A new archives building was originally planned in 1960, as an 11-story home for the offices and libraries of the Church Historian and Recorder and the Genealogical Society of Utah.

The need for such large facilities diminished due to advances in modern document preservation, as well as with the 1963 completion of the Granite Mountain Records Vault, which had vast storage for genealogical materials.

The building opened to the public on June 22, 2009, with extended hours, improved technology, assistance staff, and additional educational and training programs.

[4] The CHL preserves materials related to the history of the Church, from the 1820s in upstate New York,[5] to the current day, with more than 16 million members[citation needed] around the world.

The historical materials of the Church contain rich information about both Mormon history and the development of the western United States.