Clerico Commercial Building

The Clerico Commercial Building, constructed c.1914, is significant under criteria A and C. Under criterion A it is significant for its association with the commercial development of Spring Glen, Utah. The original owners of the building, Battista and Gabriella Clerico, were Italian immigrants who greatly contributed to the business and social life of the surrounding mining communities. The Clericos’ (and particularly Gabriella’s) entrepreneurship and hard work allowed them to succeed despite several set- backs. Because of their determination, the Clericos were able to construct this building, which housed various businesses, and succeed economically. The building is also architecturally significant, under criterion C, as one of the best preserved of only a few remaining historic commercial buildings in Spring Glen. The town did not turn into a commercial center like many had hoped. Buildings to house the few commercial ventures in town were scattered throughout the community, and of the few that were actually designed as commercial buildings , the Clerico Building is in the best state of preservation and retains the most historical integrity.

The Topolovec Farmstead is located at 4985 North Spring Glen Road in Spring Glen, Utah, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#99000619) on May 20, 1999.

Spring Glen is a small town in central Utah located between Helper and Price, the two principal towns in the area. The city of Helper, located 120 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, in Carbon County, was first settled in the early 1880s by Teancum Pratt and his two wives, Annie and Sarah. However, it wasn’t until the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway was introduced in 1881-82 that the population became established and started to increase. Possibly one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the state at the time, Helper attracted immigrants from several Mediterranean and Eastern European countries. Most of the settlers came to Helper to work for the railroad (which built several frame houses for employees), or to mine coal. Helper (so named for the “helper” locomotives that assisted freight trains up the steep grade northwest of town), received an influx of Italian immigrants in 1903-04, who were blacklisted from the nearby Castle Gate mines because of an unsuccessful strike. After settling in Helper, many of them planted fruit orchards, thus providing a much-needed commodity to the area. Several Italian-owned businesses were established up until the Depression. Since that time, the mining industry has seen fluctuations in the market that have affected the population of Helper and surrounding communities such as Spring Glen. Much of the Italian and Eastern European populations remain and continue to have a strong cultural influence in the area.

The property on which the Clerico Commercial Building was constructed in 1914 first belonged to Francis M. Ewell, who received a patent for it on September 2,1890. Francis and his wife, Fanny M., were among the first settlers in Spring Glen. On February 3, 1906, Fanny deeded a portion of the land to Jennie Sonberg for $200. Jennie and her husband, Charles, then conveyed another portion of the land by warranty deed to J.C.H. Sonberg on February 1, 1908. Two and one-half years later, on June 28, 1910, J.C.H. and Karen Sonberg deeded a large portion of the farmland to Clerice Battista1 for $3,500.

Battista and Gabriella Clerico, a young couple living in Italy, were seeking better economic conditions than what their country had to offer and in 1897, along with thousands of other Italians, immigrated to the United States. After immigration processing at Ellis Island, New York, they traveled by railroad boxcar to Diamondville, Wyoming, where Battista contracted to work in the coal mines. Things did not go well for them in Wyoming, so they moved on to a mine in Castle Gate, Utah. Here they lived in an earthen dugout at Gentile Wash in nearby Willow Creek.

Gabriella was distraught in the downturn of their standard of living and about having to give birth to their first-born daughter under these conditions, so she decided to return to her hometown of Turin, Italy, to be re-employed by her former patrona. Besides working for her patrona, she worked for three other households as well and saved a large amount of money. Battista, by this time, had also saved enough money to buy some land, but unfortunately he was injured, being crushed in a mine cave-in. Although he survived, he would no longer be able to perform heavy labor, and much of his savings was used to cover his medical bills. When Gabriella learned of her husband’s accident, she and her daughter Mary returned to Castle Gate to care for him.

In 1904, Gabriella had her first son, Albert. In her frustrations in 1906, she began looking for a farm. She had to go by foot, and after hours of walking she collapsed from exhaustion and hunger. This occurred in the area of Spring Glen, a small agricultural area just south of Helper. After a difficult time trying to find a landowner who would sell some property to her (which was further frustrated by differences in language), Gabriella managed to purchase with cash, several acres of land that included a well. To be certain of the bargain she consulted her banker, lawyer, doctor, priest, and the marshal.

The land they purchased began east of the current property, on the east side of Spring Glen Road (State Route 139) and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and extended from the west end of the property, across the Price River and continued on the west side of where Highway 6 & 50 is now. There they constructed a small log cabin with a wood plank floor, one door, two rooms, and one window. There was also an outhouse they called “the office.” The log cabin was eventually destroyed by fire so the Clerico’s built a brick bungalow.3 They also hired the builder “Diego Mike” Pesseto to build a large barn. Also on their property was a wash house which doubled as a bath house. Inside was a coal stove and a copper-tub washing machine. The wash house also served as an apartment for men who worked on the farm. They worked for $1.00 a day and room and board during the Depression. The property Gabriella had purchased came with a horse and buggy, and the land had several fruit trees. They raised all their own cows, chickens, and pigs from which they made their own butter, cheese, sausage, salami, ham, and bacon. They also grew hay and grain, and with their hay baler they contracted out baling throughout the county.

Gabriella became one of the few women in the area who was heavily involved in peddling produce and home-baked bread at the coal camps, for this was one of the few acceptable economic activities in which immigrant women could engage. She traveled to the various coal camps around the Helper area, including Spring Glen, Kenilworth, Spring Canyon, Standardville, Latuda, Mutual, Rains, Helper, and Castle Gate. She would not return until she had sold everything in her wagon. Gabriella would also knit sweaters and socks for everyone. With her treadle Singer sewing machine, she would sew Portland Cement sacks into towels, Semolina flour sacks into petticoats and bloomers for the girls, or Utah & Idaho sugar sacks into sheets. She was a model of heroism in adversity and taught her progeny industriousness, honesty, cheerfulness, frugality, and abundance of appreciation for the bountiful blessings of life in America. Her motto was “Sempre Avante” (Always Forward) It carried her from poverty to prosperity. She was a real planner and a good record-keeper. With a ten cent notebook and pencil, she kept track of all receipts and expenditures, paying her bills ahead of time (for a discount) and was particularly prompt with property taxes. She was always ahead of time for appointments .

The Clerico’s fortunes would eventually expand from the farm to the development of two commercial buildings and five rental homes. They additionally financed several farms for their friends and helped establish their sons in businesses of their own. The Clerico’s believed that Spring Glen Road, then known as the Public Highway, would someday be a busy commercial area, as Helper’s Main Street was. So, along this road they decided to build their commercial buildings. In April 1914, they mortgaged their tract of land for $2,000 and began to build this, their first commercial building.5 Battista Clerico hired Italian-immigrant rock masons as laborers to construct the building. They had no English language skills and were staying with the Clerico’s at the time, so they built the structure in exchange for room and board.

Around 1933, Maude Domico turned the basement of the Clerico’s first commercial building into a dance hall with a bar, and dinners were served to their patrons. Afterwards, Tom Anast and his girlfriend, a Ms. Horning, ran the bar. Lastly, Paul Butler managed the bar and dance hall. During this period while the coal mining was at its most prosperous the building was known to house a brothel. But for a time during the Depression the Clerico’s could not find a business tenant and the building sat vacant.

Battista and Gabriella had six children all together, Mary, the eldest, Albert(July 1904-June 1968),7 John (Oct. 1906-March 1974), Peter (Sept. 1911-July 1963), and Margaret (Paluso). One died of pneumonia at 6 months. Battista lived from 1878 to May 3,1941. He was a well-known member of the community and was noted for his ambitious nature and progressive attitude. He was a member of the Stella Di America Italian Lodge of Helper. At age 63, he died from complications following amputation of a leg. Gabriella lived from January 1877, to August 1,1959. She lived 18 more years after Battista’s death and died after a series of strokes at age 82 leaving her 5 children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.

After Battista Clerico’s death in 1941 there was a decree of distribution (April 1942) and title of property was given to his wife, Gabriella. On November 18, 1946, Gabriella Clerico passed title of a large parcel of land (2.4 acres), which includes this property, by warranty deed to her eldest daughter, Mary, and her son-in-law, Michel “Mike,” reserving for herself a life estate. But following a property dispute, on September 12, 1950, the property was conveyed by corrected warranty deed to her widow daughter Mary Erramouspe. Michel “Mike” lived from 1895 to July 9,1949 and Mary lived from 1903 to 1973. They had three children, Margaret Turcasso, Katherine and Gene Erramouspe.

On January 31, 1964, when Mary Erramouspe sold the property by Warranty Deed to Jose E. and Floy E. Torres for $4,000. Jose Torres worked for the Denver & Rio Grand Western Railroad and Floy was a homemaker. Jose Torres passed away on February 26, 1982, soon after his retirement from the railroad, at age 60; consequently, the title went solely to Floy E. Torres who now resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Jose Torres family made many renovations to their new property and home (described in the narrative description). On April 27,1987, Floy E. Torres sold the property the current owner, Karen Jean Torres-Flemett (no relation to the previous owner).

Architectural Significance

A majority of the commercial buildings in the region (including Helper and surrounding towns) are of brick construction. The Clerico Building, although lacking in extraneous architectural detail, relies on its masonry work as its greatest visual asset. Because it was constructed of stone by Italian-American stonemasons, the Clerico Building is a unique structure in the community. There is one other building similar to the Clerico Building in another part of town. However, the building has been abandoned for decades, is smaller, and does not have the rock-faced stonework of the Clerico Building. The asymmetrical five-bay facade of the Clerico Building does not ascribe to the tenets of typical store-front commercial architecture, but was probably adapted for the needs of the businesses which did not require large display windows. (The original businesses, according to Margaret Turcasso, the Clerico’s granddaughter, were an ice cream factory on one side and cigar factory on the other). Despite the nontraditional storefront and the facade’s skewed layout, the interior bilateral division is implied by the placement of the two front entrances next to each other. Although no longer completely divided by a wall inside, the doors still open into separate rooms.

Commercial buildings as an architectural type have only recently, within the past one and one-half decades, been the object of serious research and typological classification.9 Because of the endless variation of commercial floorplans, classification is mainly based upon the appearance of the front facade. The facade is most commonly the only area that is visible from the street, particularly when a row of buildings are constructed abutting one-another. Interior layout of commercial structures was purposely left open to allow for flexibility in partitioning based on individual requirements. For this reason any type of broad-based classification based on interior plans is not possible.

The Clerico Commercial Building most closely fits the typology of the one-part commercial block. This type of commercial building is usually a one or two-story structure that commonly has a row of large, plate-glass display windows and an open area above the fenestration for signage. The one-part commercial block is found throughout the state, from very small communities to larger cities. This type of building is commonly associated with the false-facade, wood-frame architecture of many frontier settlements, but is just as frequently found in examples constructed of more-permanent materials with full-height exterior walls on all facades.