Eagle Gate, Memorial gate and sculpture in downtown Salt Lake City, United States.
The Eagle Gate is a monument forming an arch over State Street at its intersection with South Temple in downtown Salt Lake City. Its steel frame is clad in metal panels, with arches rising from four pillars on each side of the road to meet at a keystone decorated with five-point stars. Atop the keystone sits a bronze eagle perched on a beehive, with a wingspan of 20 feet (6.1 m) and weighing 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg).
Brigham Young, who controlled City Creek Canyon from 1850, built a wall around his estate with a gate where the canyon road passed through, charging tolls; every fifth hauled load of wood went to him. On 17 February 1859 a wooden eagle on a beehive, carved by Ralph Ramsay from five blocks, was placed on the gate. After Young's death the walls came down in 1878, and the rotting wooden arches were demolished in December 1890. The 1890s stone-pillar version was designed by Don Carlos Young; the wider third gate, by his son George Cannon Young, dates from the 1960s.
The eagle and beehive atop the arch refer to the provisional State of Deseret, named for the honeybee in the Book of Mormon; bees and hives became Utah emblems of industry, thrift and perseverance, and the state is nicknamed "The Beehive State." The keystone carries five-point stars.
The arch stands over State Street at its junction with South Temple, beside Temple Square. On the sidewalk between the two east pillars lies a large granite stone topped by a plaque recounting the gate's history; the stone holds a time capsule. Traffic runs beneath the arch, so cross at the marked intersections.
The 1859 eagle was carved from five wooden blocks joined with iron, with a 16-foot wingspan and a weight of 500 pounds. Tradition holds that church architect Truman O. Angell shot the eagle at the mouth of City Creek Canyon that served as the model. The original carving is displayed at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum at 300 North Main Street.
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