Bowman-Chamberlain House / McAllister Home

The significance of this home lies both in its architecture and its occupants. The architectural significance has already been noted in section 7 B. The site passed through a number of hands before it was purchased by Henry E. Bowman .April 30, 1892, It was he who had the present dwelling constructed. Bowman arrived in Kanab in 1885 where he taught school. In 1887 Henry E, Bowman bought an–adobe house faced with brick at 2nd North and Main in Kanab, It was in this home that Bowman began his mercantile business in the 19 x 21 ft. living room. In 1892 H, E, Bowman and four other residents formed a corporation called the Bowman Company, At this time they built a brick building on the corner of Center and Main, It wasn’t until 1894 that Bowman sold the adobe home mentioned above, at which time his new home was probably completed. It is not known who designed the home or if an architect was used, Bowman operated the mercantile business until 1896 when he sold both his home and the business to Thomas Chamberlain in order to raise the funds to go on a mission for the Mormon Church to Switzerland, He was president of the Swiss Mission from 1898 to 1900, Upon his return, he went to Mexico, returning to Kanab in 1916 and acquiring the Bowman Company once again. Bowman was responsible for the construction of the road connecting Kanab and Orderville to the north which required hauling clay and gravel by team to cover the sand which stretched between Kanab and Orderville, This highway was later to become part of Highway 89,

Located at 14 East 100 South in Kanab, Utah and added to the National Historic Register (#75001811) on July 8, 1975.

On November 28, 1896, Thomas Chamberlain acquired the Bowman house for $5,000. Chamberlain was among the first settlers of Orderville arriving in Long Valley in 1871, He was among the first to join in the United Order, a Mormon cooperative effort which was particularly successful in Orderville, He was designated bishop of the Qrderville Ward in 1877 and was one of the original High Councilors in the Kanab Stake, He was on the Board of Directors of the United Order serving for nine years as its president, Chamberlain had six wives and fifty-five children. He served six months (1888-9) in the Utah penitentiary for polygamy, His first wife, Elinor Hoyt Chamberlain, resided in the home until 1935, when it was acquired by her daughter, Lillian C, McAllister, Her husband, June McAllister, continued to live in the home from 1956 until his death, at which time it was sold by his estate to the city of Kanab, Kanab citizens are now engaged in a restoration project which has received funds from the State Bicentennial Commission, Plans for the building include museum space as well as a meeting place for the local historical society and other groups.