James Simpson House
457 West Main
Mt. Pleasant, UT 84647
Constructed c. 1910 for James Simpson, the walls of this double-cross-wing, symmetrical home are three bricks thick. Its facade eclectically combines classical formalism and details, though it is neither fully Neo-classical nor entirely Victorian.
Builders Brandt and Jacobsen used a cement foundation filled with rock, the first in Mt. Pleasant. Locals stood around watching and speculating that it would never last, but today no cracks can be found. The second story is unfinished; the front is unchanged, except for replacing doors on the front porch with windows.
Mr. Simpson died in 1918 during the flu epidemic. Local residents, fearing the ravages of the flu, wanted nothing to do with anything that had come in contact with the disease. Simpson’s body was passed from the back bedroom through the window and laid out on the front lawn, then placed in a coffin and the lid nailed shut. Just at this time, James Monsen was passing by. Unafraid, he went into the house, took Simpson’s nine-year-old daughter Dorothy on his lap and comforted her by explaining what was happening.
In 1932 Willis N. and Louise F. Madsen Purchased the house from Simpson’s daughter Eva and added a screen porch to the back. After Willis’ death in 1932, Louise married Justus O. Seely, then the mayor of Mt. Pleasant.(*)
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