Eagle Gate History
A LOOK BACK IN TIME ON OUR HISTORY
Every business has a story behind it. Some are better than others, and I believe ours is right up there near the top. You may wonder where the “Eagle Gate” comes from and it’s actually a really cool story that is cemented in the history of Utah.
Back in 1859, the early settlers had a monument erected that commemorated the entrance to Brigham Young’s property at the mouth of City Creek Canyon. They called it the Eagle Gate. The eagle gate, along with the beehive, was a symbol of all the industry that was happening in downtown Salt Lake at the time. The original gate was designed by Truman O. Angell, the architect who designed the Salt Lake Temple, and Hiram B. Clawson. The original eagle was carved by Ralph Ramsay and William Spring, from five blocks of wood. It had 16-foot-wide outstretched wings, rested on curved wooden arches that used 9-foot-high cobblestone pillars as their anchor, and it sat on a beehive and star mount. It is currently on display at the Daughters of Utah Pioneer museum in Salt Lake.
Since then it has been altered and moved a few times, and as of 1963, it is now a 4,000-pound bronze eagle, with a wingspan of 20 feet, that sits on the corner of State Street and South Temple Street in downtown Salt Lake City. It is more of an arch than a gate, but it was originally named Eagle Gate because it was the entrance to the Young property. It still sits atop a beehive, as well as the star mount, and it has the old wall in its trench.
The COOLEST part is how it relates to our business in title escrow. The Eagle Gate sits one block away from the Salt Lake Base and Meridian in downtown Salt Lake. Some people think our addresses in Utah are funny (i.e. 250 south 300 west) but it was a brilliant plan by the original settlers that based every property in the state off this base and meridian (with exception to Uintah basin). The meridian is on the southeast corner of temple square and was fixed as the point from which all city streets were named and numbered on August 3, 1947. From there, everything north of it was called 1 north or eventually 100 north, 2 north or 200 north, 3 north or 300 north, and on and on. Everything east, west, and south was done the same way. From there, sections, townships, and ranges were established, and Utah began to grow. This created the grid system we still use today when determining which property is which, and who owns what, something that is central to our business. Our part of the transaction is directly involving the property, digging deep into the history of each one and ensuring that it is free and clear before transferring ownership to the new owner. Our product, the title insurance policy, is created based off a search on that specific property using this grid system.
Bottom line: We ARE Utah. We love Utah, and especially our home Southern Utah. Our roots are here. We’ve been here our whole lives. We’ve been in the title business for 30+ years. And we have the best team in the business.
SO- big, big thanks to each of you for helping us get to where we are today. We couldn’t survive without all of our clients and referral partners. We are truly grateful for each opportunity we get to serve you and look forward to many, many more years of it.
