Ladies Literary Club Building
This building, designed by the architectural firm of Ware and Treganza, was constructed 1912-1913 for the Ladies Literary Club. Organized in 1877 the club is one of the oldest women’s clubs in the United States. The club sponsors projects to enhance the culture and beauty of Salt Lake City.
Located at 850 East South Temple in the South Temple Historic District in Salt Lake City, Utah.
(from Preservation Utah’s walking tour)
Ladies Literary Club
850 E. South Temple
1912, Ware & Treganza, SLC
Built in 1912, the Ladies Literary Club Building is considered one of Utah’s finest examples of the Prairie style. This style’s horizontal emphasis is reflected in the building’s rows of casement windows, the porch extending across the entire front facade, bands of wood inlay on the second story, and wide eaves. A porch roof supported by brick piers shelters the entryway and extends over the driveway to the west to form a porte-cochere. Restrained ornamentation, like the wood inlay on the porch ceiling and the exquisite leaded glass, are also in keeping with the spare feeling of the Prairie style.
The architectural firm of Ware & Treganza won the commission for the Ladies Literary Club Building in a design competition. During their partnership of 25 years, Walter E. Ware and Albert O. Treganza designed several other Salt Lake City landmarks, including the Walker Mansion on South Temple and the Commercial Club in Exchange Place.
The Ladies Literary Club was founded 35 years prior to the construction of this beautiful building to promote literary and artistic endeavors. The club played an important role in the development of public libraries in Utah, from supporting the first public subscription library operated by the Masons to securing the passage of a bill to fund the state’s first free public library in 1896. During the 1950s and 1960s, the club made its building available to the Utah Symphony for rehearsals. Members of the club continue to meet in this building and support a variety of educational and charitable causes.
