George Thomas Building

For a lot of Utahns of a certain age, this building is where the dinosaurs lived. Built in 1935 as the university library and named for George Thomas, the U's longest-serving president, it became the Utah Museum of Natural History in 1968 and spent four decades full of fossils, minerals, and dioramas before the museum moved to its glassy new home on the foothills in 2011. The old building is being made over again—into a science center now. Buildings on this campus rarely retire; they just change majors.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Red Butte Garden — 1.3 mi
  A 100-acre botanical garden with panoramic valley views
• Natural History Museum of Utah — 1.5 mi
  A world-class museum built into the foothills above Salt Lake City
• Gilgal Sculpture Garden — 1.8 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood
• Liberty Park — 1.8 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882

More markers nearby

• Alfred C. Emery Building — steps away
• David O. McKay — steps away
• Keith M. Engar — steps away
• James E. Talmage Building — steps away