Utah Territorial Statehouse
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Utah Territorial Capitol
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| Location |
Fillmore, Utah United States
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| Coordinates | 38°58′06″N 112°19′33″W / 38.968297°N 112.325771°WCoordinates: 38°58′06″N 112°19′33″W / 38.968297°N 112.325771°W |
| Built | 1852-55 |
| Architect | Truman O. Angell |
| Visitation | 20,562 (2009) |
| NRHP Reference # | 70000625 |
| Added to NRHP | September 22, 1970 |
The Utah Territorial Statehouse, officially Territorial Statehouse State Park Museum, is a state park in Fillmore, Utah, preserving the original seat of government for the Utah Territory. Built from 1852 to 1855, the statehouse was initially intended as a larger structure, but only the south wing was completed before the project was abandoned due to lack of federal funding, and the Utah Territorial Legislature only met in the building once before the capital was moved to Salt Lake City in 1856.
In 1851, Mormon leader Brigham Young and a group of lawmakers determined that Fillmore should become the capital of the provisional State of Deseret because of its central location. When the Congress of the United States turned down their petition for statehood and created the Utah Territory instead, Fillmore was designated as its territorial capital.
The original statehouse building plans called for four wings connected by a Moorish dome at the center, but only the south wing was completed. U.S. President Millard Fillmore had helped secure the first $20,000 for construction, but could not help the territory secure additional funding after he lost the next election. (Both Fillmore and the county in which it sits, Millard County, were named in honor of President Fillmore.) In 1856, after housing its first and only full session, the Territorial Statehouse was abandoned by the Utah Legislature in favor of a new location in Utah's largest city, Salt Lake City.
By the early 20th century, the building was vacant, decaying and threatened with demolition. During the 1920s, the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP) proposed restoring the statehouse to serve as a history museum. Under the direction of the Utah State Park and Recreation Commission, the museum opened in 1930 and was placed in the custodial care of the DUP. The statehouse and grounds became a state park in 1957. Today, the Territorial Statehouse serves as a museum which contains many artifacts from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Two restored cabins and a pioneer stone schoolhouse are also located on the grounds.
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