Granite Mountain (Salt Lake County, Utah) facts for kids
Granite Mountain is a huge rock formation located about one mile up Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range of Utah. It's not far from Salt Lake City, Utah. Even though it's called "Granite Mountain," it's mostly made of a rock called quartz monzonite. This rock looks and acts a lot like granite. It's the same type of rock used to build the Salt Lake Temple and the front of the LDS Conference Center.
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The Secret Vault Inside Granite Mountain
The Granite Mountain Records Vault is a very large archive and vault. It is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This vault was built 600 feet deep into the north side of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The Granite Mountain facilities are designed to protect important records. They have a dry, climate-controlled area for storing things for a very long time. There are also offices, places to send and receive items, and a special lab. This lab is used to process and fix microfilm.
What Records Are Stored Here?
The vault holds many important records. These include information about family history and ancestors. There are over 2.4 million rolls of microfilm and 1 million microfiche. This is like having about three billion pages of family records!
The vault's collection of microfilm grows by up to 40,000 rolls every year. Since 1999, the Church has been turning these microfilms into digital files. This makes them easier to use.
How Can People See These Records?
The Church makes these records available to the public. You can find them at their Family History Centers. You can also look them up online on their FamilySearch website. This helps people learn more about their family's past.
Another Vault Nearby
There is a second vault located two miles further up the canyon. However, this vault is different. It is owned and run by a company called Perpetual Storage Inc. This company operates for profit, meaning it charges money for its services.
