Deseret Bank Building

First Security Branch of Wells Fargo

Oldest continuously operated banking site in Utah.

This site, the northeast corner of First South and Main (formerly East Temple Street), was first occupied in the 1850s by an adobe building housing the Hooper & Eldridge bank. This bank was succeeded under territorial law in 1871 by the Bank of Deseret, with Brigham Young as founder and President, who in 1872 converted it to the nationally chartered Deseret National Bank. First Security Corporation acquired Deseret National Bank in 1932 and moved its headquarters to this location from Ogden, Utah in 1955. First Security operated a banking office here for 68 years before merging with Wells Fargo in 2000.

This present building was erected in 1919. This First Security branch, continuing to “give 110%”, was dedicated on January 16, 2004.

Tourstop 14 in the Salt Lake City Tour says:

Deseret Bank Building – 1919, Lewis Telle Cannon and John Fetzer

A bank has stood on this corner since 1868 when the firm of Hooper and Eldredge established a bank in their retail store.  That bank evolved into the Deseret National Bank which played a leading role in the commercial development of Utah.  In 1919 the present structure was built replacing a cast iron fronted building from 1875.  After First Security Corporation acquired Deseret National  Bank in 1932, it opened as the First National Bank of Salt Lake City until 1948 when it was integrated into the First Security Bank system.  As part of a national trend toward bank consolidations, Wells Fargo Bank acquired First Security in 2000.  Despite all the changes, the name of Deseret Bank can still be seen in terra cotta on the west side of the building.

Zions First Nation Bank

One of Utah’s Oldest Financial Institutions

Brigham Young founded Zion’s Savings Bank and Trust Company in 1873 to promote thrift and generate savings for investments in the wake of financial panic.  For the first few years the bank operated out of various storefronts on Main Street, but in 1890 it moved to spacious new quarters at this site in the Templeton Building.

The bank successfully weathered the financial difficulties of the Great Depression and in 1957 changed its name to Zions First National Bank when it merged with two other financial institutions.  In 1965 the bank moved into its current quarters when the Kennecott Building replaced the Templeton Building.  Today, the bank has more than 100 branches in Utah and Idaho and is one of the most influential banking institutions in the West.  After a renovation in 2007, the bank’s home office is now known as the Zions Bank Building.

See other historic buildings in Salt Lake City on this page.