What is the Salt Lake Base and Meridian?
by Jay Hill
In the heart of Salt Lake City, a small stone monument marks a point of great historical and geographical significance: the Salt Lake Base and Meridian. This small unassuming landmark, located near the southeast corner of Temple Square in the center of downtown Salt Lake City, represents the starting point for land surveys in Utah, a system that has shaped the state’s landscape for more than 170 years.

View of the Salt Lake Meridian and Base Line landmark in the southeast corner of the Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Photo courtesy of the Center for Land Use Interpretation.
The story of the Salt Lake Base and Meridian begins in 1847 when much of the southwest remained within Mexico’s claimed territory and the first Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Orson Pratt and Henry G. Sherwood began surveying the site of “Great Salt Lake City” from a central point designated by Brigham Young, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Young aimed to create the “Plat of Zion,” reflecting the Mormons’ vision of an ideal, divinely ordered community. By creating their own survey system, the Mormons were asserting their independence and distinct identity in their new homeland, symbolically establishing what they saw as a new Zion in the American West. This initial survey laid the groundwork for the city’s grid system of named and numbered streets, and remains a defining characteristic of Salt Lake City to this day.

Map showing the Salt Lake Base and Meridian lines created in 1855 and the Uintah Special Meridian created in 1875 (area in red). Image courtesy of the Center of Land Use Interpretation.
In 1855, David H. Burr, the first U.S. Surveyor-General of Utah, officially designated the point as the beginning of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) in the Utah Territory, setting a stone monument to mark the spot. This monument, known as the Salt Lake Base and Meridian, became the reference point for property descriptions, gridded streets, and land records throughout the state.
The Salt Lake Meridian is unique among principal meridians in the United States because it is the only one with its initial point situated in a major city. The meridian runs north-south through the entire state of Utah and its accompanying baseline extends east-west to the state borders. This meridian serves as the reference for survey townships running north and south, and ranges extending east and west, effectively creating a grid system across most of Utah. The township and range system is a grid-like method for surveying and organizing land that divides areas into 6-mile square townships and 1-mile square sections. The Salt Lake Meridian governs all PLSS surveys in the state, with one notable exception: the northeastern region, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Uintah Special Meridian. This unique meridian was created in 1875 to address the surveying needs of the reservation lands (Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation), which were given to Native American tribes as part of the U.S. government’s land allotment policies in the late 19th century.

Close-up view of the Salt Lake Base and Meridian landmark in the southeast corner of Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Photo courtesy of the Center for Land Use Interpretation.
Lying 100 feet north and 50 feet west of the Salt Lake Base and Meridian monument is the remnant of an astronomical station used to determine the true latitude and longitude of the marker. The station was set by George W. Dean of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1869 and was used until 1897 to obtain the correct time by observing stars passing by the meridian with a transit telescope.
Today, the monument marking the Salt Lake Base and Meridian serves as a link to Utah’s surveying history and shows the enduring influence of early Mormon urban planning. It stands as a reminder of the foresight that shaped Salt Lake City’s development and underscores the lasting importance of thoughtful land use strategies.