City Meat Market

Salt Lake‘s First Market

In 1861 the city built a long, narrow structure in the middle of First South Street west of Main Street to house the city’s butcher shops. It was a barn-like structure with a cobblestone drive through it with stalls on either side. Beef, mutton, veal, and pork hung from floor to ceiling festooned with garlands of sausage and rosettes of suet.

The advent of street cars in 1871 required that the market be moved to another location nearby where business continued for a few years.

After repeal of city ordinances requiring meat merchants conduct their business at a single location, butcher shops moved to various sites around downtown. A group of butchers, however, stayed in this area on the north side of First South Street, known for many years as Market Row.