John A. Widtsoe Building

The building nearly didn't survive its first winter. Opened in 1901 as the Physical Science Building, it was gutted by fire on the night of December 19 that same year—only the sandstone foundation and brick walls left standing—and rebuilt by the next fall. It carries the name of John A. Widtsoe, an agricultural scientist who wrote the university's first constitution, ran two Utah universities, and finished his career as a Latter-day Saint apostle. Today it holds mathematics, a science building turned over, at last, to numbers.

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 — 1.9 mi
  A surreal and eccentric sculpture garden hidden in a residential neighborhood
• Liberty Park — 2.0 mi
  Salt Lake Citys beloved 80-acre urban park since 1882

More markers nearby

• Leroy E. Cowles Building — steps away
• Gardner Hall — steps away
• U.S.S. Utah Bell and Plaque — steps away
• John Rockey Park Statue — steps away