foot opening at night,
securing behind them the Beehive
House, the Lion House, and the
private offices between them,
the beautiful flower gardens,
the private school, and the
barns, sheds, granaries, silkworm
cocooneries, orchards, and
vegetable gardens.
In 1891 the gates were removed
and the entrance widened into
a street. At that time the eagle
was sent east, electroplated
with copper, and raised on new
supports resting on cut stone
pillars. In 1960, when the street
was again widened, the wood
under the copper plating had
deteriorated, and the eagle could
not be remounted.
This bronze gateway, its eagle a
scale enlargement of the original,
has been erected as a tribute to
the pioneers who founded this
commonwealth.
