The Salt Lake City & County Building was originally constructed by free masons between 1891 and 1894 to house offices for the city and county of Salt Lake and replace the Salt Lake City Council Hall and Salt Lake County Courthouse, both erected in the 1860s.

The Salt Lake City and County Building’s central clock tower is topped with a statue of Columbia and rises 256 feet  from the ground. The building’s primary axis runs north-south, and large entrances mark each cardinal direction.

On the south wing (over the Mayor’s office) is a bronze statue of the goddess Justice. Originally, the building had statues depicting Commerce, Liberty, Justice, and Columbia, but the others were removed following a 1934 earthquake. Columbia and the other missing statues were replaced on top of the building when it was renovated in 1989.

The historical building underwent a $31 million, three-year renovation that was complete in 1989.  And yesterday, May 2, was the 20th anniversary of that renovation.

It was a return to simpler times at the Salt Lake City-County Building yesterday afternoon with a late 19th-century style carnival celebration. The carnival, replete with barbershop quartets, bunting and a pie-eating contest, had families and kids of all ages joining in the fun of a bygone era.

Salt Laker’s joined in the festivities of Celebrate the City, which transformed Washington Square into a turn-of-the-century style carnival, circa 1894, in honor of the year the building was constructed.

The festivities included some low-key fun for those not interested in carnival games. Guided arbor tours helped carnivalgoers identify myriad plants and trees on the grounds of Washington Square. Building tours, also guided, included a rare opportunity to climb the 143 steps of the clock tower and look out over the valley.

The festivities concluded with a grand procession that saw Becker and former Salt Lake City mayors Jake Garn, Ted Wilson, Palmer DePaulis and Deedee Corradini arriving by horse and buggy to address the crowd.