South Temple: The Keith Mansion

David Keith made his fortune on a lucky hunch. Born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and orphaned at the age of 14, Keith went to work as a miner in his native province before heading to the western United States. 

At the age of twenty, he left Nova Scotia, traveling to California by ship via Panama. He moved on to Virginia City, Nevada, where he worked as a miner, met his first wife, Ettie McLeod, and became proficient as a pump operator in the water-plagued mines of the Comstock Lode. His skill with mine pumps brought him to Park City in 1883 to help install the great Cornish pump; and he then continued as foreman in the Ontario mine.

1880 Census, Gold Hill, Nevada

He eventually became a foreman in a Park City silver mine where he met another hard-working miner, Thomas Kearns. Keith and Kearns leased an undeveloped Park City mine after noticing a rich ore vein headed toward the property. Their hunch about the ore proved correct. The two men became multi-millionaires and remained lifelong friends, business partners, and neighbors.

1900 Census, Salt Lake City

The newly-wealthy Keith and his second wife, Mary, hired Frederick A. Hale to design a stately mansion on fashionable South Temple Street. The mansion’s Neoclassical façade features a pedimented portico supported by four colossal columns. The interior is organized around an octagonal rotunda of polished cherrywood with a beautiful stained glass skylight made by America's most famous glass company - Louis Tiffany & Company. 

The mansion also had a ballroom and an ice box large enough to hold one ton of ice. The Keith Mansion's carriage house was probably the biggest on South Temple. Inside the carriage house were a bowling alley and a shooting gallery, as well as servants’ quarters.

The Keiths lived in the mansion until 1916 when they sold the property to their neighbors, the Ezra Thompson family. Members of the Thompson family lived in the house until 1969 when Terracor acquired it and adapted it for office space. After a fire caused severe damage to the mansion in 1986, Terracor conducted an extensive restoration and continues to operate in the building today.

Next:  The Gardo House, Home of Brigham's Youngest Wife and Utah's Silver Queen

South Temple: The Wall Mansion

When I was in Maui, I was challenged by a friend to write occasionally as a tourist in my own city, i.e., to write about Salt Lake.  I decided to take up this challenge and set out on a quest to learn more about the place I now call home - Salt Lake City.  

Meanwhile, I wrote last week about how I have finally reached a point and a place in my life where I feel like I have a home, where I feel at home.  And because of this, I have an interest in learning about this home.  In particular, I want to learn about aspects of it that I never knew before (read:  primarily non-Mormon aspects).  And I decided to start with South Temple.

Salt Lake City was laid out on a grid system, and South Temple is the street that runs along the south side of Temple Square, in the heart of the old city.  The wide avenue stretches out primarily to the east (it coming to a rather abrupt stop a few blocks to the west of Temple Square), toward the mountains, and in the latter part of the 19th century, newly-rich mining barons, along with others of Salt Lake's elite, built mansions that lined the street.

Unfortunately, as a pamphlet published by the Utah Heritage Foundation points out, South Temple suffered a period of decline from the 1930s through the 1960s. Changes in zoning laws, waning family fortunes, and the demand for commercial space near downtown led to the demolition of 30 of the 40 grand mansions built on the street.  "The loss of important historic buildings on South Temple," the pamphlet explains, "galvanized support for Utah’s young historic preservation movement in the 1960s. Because of its outstanding historical and architectural significance, South Temple was designated Salt Lake City’s first historic district in 1975 and a National Register Historic District in 1982."

Last week, I stopped, while on my way to Bountiful, to take some pictures in the area of South Temple just east of the downtown core.  Here is found the beautiful Cathedral of the Madeleine and the old First Presbyterian Church, and here is where old South Temple - what is left of it - starts.

This old photograph of South Temple shows the Cathedral and the Presbyterian Church under construction.

Just to the west of the Presbyterian Church is the old LDS Business College, the heart of which was the old Enos Wall residence.  

Enos Wall staked mining claims and managed mining operations in Montana, Idaho, and Utah. He also invented several pieces of ore crushing machinery, but is best known as a co-founder of the immensely profitable Utah Copper Company in Bingham Canyon.  This world-famous open-pit mining operation, now owned by Rio Tinto, eventually became Utah Kennecott Copper Company.

Enos Wall

Wall eventually sold his holdings, receiving $2,700,000 on the New York market and in 1904 purchased a two story adobe home at 411 East South Temple, which had been built in 1880 by Mormon Bishop James Sharp. He hired architect Richard Kletting (who designed the Utah State Capitol) to transform the home into a palatial dwelling resembling a Renaissance villa.   

The lavish interior featured delicately gilded frescos, beautiful woodwork, and handsome marble. Several of the guest bedrooms opened onto the rooftop promenade.

The Wall Mansion stands at the top of 400 East.  They would have had a panoramic view looking
south down 400 east as it stretches toward the south end of the valley.

Enos and Mary Frances Wall lived in the house until their respective deaths in 1920 and 1923. Between 1926 and 1950 the mansion housed the Salt Lake Jewish Center. The Pacific National Life Insurance Company bought the mansion in 1950 and added the rectangular west wing in 1956. In 1961, the building was purchased by the LDS Business. The college constructed the building’s east wing in 1975. Aside from the addition of the two wings, the mansion’s exterior appears much as it did in 1914.

Next Stop:  The Old Keith Mansion

On the Town with Nathan

I spent the evening with Nathan yesterday.  He hadn't yet seen the new City Creek Center yet, so we started there.  This is the huge re-development project that the Mormon Church undertook on the two square city blocks just south of Temple Square and the adjacent block housing the Church's two office buildings.  He was pretty impressed.  It's a very nice shopping facility with a lot of new high-end stores.  What particularly impressed him (which in turn impressed me) was that he wasn't that interested in the stores; he was much more interested in the fountains and the outdoor sculpture.

Main Street from the Sky Bridge linking the two blocks

After City Creek, we headed to Crown Burger - another Salt Lake institution - for dinner.  They are well known in the area for their burgers.  Unfortunately, I was reminded yet again that my stomach and digestive system are of an age where a cheeseburger and fries just don't go down as well as they used to, regardless of how good the food is.

After dinner, we headed over to the Episcopal Center where we would be attending a lecture by the Buddhist monk/abbot who is the spiritual teacher of the Sangha here in Salt Lake that Mark and I sometimes attend.  Nathan was very interested in everything and found the teachings thought-provoking.  It was a nice evening.

The Episcopal Center

Nathan trying to cross his legs in a "Buddhist" pose

The Rinpoche

Discovering Sugar House Park

I have lived in the Salt Lake area for almost 16 years, but yesterday marked the first time I entered Sugar House Park.  Mark and I went for a 24-miler yesterday by cycling to the park, then doing 12 laps around the park before heading back home.  I couldn't believe I hadn't previously enjoyed this jewel of a park in the heart of the city's east side.

The ride around provided a nice variety of gentle slopes and provided a good opportunity for me to get used to standing while peddling uphill.  It also provided gorgeous views and an opportunity for Mark and me to actually talk to each other while cycling.

A view off to the southwest, across the Salt Lake Valley

I became curious about the history of the park, so consulted the oracle this morning and discovered that the site of the park was at one time the site of the territorial/state penitentiary.

This would therefore have been the place that polygamists were incarcerated in the late 1800's as the Federal government cracked down on this Mormon practice.  One of the highest-profile prisoners was President George Q. Cannon, pictured seated in the doorway below, who was a relative of Carla (about whom I wrote about the other day).

The prison was apparently operated until 1951, when the new prison at Point of the Mountain (still in use) was completed.

This ride at the park was like the yoga class we attended yesterday morning, which was designed for "stiffer bodies."  The movements were much slower and there was an emphasis placed on breathing.  It was nice to slow down and ease into the poses and be able to concentrate on breathing.

After yoga class, we stopped by Ward and Child's Garden Store on 7th East.  They have a beautiful store and an even more beautiful garden behind the store.  

In the garden, underneath an arbor created by apple trees

While there, I received a welcome phone call from my beautiful daughter Hannah, who lives in Vancouver.  I didn't have time to take pictures while we were there, so I'm "borrowing" some I found on the Internet that accurately reflect what I saw yesterday.  Someday soon, I hope to go back and take my own pictures.

I sat in the chair to the left, beyond the lily pond, while talking to Hannah