This building has a unique history in that it was built to serve as a garage for the production of electric automobiles.
It was built by Alfred O. Whitmore, an early manufacturer of electric cars. He was born in Ohio in 1877. In 1888 he moved to Colorado and in 1894 he settled in Provo, Utah. There he was employed by the Telluride Power Company. Next he worked for the Hunns Company and took part in the erection of the first power plant for long distance transmission. In 1903, he began manufacturing electric cars and two years later he moved his operation to Salt Lake City. Between 1905 and 1920 when production ceased, he was the largest electric car dealer and manufacturer in the area.
In 1914 he produced the first commercial oxygen in the state. Two years later he opened the Whitmore Oxygen Company, with himself as manager and president, He married Jennetta Richards in 1901, and died in Salt Lake City in 1943. Today the Whitmore Oxygen Company still bears his name.
It served as the offices of the Whitmore Oxygen Company until 1975.
