The Avenues of Salt Lake City

Haglund, Karl; Notarianni, Philip

From preface: "This book, divided into three sections, deals with both the history and the architecture of the Avenues. Over one hundred and forty significant structures are presented in detail to allow the reader to understand this district's special sense of place. The area outlined in the book contains some of the most remarkable early architecture to be found in the West. Although it is impossible to drive the complete perimeter of the district, all of the sites can be approached by car. Because of the stairway at the end of Canyon Road it is necessary to backtrack Canyon Road to Second Avenue (one way east). One of the most stirring vistas of the LDS Temple occurs on the westward drive along First Avenue. As F Street is approached two spires of the temple can be seen on the western horizon, framed by the rows of houses on either side of the street. Climbing the rise to B Street the spires momentarily sink only to reappear as the temple seems to lift out of the ground until it stands completely revealed. The information included in this book was gathered primarily by the research personnel of the Utah State Historical Society. An architectural survey conducted by a private firm, Historic Utah, Inc., was also utilized. The Historical Society devised a structure-site information form to include data on the status, use, architecture, and history of each significant structure. A form was completed on 2,100 sites identified by the Historic Utah, Inc., survey as well as on an additional 200 structures. Less complete structure-site forms were produced by the Utah State Tax Commission's Local Valuation Office on 2,974 buildings in the survey area. Photographs of all these sites were attached to each form to aid in architectural identification and description. As research progressed, survey procedures were further refined to include a title search of each property to the 1940s, biographical data on owners, and, where appropriate, tenant information. The researchers scrutinized building permits, newspaper building lists, Sanborn maps, city directories, obituary indices, and other related sources. This area was selected primarily because of its concentration of sites of historical and/or architectural significance. Within the historic district boundary are 134 of the 143 identified significant sites on the Avenues: 55 of the 63 architecturally significant sites, 31 of the 31 historically significant buildings, and 48 of the 49 sites significant for both architectural and historical reasons. It also contains over 90 percent of the 2- and 2 1/2-story dwellings, an important visual feature of the Avenues. Augustus Koch's 1870 map of Salt Lake City gives historical support for the boundary by clearly showing Seventh Avenue as the uppermost point of Avenues settlement." Funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant administered by the Utah State Historic Preservation Office and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

The Avenues of Salt Lake City

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