Revisiting Drive Strips

ImageOctober 21, 2014user Leave a comment

After reading a previous post, ‘Where Have All The Drive Strips Gone?’, I ‘ve been more cognizant of driveway replacements. Interestingly enough the original style double drive strips are making a resurgence. In visiting with residents who have replaced with double strips and asking why the decision was made to replace the way they did, here are some responses:

Two driveways next to each other, cement side by side was way too much concrete. I wanted to keep to the original. Drive strips were there originally, it all supports the era and style.

We wanted to do it because it extends the visual greenscape. Cement isn’t very attractive. Plus, drive strips were in keeping with the original style of the home.

They are cooler, temperature wise and they are more quiant.

Another drive strip found…

–Jon Dewey

Coasting Lanes

ImageJanuary 11, 2014user Leave a comment

“Fifteen coasting lanes were set aside Tuesday by Salt Lake City commissioners under an admonition to the motoring public that coasters have special rights.”

So begins an article published Nov 18th, 1941 in the “Salt Lake Telegram.” The City Recreation Department would post barriers at the top and bottom of each hill. And every year the City’s children got their annual warning to coast only on designated lanes.

The increase in personal automobiles saw an increase in sledding accidents each winter. The City had a goal: No traffic accidents involving sleds. So they designated coasting lanes and wrote regulations to go along with it. It had to be a tough job for our police. They didn’t always get full parental cooperation. They were forced to play the bad guy and confiscate sleds being used outside the designated lanes.

The designated coasting lane within Yalecrest was the ravine running west from 15th East, just south of 9th South. (Does anyone have pictures of “our kids” sledding here?)

In 1943 the City was still dealing with its designated coasting lanes. The County, which used to designate county roads for sledding, had gotten out of that business years earlier citing the traffic hazards involved and the difficulty policing the areas. Instead the Sheriff appealed to rural property owners to notify him if they had off-highway areas suitable for coasting lanes. He said his office would endeavor to inform the children.

–Kelly Marinan

Presenting the Original Uinta(h) Elementary School Sign

ImageOctober 29, 2013user 2 Comments

The spelling of UINTA(H) — in the 1800s the H was sometimes used and sometimes left off. John Wesley Powell left it off when he spelled the word as part of his 1869 expedition, because he said it was unnecessary for pronunciation of the word.

The U.S. government standardized the spelling later in the 1800s by setting the rule that Uinta without the H would be used for natural features such as the Uinta Mountains or Uinta Basin, and Uintah with the H would be used for man-made entities such as Uintah School or Uintah County. So that is why the school name has the H in it.

So why was the sign above the main door of Uintah School misspelled by leaving off the H? I don’t think it’s known for sure, but it probably involves one of these reasons: (1) In 1915 when the school was built, the spelling guidelines from the government were still so recent that there may still have been some confusion on the issue; (2) The contractor who made the sign might have simply left off the H by mistake, or ran out of room on the cement slab by spacing the letters too far apart and having no room at the end for the H. It might just be that simple.

Thank you to Phillip Snow for his research on the spelling of Uinta(h). This gentleman was also the one who was able to save this piece of history!

–JonDewey

Walking Tour Saturday, Oct. 12

ImageOctober 10, 2013user 1 Comment

K.E.E.P. Yalecrest is hosting an educational neighborhood walk Saturday, Oct. 12 from 1-3 p.m. to highlight the architectural styles and historicity of some notable homes located on the 1300-1500 East blocks of Harvard and Yale Avenues.

We’ll meet at Harvard Ave. and 13th East and walk east to 15th East, then down Yale Avenue and back to the start.

We will be viewing a variety of exterior architectural elements from the sidewalk in small groups and giving a brief synopsis of notable people or events related to certain houses.

The tour is open to the public and we’re suggesting a $5 donation for participants who are not current members of our organization. A $25 per person or $50 per family annual membership is also available.

This is our first tour event and we’re very excited about the wonderful bits of history we’ve uncovered in our preparations. We hope to see you Saturday!

If you don’t make the tour, here’s the program: Yalecrest Notable Homes Tour Oct 12 2013

The Match Prowler

ImageOctober 7, 2013user Leave a comment

Only a few homeowners were living on the 1700 block of Harvard Ave in early 1929. Gaskell Romney (Mitt Romney’s grandfather) had built the earliest homes on the west end. Residents had moved in while nearby homes were still under construction. It was during this time, on a Thursday night according to the Salt Lake Telegram, that the “Match Prowler” struck…

Czar Winters (1709 Harvard) was a lawyer who worked downtown in the Walker Building. He was the first to call and report to the police that something was amiss. Not only did he notice burnt matches on the floor of his new home, but items were missing too.

The match prowler had stolen a suit, a flashlight, and MONEY! 75 cents, to be exact.

Across the street, M.Ross Richards (1710 Harvard) had to work a bit late Thursday night. He didn’t make it home until 11pm. He was the Manager at Richards-Barlow Motor Company. It was a great industry to be working in. The rise of the private automobile was giving way to a transportation revolution. Everybody wanted to own a car. When Ross finally got home he didn’t notice anything missing, but he did find “evidence of prowling.”

Ross remembered that his friend, Ben Richie, had asked Ross to keep an eye on his house for him while he was out of town. Ben was the Managing Director for the Great Western Film Library. His home was conveniently located right nextdoor (1716 Harvard). Investigation showed the Richie home had also been entered, but nothing was taken. (Could the police and Ross really know nothing was taken from Ben’s?)

The police felt confident it was the same prowler. All three homes had a trail of burnt matches.

Reading the Telegram, I wondered about the wives. Where were Margaret Winters and Algie Richards while their husbands were at work and their homes were being burglarized? The newspaper doesn’t mention them at all. I imagine Grace Richie was traveling with her husband. Wonder if they ever went to Hollywood? Or knew any famous cowboy actors?

Well, it seems almost cartoonish now– the image or a burglar using matches to make his way through a dark house. But what I like about this story is that this is the first documented evidence (and not the last) that I’ve found of “neighbors looking out for each other” on this one little block in Yalecrest. Nice.

–Kelly Marinan

Wall Dormers

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Wall dormers are an interesting and unique architectural feature seen on some Period Revival Style homes in Yalecrest. They are essentially a continuation of the wall above the roof eaves, breaking the line of the eaves.

Wall dormers are less commonly seen than roof dormers. And unlike roof dormers, they generally offer little or no increase in floor space or head room.

–Kelly Marinan

Recently Restored Old World Tudor

ImageSeptember 5, 2013user 2 Comments

We saw this flyer and cheered! Yes, you can restore a Yalecrest home and make money selling it —you don’t have to demo it! This is the way to care for our Yalecrest homes and hand them off to the next loving owners.

1445 E. 900 South

Open houses:
Thursday, Sept. 5, 5-7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 6, 5-7 p.m.

Download PDF: Tudor for Sale

State History Conference

ImageAugust 25, 2013user Leave a comment

Do you enjoy learning about Salt Lake City history and Utah history?

If so, then don’t forget to mark your calendar for the upcoming 61st Annual State History Conference. This year’s theme is titled “The Making of Place.”

Conference to be held: Thursday Sept 5th through Sunday Sept 8th.

It is FREE and open to the public.
You don’t have to register for the workshops or the regular sessions.
(The field trip is a little different. You do need to register for that.)

The workshops/sessions will be held at the historic Rio Grande Depot.

For the complete schedule (including details on topics, time and location info) please visit the Utah Division of State History website.

Hope to see you there!

–Kelly Marinan

A Look Back

ImageAugust 17, 2013user Leave a comment

Every Friday The Salt Lake Tribune publishes photos in a series called “A Look Back“. This week they displayed interesting old photos of “mansions and modest homes” belonging to Utah’s early settlers. The photo above immediately caught my eye because it belonged to William S. Godbe. Godbe arrived here in 1851 as an LDS convert. He was a familiar face in early SLC history, a mover and a shaker.

But did you know William S. Godbe was a Yalecrest landowner? Yes, he had 10 acres. He owned the southeast corner of Yalecrest!

William S. Godbe spoke out opposing the economic policies of the Mormon church, had a falling out with Brigham Young and was ex-communicated. So he started his own church, the Church of Zion, and his followers were called Godbeites. But that’s not all. Godbe is credited as the founder of the first non-LDS newspaper that later evolved into The Salt Lake Tribune! And before Utah had Democrats and Republicans, it had the People’s Party and the Liberal Party, Godbe being one of the founders of the latter.

Some interesting people owned property in Yalecrest before and after its homes were built.

—Kelly Marinan

Homes of LDS Church leaders in Yalecrest

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From Yalecrest’s early history into modern times — prophets and apostles of the LDS Church were among the neighborhood’s most notable residents alongside captains of industry, professionals, academicians, government officials and civic leaders.

During the pre and post-war years, three LDS prophets – George Albert Smith, Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson – resided in Yalecrest or its nearby streets, while either serving as head of the church or at different stages of their adult lives.

One of Yalecrest’s most iconic architectural structures – 1389 Harvard Ave., with its one-of-a-kind-swirled roof pattern, and castle-like turret in the entry-way – was home to President Benson before he was appointed Secretary of Agriculture under U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. Built in 1929, the 3,700 square foot Tudor stands today as a lasting reminder of a bygone era steeped in timeless beauty.

The first Salt Lake City home on the National Register of Historic Places, a spacious 3,800 square foot bungalow at 1302 Yale Ave., was the residence of President George Albert Smith, while he served as the eighth president of the LDS Church from 1945-1951. The original hardwood floors and leaded windows are still preserved in this brick and stone structure built in 1914.

President Spencer W. Kimball lived in two different houses in the Yalecrest area during his lifetime. One was a two-story brick Tudor at 1000 Military Drive, with a large peaked roof on the south end of the house resting over a series of narrow, rectangular leaded windows. The other was a one-story 3,200 square foot brick home at 2028 Laird Drive, built in 1947. His residency on Laird Drive was during his service as President of the LDS Church

Joseph Fielding Smith, LDS President from 1970-1972, raised his family at 998 Douglas Street. The 5,300 square foot residence, built in 1926, is situated just west of Yalecrest in the Gilmer Park area. Some of the original historical features of the home have been preserved including the quarter sawn oak in the doors, mantle and library.

In modern times, two current Apostles of the LDS Church – Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Russell M. Nelson – lived in Yalecrest at 1813 Yale Ave., and 1347 Normandie Circle respectively while serving in the Quorum of the Twelve. Both have since moved from the neighborhood. Four other apostles of the LDS Church –Elders Marion G. Romney, Mark E. Petersen, Neal A. Maxwell, and Joseph B. Wirthlin – all resided here while serving as apostles and Elder Huge B. Brown was a resident before he was called to serve in the church. Elder Romney’s home was in the Monument Park First Ward at 1903 Yale Ave. Elder Petersen resided at 852 Diestel Road and Elder Maxwell lived at 2059 Herbert Ave. Elder Wirthlin owned two homes in Yalecrest, first, and relatively briefly at 1671 Harvard Ave., and then for well over 50 years at 932 Military Drive. Elder Wirthlin’s home on Military Drive is a classic 3,200 square foot Tudor built in 1928. Elder Oaks’ home on Yale, also a Tudor built in 1928.

President Hugh B. Brown lived at 1771 Harvard Ave. for a few years in the early 1950s before he was called as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The 2,300 square foot brick home was built in 1930.

A few members of the LDS Church’s Quorum of the Seventy – Elders Royden G. Derrick, Sterling W. Sill and Joseph W. Anderson – also lived in Yalecrest. Elder Anderson lived at 1732 Yalecrest Ave. and Elder Sill resided at 1264 Yale in the 1940s.

——- Jan Hemming