Constructed in 1930, this building is significant as the only apartment building on South Temple built by local Jewish real estate magnate Julius Rosenberg. A three-story apartment block in the Federal Revival style, it was designed by architect Bernard Mecklenburg. Mecklenburg also designed the Maryland Apartments at 893 South Temple; he is credited with design work on the Cathedral of the Madeleine and Holy Cross Hospital as well.
The Relief Society in Deseret was first organized in September of 1877. This group of women met in each other’s homes until 1878, when they had a large, one-room adobe hall built. In 1894 the members of the Relief Society decided they should construct a new Relief Society Hall. They began raising money for this building by donating and saving what they could. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’s General Relief Society Board called for contributions to the building of the new General Relief Society Hall located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Deseret Relief Society sent all of their funds, thus delaying their own building project.
The Deseret Relief Society ladies began again to plan for a hall. They sold their adobe building, land was donated, fund raised, and labor was volunteered by the men of the LDS Ward.
Construction costs for the building were $743.65 and $21.00 for the outhouse. Relief Society meetings, socials, dances, and plays were held in the hall from 1906 until 1934, when the new chapel was completed.
The Hall is the oldest remaining LDS Church building in the community. It has served many functions over the years. After the chapel burned in 1929, this hall was again used for church services. Public school classes were also held when the A.C. Nelson School burned. Boy Scouts used the hall for their meetings for several years. The Deseret Irrigation Company bought this building and used it for meetings and storage. They deeded the building to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Fanny Powell Cropper Camp, on February 7, 1995. It is now used for DUP meetings and for the display of pioneer memorabilia.
Hot Rod Designer. Cartoonist. Born the son of Marie Bauer and Henry Roth, a cabinet maker, in Beverly Hills, California. While in high school he bought his first car, a 1933 Ford, and his interest in automobiles dominated his life thereafter. After completing his national service in 1955, he started building autos in his garage. In 1959 he produced the custom hot rod ‘The Outlaw’ which was featured in the January 1960 issue of ‘Car Craft.’ Other hot rods followed including ‘The Beatnik Bandit’ (1961), ‘The Mysterion’ (1963), ‘The Orbitron’ (1964), and ‘The Road Agent’ (1965). In 1965, his custom dune buggy, ‘The Surfite’ was featured in the film ‘Beach Blanket Bingo.’ Additionally, he created cartoons of monster characters such as ‘Drag Nut,’ ‘Mother’s Worry,’ and ‘Mr. Gasser,’ and the most famous, ‘Rat Fink,’ which were merchandised as model kits and T-shirts. Roth branched out, and next began customizing motorcycles, he started his own publication, specific to the market, called ‘Choppers’ which ran from 1967 to 1970. His custom bikes included the trikes dubbed ‘Candy Wagon,’ ‘Rubber Ducky’ and ‘The Great Speckled Bird.’ In 1968 the Mattel corporation first introduced Hot Wheels model cars, and Roth’s ‘Beatnik Bandit’ was one of the first produced by the company. He was known for his outlandish fiberglass bodywork, and intricate custom paint jobs, he was credited with being the first to paint pinstripes on an automobile. His artwork was also seen during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s in underground comics. He succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 69.
