Utah Territorial Statehouse

The Utah Territorial Statehouse in Fillmore, Utah, USA, was built between 1852 and 1855, and is Utah's oldest existing governmental building. After becoming a territory in 1850, Utah's leaders choose Fillmore as the territory's capital city, and the statehouse was constructed to be the area's first capitol building. Only the south wing of the proposed building was ever built, and it was soon abandoned, as the capital was moved to Salt Lake City.

In 1851, Territorial Governor Brigham Young and a group of lawmakers determined that Fillmore, because of its central location, should become the capital of the provisional State of Deseret. 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 only one year of use, 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.

Utah's governor, Jon Huntsman, Jr. delivered his State of the State address from the Territorial Statehouse in 2005 while the State Capitol was undergoing renovations. The State of the State address in 2005 was the first official use of the Territorial Statehouse for a Utah Governmental Function since 1856.