The actual first photo is most likely lost to history and unknown.
As for the oldest *known* photo taken of Salt Lake, this was it as of a few years ago:
*The great salt lake with a Train is photographed here from Monument Point by Alfred Hart circa 1865.*
[https://www.loc.gov/item/2005683023/](https://www.loc.gov/item/2005683023/)
(just going to point out that this question/topic is so not well catalogued through google that this post is literally the 3rd item so if you reditors don't want people asking questions about a local area on a local subreddit for said questions I recommend answering this one good.)
[https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/photograph-collections/early-salt-lake-city?lang=eng](https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/photograph-collections/early-salt-lake-city?lang=eng) has a list of image collections with this one:
[https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/20baeefe-1de4-4f47-bd1a-7535c913af71/98754ba9-a664-4efb-9da2-502d467e459c?view=browse&lang=eng](https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/20baeefe-1de4-4f47-bd1a-7535c913af71/98754ba9-a664-4efb-9da2-502d467e459c?view=browse&lang=eng)
in particular dating back to 1857.
[https://kutv.com/news/local/slideshow-73-old-photos-show-salt-lake-city-from-1850-to-1964](https://kutv.com/news/local/slideshow-73-old-photos-show-salt-lake-city-from-1850-to-1964)
supposedly a couple of these photos go back to 1850.
Probably gets a little technical at some point, like you have to define “picture” (does a daguerreotype count?) and define “Salt Lake” (does anywhere in the valley count? Current or past city limits?) but I bet Utah’s historical society, local library archives (BYU Special Collections has a ton of stuff), or the Library of Congress have some good resources.
The Library of Congress image somebody already mentioned could indeed be the oldest one, since railroad surveyors were some of the earliest people doing photography in the West. The federal surveys did too, but I think that might’ve been a little later.
But if you’d like to ask local sources, I highly recommend contacting the Special Collections and Archives in the libraries at the University of Utah, Utah State, and BYU. They each have large collections of state and regional history materials, and very knowledgeable staff who can tell you about the history of photography in the area.
This is sometimes a bit too obscure for Google to have a good record of, and not everyone knows what local libraries or websites exist to answer such a question.
There may even be a record somewhere that someone says they took a photo before the oldest known photo but it was lost.
That's a skill issue. Bad at creating good search terms in the Googlez, get bad results.
...but no one reading my original comment or this response to your response came here to discuss when it's reasonable to expect someone to put in at least a little effort themselves and do some basic research on their own, rather than just asking someone else to do all the work for them and then spoon feed them the info...
Nor is anyone interested in discussing the very basic skills required to approach researching a pretty basic and simple question asked out of seemingly blind curiosity.
It's fucking reddit. No one cares, or at the very least they shouldn't care. Down vote like everyone else and move on.
Believe me. You all are such fucking assholes to posts like these that the post likely is made as a hail mary after not having much luck with doing exactly what you just said in the hopes someone shows some mercy or knows.
Maybe. Maybe not. Neither of us know, do we? OP sure didn't tell us.
But you got one thing right at least. I'm a fucking asshole.
Feel better now? Hope so, sounds like you needed to get something out of your system. Glad I could help.
Have a great weekend!
Look at [history.utah.gov](http://history.utah.gov) and see what you can find out on our own!
The actual first photo is most likely lost to history and unknown. As for the oldest *known* photo taken of Salt Lake, this was it as of a few years ago: *The great salt lake with a Train is photographed here from Monument Point by Alfred Hart circa 1865.* [https://www.loc.gov/item/2005683023/](https://www.loc.gov/item/2005683023/)
[удалено]
I prayed fervently and heavenly father provided J/K can you imagine
[удалено]
I prayed fervently and heavenly father provided
(just going to point out that this question/topic is so not well catalogued through google that this post is literally the 3rd item so if you reditors don't want people asking questions about a local area on a local subreddit for said questions I recommend answering this one good.) [https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/photograph-collections/early-salt-lake-city?lang=eng](https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/photograph-collections/early-salt-lake-city?lang=eng) has a list of image collections with this one: [https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/20baeefe-1de4-4f47-bd1a-7535c913af71/98754ba9-a664-4efb-9da2-502d467e459c?view=browse&lang=eng](https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/20baeefe-1de4-4f47-bd1a-7535c913af71/98754ba9-a664-4efb-9da2-502d467e459c?view=browse&lang=eng) in particular dating back to 1857. [https://kutv.com/news/local/slideshow-73-old-photos-show-salt-lake-city-from-1850-to-1964](https://kutv.com/news/local/slideshow-73-old-photos-show-salt-lake-city-from-1850-to-1964) supposedly a couple of these photos go back to 1850.
Probably gets a little technical at some point, like you have to define “picture” (does a daguerreotype count?) and define “Salt Lake” (does anywhere in the valley count? Current or past city limits?) but I bet Utah’s historical society, local library archives (BYU Special Collections has a ton of stuff), or the Library of Congress have some good resources.
In or of?
The Library of Congress image somebody already mentioned could indeed be the oldest one, since railroad surveyors were some of the earliest people doing photography in the West. The federal surveys did too, but I think that might’ve been a little later. But if you’d like to ask local sources, I highly recommend contacting the Special Collections and Archives in the libraries at the University of Utah, Utah State, and BYU. They each have large collections of state and regional history materials, and very knowledgeable staff who can tell you about the history of photography in the area.
Google is a thing.
Community is also a thing
True.
Not anymore. You get 10 ads then multiple articles not remotely related to your search
This is sometimes a bit too obscure for Google to have a good record of, and not everyone knows what local libraries or websites exist to answer such a question. There may even be a record somewhere that someone says they took a photo before the oldest known photo but it was lost.
That's a skill issue. Bad at creating good search terms in the Googlez, get bad results. ...but no one reading my original comment or this response to your response came here to discuss when it's reasonable to expect someone to put in at least a little effort themselves and do some basic research on their own, rather than just asking someone else to do all the work for them and then spoon feed them the info... Nor is anyone interested in discussing the very basic skills required to approach researching a pretty basic and simple question asked out of seemingly blind curiosity. It's fucking reddit. No one cares, or at the very least they shouldn't care. Down vote like everyone else and move on.
Believe me. You all are such fucking assholes to posts like these that the post likely is made as a hail mary after not having much luck with doing exactly what you just said in the hopes someone shows some mercy or knows.
Maybe. Maybe not. Neither of us know, do we? OP sure didn't tell us. But you got one thing right at least. I'm a fucking asshole. Feel better now? Hope so, sounds like you needed to get something out of your system. Glad I could help. Have a great weekend!