Eagle Emporium Building

Built in 1864, The Eagle Emporium Building is the oldest existing commercial building in downtown Salt Lake City.  William Jennings, Utah’s first millionaire, constructed the building to house his mercantile business.  The Eagle Emporium Building was also the first home of the Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution.

At Brigham Young’s request, Jennings exchanged his emporium’s inventory for stock in the new ZCMI and leased this building to the cooperative in 1868.

The ornate clock in front of this building is one of the few remaining pieces of 19th-century street furniture in downtown.  The clock was erected in 1873 and first powered by a water wheel.