A block east of Temple Square along South Temple Boulevard, the Beehive House (Mon-Sat 9.30am-4.30pm, Sun 10am-1pm; free) is a plain white New England-style house, with wraparound verandas and green shutters. Erected in 1854 by church leader Brigham Young , it's now a small museum of Young's life, restored to the style of the period. Free twenty-minute tours, which you have to join to see much of the house, are given at least every half-hour.

The Family History Library , across West Temple Boulevard from Temple Square (Mon 7.30am-6pm, Tues-Sat 7.30am-10pm; free; ), is intended to enable Mormons to trace their ancestors, and then baptize them into the faith by proxy, but it's open to everyone. The world's most exhaustive genealogical library is surprisingly user-friendly, giving immediate access, through CD-ROMs and banks of computers, to birth and death records from over sixty countries, some dating back as much as five hundred years. All you need is a person's place of birth, a few approximate dates, and you're away; volunteers provide help if you need it, but leave you alone until you ask. Next door to the library, the Museum of Church History and Art (Mon-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat & Sun 10am-7pm; free) charts the rise of the Mormon faith in art and artifact.

The area southwest of Temple Square, now the site of the massive Salt Palace convention center and sports arena (home of the Utah Jazz basketball team), has undergone a rapid transformation. The surrounding district of brick warehouses around the Union Pacific railroad tracks is quickly filling up with designer shops and art galleries, signs that even Mormons can be yuppies

Downtown Salt Lake City

• Downtown Salt Lake City

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