The Temple Square Wych Elm

Utah's biggest wych elm is a European tree growing at the corner of one of the most recognisable buildings in the American West. The state's register measured it in 2019 at 25.6 metres tall, with a trunk 414 centimetres round and a crown 22.9 metres across, and ranks it first of its species in Utah. It stands at the northeast corner of the Tabernacle on Temple Square. Wych elm is native to Europe, from the Scottish glens to the mountains of the east, and Dutch elm disease has taken enormous numbers of mature ones there. A trunk over four metres round, standing in a city block in the Great Basin, is a tree many European parks no longer have. The building beside it was raised between 1864 and 1867, first used for the church's October 1867 conference and dedicated in 1875. No source we have found says when the elm was planted, so we cannot say how much of the Tabernacle's history it has stood beside. The square has been under a long renovation centred on the Salt Lake Temple, expected to finish by the end of 2026. The whole west side of the square, where the Tabernacle stands, has been open to visitors again since February 2025, and an observation logged at this spot in September 2026 shows a tree standing there. Entry to the grounds is free. Nobody has dated it. If you know, tell us.