Utah Geological Survey

 

 

 
16. 115 South Main Street

PI-60 Building Stones of Downtown Salt Lake City, A Walking Tour

This porous and banded travertine, a compact variety of limestone, is used as exterior floor and wall tiles at 115 South Main Street.
porous and banded travertine

Constructed in 1963, this building's facade is made of travertine. Travertine is a light-colored, finely crystalline limestone formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate around hot springs, in caves, near waterfalls, or from cold-water solutions.

A compact variety of travertine was used for the walls. The attractive travertine used on this building's large floor tiles and the wall panels within the basement light well displays parallel banding with a porous, frothy-looking appearance and darker bands formed by the concentration of impurities in the stone. This travertine was probably from Quaternary-age deposits located in central Italy.

Continue south on Main Street and cross 200 South.

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