Bryant House
Dr. John S., Jr. and Harriet Smart Bryant

The home of Dr. and Mrs. Bryant was built ca. 1867, and expanded to its present Queen Anne-Eastlake design by ca. 1890. Dr. Bryant was a prominent physician and successful businessman. Harriet Smart was the daughter of Judge Thomas A. Smart, a pioneer merchant and landowner, Missouri legislator and county judge. The Bryant House was listed on the National Register in 1992.

519 South Main Street in Independence, Missouri

Las Vegas High School Historic District

The Las Vegas High School Historic District in Las Vegas, Nevada was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#100007431) on March 3, 2022. Also related are the listing for Las Vegas High School (#86002293) and the Las Vegas High School Neighborhood Historic District (#90002204).

Fenn–Bullock House

The Fenn/Bullock House, built c.1901, is significant under criterion C as an important, distinguishable architectural type in the city of Vernal, Utah. The house is side passage in plan, a type that is rare in Vernal, with only two other examples remaining. The side passage represented a progression from the vernacular Classical and the cross-wing house types as traditional building forms became increasingly influenced by popular types in the late 1800s. The Fenn/Bullock House stands out as probably the best and largest extant example of a “high-style” Victorian residence in the city. Most of the Vernal’s early buildings date from the turn of the century when the population became more established and began to increase in size, but this house is unique in Vernal. Although there are modest examples of Victorian architecture in the city, the size of this house, coupled with the side-passage plan, is quite uncommon. The intact historical integrity and the architectural attributes of the house allow it to be easily recognized and associated with the turn-of-the-century development of Vernal.

The Fenn–Bullock House is located at 388 West 100 North in Vernal, Utah and added to the National Register of Historic Places (#99000401) on March 25, 1999

The city of Vernal is located in the Ashley Valley, named in honor of William H. Ashley, an early trapper who entered the area in 1825. Located in the northeast corner of the state, and surrounded by various mountain ranges, the Ashley Valley was one of the last areas in the state to be settled. Brigham Young, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon or LDS church), who directed the settlement of the Utah Territory, feared that the proposed Pony Express route through the Ashley Valley would bring settlers who were hostile to the LDS faith, so he sent a scouting party to survey the area in 1861. The report from the party was that “The area was one vast contiguity of waste, and measurably valueless, excepting for nomadic purposes, hunting grounds for Indians, and to hold the world together.” This report discouraged Young’s attempt to settle the area for the time being. But he was not the only one discouraged by the findings of the report, for the area was also rejected as a possible Pony Express route. Also in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln established the Uintah Indian Reservation south and west of Vernal, and placed Captain Pardon Dodds in charge as the agent. After his release in 1873, Dodds settled in the area northwest of present-day Vernal to raise cattle. What followed was typical frontier settlement, with trappers, prospectors, and drifters moving to and through the area.

Families began to move to the valley in 1878. Because of Indian/Anglo skirmishes in nearby Colorado, a fort was constructed in what became known as Ashley Center. After the fort was disassembled many settlers remained and a post office was requested, but because there was already a town named Ashley, the post office was assigned the name Vernal. Growth in Vernal was slow and somewhat uncoordinated. Settlement did not follow the typical pattern of development of most Mormon settlements in the state, where the town was laid out in grid fashion according to Joseph Smith’s “Plat of the City of Zion.” Later though, in 1884, the IDS church assisted in the organization of Vernal into a town, but actual incorporation did not occur until 1897. At this time the community began to slowly increase in population, as more businesses were established and houses constructed. The community was largely self-sufficient because of a lack of railroad access. And even when the Uintah Railway Company (a narrow gauge line mainly used for hauling gilsonite from the mines to the D&RGW railroad spur in Dragon, approximately forty miles to the southeast) was introduced in 1904, it was hardly sufficient to allow for much social or economic change in the area.

In July 1896, at a time when Vernal’s population and building were gaining a foothold, Lorenzo R. Fenn purchased the land on which the Fenn/Bullock house is located from A. J. Johnston for $150. Whether this was Lorenzo Richard Fenn, second child of Richard Ephraim and Sarah Grace Lewis Fenn5 , or another Lorenzo Fenn, is not known. Lorenzo Richard Fenn was born in Provo, Utah, on April 4, 1884, so he would have been twelve when he purchased the land. More than likely, it was another Lorenzo R. Fenn, possibly a relative, from whom Richard purchased the property in 1904. Richard Fenn and his family moved to the Uinta Basin in 1894, and the house was constructed c.1901 (the date provided in the tax file). Apparently, the father and son were both carpenters, and possibly built the house. Lorenzo is listed as a “single man” when he sold the property to Richard.

Richard was born in Provo on May 26, 1860, to William and Sarah Yarnell Fenn. After attending Provo city schools be became a carpenter. Among the projects on which he assisted were the Salt Lake LDS Temple, preparing it for dedication ceremonies in 1893, the Utah LDS Stake Tabernacle in Provo, and a school building in Vernal. In 1881 Richard married Sarah Lewis in Salt Lake City. His obituary states that he moved to Roosevelt, a community approximately 20 miles southwest of Vernal, in 1904.6 His history at this point is somewhat perplexing. Apparently, Sarah did not go to Vernal to live with Richard for the five children that Sarah had were listed as being born in Provo (including Lorenzo), Salt Lake City, and Alma, Wyoming. Sarah passed away in October 1892, in Salt Lake City, three weeks after her last child was born.

A family record lists another wife of Richard, Josephine Smith Hill, as living in Vernal where all of her eight children were born. According to the record she was married to Richard on the same day as Sarah, July 7,1881, but this is obviously incorrect since she was born in 1879, and would have been only two years old when married, (their official marriage date is not known). Apparently according to various items in the local newspaper, Richard was often in trouble for fighting, delinquent taxes, etc., and Josephine divorced him in 1914. She moved to Mackay, Idaho, after marrying John Thompson. Richard continued his carpentry work in Vernal and the surrounding area where various newspaper accounts show him residing in Vernal until 1918, when he moved to Cedar View, Utah. Richard then married again in 1921, to a Mrs. Maxfield in Salt Lake City. He sold the house in 1909, to John K. Bullock.

John Bullock was a prominent citizen of Vernal and probably the most famous owner of the house (the house is locally known as the Bullock House). He was born in Provo on June 9, 1861, to Kimball and Martha Bullock, and moved to the Ashley Valley in 1879 to ranch before settling in Vernal in 1895. John married Adelade “Addie” Burton in 1900. After moving to Vernal he continued to maintain a farm. In 1907 he became the treasurer for the Vernal Milling and Light Company flour mill. Perhaps John’s biggest accomplishment in Vernal, however, was his assistance in the organization of the Uintah State Bank in 1910. This was the second major bank in Vernal and was established as a result of prejudicial business practices of the officers of the first bank in the city, the Bank of Vernal.7 John was on the original board of directors and was the first treasurer of the bank. He was also active in civic affairs and belonged to many fraternal organizations, including the A. F. and M. of Provo, and the Vernal Lodge I.O.O.F. He also had the distinction of being the oldest living member of the Storey Lodge. At the time he purchased this house John was serving as mayor of Vernal; a position he held from 1908-09. It was during his term that electric lights were installed in the city. John and Addie had two children, but Addie passed away on February 19, 1923. Apparently, John remarried, for his obituary lists two stepchildren, but his second wife’s name is not provided. He continued to live in the house until August 1929, when he deeded the property to Isabrand and Mary Merkley Sander.

Little information is provided for the Sanders or other subsequent occupants. Isabrand managed the Vernal Drug and Golden Rule Store. It appears from the title that he and Mary owned the house from 1929-38 when they sold it to Herbert M. and Pearl Snyder. Again, little information is provided for the Snyders. According to an article in “Historic Sites and Homes of Uintah County” Herb was a Uintah County Sheriff for many years, and Pearl was a music teacher at Central School. In 1943, the property was sold to Harvey and Auleen Hullinger. Harvey was a principal in the Uintah School District. He was also a bishop for the LaPoint LDS Ward, and served four missions for the IDS church. The house remained in the Hullinger family’s ownership until 1970. The current owner, Vivian Gamble, ran an interior decorating business in the house, and then divided the building into a triplex. Currently, she is restoring the interior to its original plan for use as a single-family residence, and reversing many changes that have occurred over the years. Some of these changes include removing later walls that replaced doorways (see floor plan) and divided rooms, and stripping later coats of paint.

Vernal was settled much later and in a less organized manner than most of Utah’s communities. Because of the later settlement date, the early architecture of the town reflects both vernacular and the then-current Victorian styles. Victorian forms were popular in Utah 1885-1915, and the style of the Fenn/Bullock house represents the changes that were occurring in Utah at the turn of the century. The side-passage house type with Victorian Eclectic styling is important in symbolizing the end of Utah’s isolation in the late nineteenth century; although in communities such as Vernal the isolation would linger. Pattern-book styles and standardized building components were more available and easily adapted for use with local materials. The popular Picturesque and Victorian styles, as published in the pattern books, influenced and transformed the local traditional building forms so that the architecture obtained a regional and even national homogeneity. The quality of design and workmanship were also affected by technological developments during the Victorian era. The former isolation of Utah was no longer an obstacle to building well. Although there is not a lack of Victorian Eclectic-style buildings in the state, it is an important building style in Vernal because it was the first major style used at the time of the city’s establishment and early population influx during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century. In terms of numbers, after the 83 bungalows identified in the city, the Victorian Eclectic is the most common style for historic buildings, with 42 being recorded.

The most common floor plans for Victorian-era houses in Utah were the cross-wing, the central-block-with projecting-bays and the side-passage, all of which were very popular in the larger settlement areas. The side-passage plan consists of a rectangular block with the narrow, gable end facing the street and containing the main entrance. Like the central-block-type house, the side passage also contains projecting bay windows and wings, although it is slightly more symmetrical in design. The side-passage type originated with the Greek Revival temple-front house in the mid-nineteenth century. This type situated the gable end of the building toward the street as the main facade, with the entryway located to one side of the façade. Often, a cross wing would be added at the rear to make the house larger, with the main entrance opening to a passage that contained a stairway to the upper floor. When the Mormons migrated to Utah, the idea of the side-passage type came with them and was implemented in residential design, most commonly the Italianate and various Victorian styles.

The progression from the temple-front side passage to the greater asymmetry of the Victorian version can be seen in the recessed front entry beneath a covered porch that usually wraps around from the front. The plan was further altered by receiving projections to many, if not all, of the facades, usually in the form of octagonal or box bays that allow for greater illumination of the interior. Add to these revisions steeply pitched gables and wood ornamentation, and the Victorian side passage little resembles its progenitor. While the more common cross-wing and central-block plans are found in ten houses each in Vernal, the side passage is found in only two buildings, including the Fenn/Bullock House, making this house even more unique in the community.

Unlike Vernal, most of the typical early Mormon settlements were established in an organized manner with the idea of permanence consciously wrought in the architectural fabric of the buildings. Because of their isolation, early settlers in Utah used indigenous materials in building construction. Stone was a common early building material. And, although brick was used where good quality, fire-grade clay was available, for practical purposes, unfired adobe bricks were more common in most areas of the territory because of the ease of manufacturing them. But, even if these materials in themselves lent an aura of permanence to the architecture, they were commonly disguised with a layer of stucco that was oftentimes scribed to appear as ashlar masonry, thus reinforcing the idea of permanence. The austere, Classical forms of architecture that were built during this period applied these permanent materials in such a way as to express artificiality and man’s control over nature.

The Victorian-era designers sought to change this tenet by expressing man’s relationship with, rather than control over, nature. They did this by using more-organic and less-rigid forms in housing design. Although brick was used, wood, because of its versatility, seemed to be the material of choice to accomplish this concept. From the 1870s on, buildings designed in the more expressive Victorian styles were becoming increasingly popular because of improvements in wood machining technology and also because of the introduction of the railroad to Utah which made available manufactured materials.

Of the earlier examples of building materials used in Vernal, wood siding, in its various forms, is by far the most common with 90 recorded examples (followed by stucco, 53, and brick, 41). Vernal’s location near the Uintah Mountains with their vast stands of coniferous trees meant that a large supply of wood was available for construction. Although the town was established during the Victorian era, not all of Vernal’s early architecture is strictly Victorian in style. In fact, most buildings are quite vernacular and follow more in the pattern of frontier settlements that implemented wood construction for the sake of expediency. The Fenn/Bullock House is unique, particularly in its remote setting, in that it represents the epitome of the Victorian architectural concepts, being probably the best extant example of a high-Victorian-style residence in Vernal that implements wood as the primary fabric to express the ideals of Victorian architecture.

Anderson-Clark Farmstead

The Anderson-Clark Farmstead is significant under Criterion A for its association with the agricultural development of Grantsville, and two of its most important families. The property includes a 1941 house and twelve contributing outbuildings, dating from the 1880s to 1944. The property is eligible within the Multiple Property Submission: Historic and Architectural Resources of Grantsville, Utah, 1850-1955. The history of the property can be divided into two distinct periods: the original farmstead of Charles and Ellen Anderson (1870s1914) and the production farm operated by the J. Reuben Clark family (1914-1955). The development and significance of the property spans all three historic contexts in the MPS: the “Mormon Agricultural Village Period, 1867-1905,” the “Impact of Technology and Transportation Period, 1905-1930,” and the “Economic Diversification Period, 1930-1955.” All of the extant resources on the farmstead have excellent historic integrity with very few modifications. The Anderson-Clark Farmstead is a distinctive collection of agricultural outbuildings and as such contributes to the historic resources of Grantsville, Utah.

The Anderson-Clark Farmstead is located at 378  West Clark Street in Grantsville, Utah and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#05001627) on February 3, 2006.

The community of Grantsville was settled on October 10, 1850, three years after the first settlement of the Salt Lake Valley by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church or Mormon Church). In 1852 a town site was surveyed. Most on the earliest and largest farmsteads were on the north side of town along the street which paralleled Main Street and would later be called Clark Street in honor of the Clark family who settled there. The evolution of the farmstead, as managed both by the Anderson and the Clark families, illustrates the transition of Grantsville from an agricultural village outpost to a diversified economic town on the main transportation route from Salt Lake City to western Nevada. The various outbuildings of the farmstead represent the beginning and the subsequent expansion of production agriculture in Grantsville, which occurred between the end of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century as improvements in farm technology and transportation emerged.

One of the early settlers of Grantsville was Charles LeRoy Anderson, who was born in northern Sweden on April 11, 1846. He immigrated to Utah in 1862. Charles L. Anderson homesteaded a large parcel near the west end of Clark Street in the mid-1860s, probably near the time of his marriage to Ellen Okelberry in 1866. Ellen was born on May 17, 1850 in Sweden, and immigrated to Utah with her family at the age of twelve. Charles and Ellen had eight children, two of whom died in infancy. Their life began humbly, but they eventually became among the most prosperous residents of Grantsville at the turn of the century. Their children were all well-educated and several were gifted musicians. A biographical sketch published in 1902 published described Charles Anderson’s rise to affluence:

He began as a sheep man in 1869, when he took one hundred and forty head of old sheep on shares. From this unpropitious beginning his interest have grown and his business expanded until to-day he is one of the most prominent and the wealthiest man in his county, owning vast herds of sheep, which he ranges in Wyoming principally, and being also a heavy land owner in Tooele County. He owns a farm of six hundred acres in the vicinity of Grantsville, on which he has erected a beautiful modern home, and has it well stocked, building large and commodious barns and outbuildings for his stock.

Charles L. Anderson also had numerous interests in the mining companies throughout Utah. Locally he served as director in the following organizations: Grantsville Co-operative Store, North Willow Irrigation Company and the Richville Milling Company. Beginning in 1876, Anderson served three terms as the mayor of Grantsville. Around 1904, the family moved to Los Angeles for Ellen’s health. Charles L. Anderson died there on December 10, 1908. Ellen Anderson sold the Grantsville property to J. Reuben Clark Jr. in 1914. She died in Los Angeles on June 6, 1918. Charles and Ellen Anderson were both returned to Utah for burial.

The 1914 deed to the property purchased by J. Reuben Clark included the following detailed inventory of improvements:

One slaughter house and pens with one complete hoisting outfit, including block and tackle, six hanging hooks and track in floor of building; two barns with hay carrier and tracks and pulleys for filling barns with hay; two Jackson hay forks; derrick with pulleys, one wagon and machine house; one have granary complete; one weigh scale; one feed chopper; one windmill and pump complete with large tank and pipelines to corrals and house; one adobe chicken coop and one root cellar and stack year; one ice house with one-half sawdust now in same; one small adobe house and gas plant; one coal house; one cellar adjacent to the big house; one summer shanty adjacent to big house with one large range contained therein; one outhouse; one large adobe dwelling house with all light, bath, and toilet fixtures; one small two room house with shanty east of big house and small chicken coop adjacent thereto.

Charles Andersen’s “modem home” was the large adobe dwelling house. The two-story house was unfortunately demolished by in 1917. Many of the outbuildings still exist, and while the usage evolved for many and others were razed, the above description combined with the extant buildings give a fairly complete picture of a prosperous turn-of-the-century farmstead.

J. Reuben Clark Jr. was the oldest child of early Grantsville settlers Joshua Reuben Clark (1840-1929) and Mary Louisa Woolley Clark (1848-1938). Joshua and Mary Clark had ten children, all born in Grantsville. They were among its most prominent and honored citizens. Joshua Reuben Jr. was born on September 1, 1871. By the time he purchased the farm from the Anderson family, who had been neighbors during his childhood years in Grantsville, J. Reuben Clark had already moved from Grantsville to pursue a career in law. He married Luacine Savage (1871-1944) in 1898. The family moved from Salt Lake City to Washington, DC, to New York City during the first half of the twentieth century. He received a law degree from Columbia University, and in 1910 was appointed a solicitor in the US State Department. Clark had a distinguished career in international law. In 1917, he became a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Reserve Corps. Clark served as undersecretary of state in 1927 and appointed ambassador to Mexico in 1930. In 1933, he resigned as ambassador to accept a call to the First Presidency of the LDS Church and returned to Salt Lake City. He served as the second counselor in the First Presidency for 26 years. In 1959, he was sustained as the first counselor to President David O. McKay making him the second highest official in the LDS Church.

J. Reuben Clark Jr. did not live in either the Anderson’s adobe house or the 1941 house built after his return to Salt Lake City. He had an office in the basement of the house and at times entertained there. Clark mainly used the house as a retreat where he could relax for a few days, visit relatives, and enjoy some work on the farm. This lifetime connection to Grantsville was important him. He maintained strong emotional ties to his boyhood in the neighborhood and referred to himself as a “Tooele County cowman.” J. Reuben Clark Jr. died on October 6, 1961. At his death, Grantsville’s most prominent native son was honored both by his peers and locally in Grantsville and Tooele.

The day-to-day working of the farm fell mainly to J. Reuben Clark Jr.’s younger brother Ted. Edwin Marcellus Clark was born on March 27, 1874 in Grantsville. He lived on Clark Street his entire life and devoted himself to working the family’s farm holdings. The farm produced hay and other grains for cattle and sheep. One of the barns was upgraded on the interior for dairy production in the 1930s or 1940s. Edwin Clark married Matilda Curtis Radcliffe on December 4,1895. It is possible Edwin and Matilda lived in the Anderson’s adobe house before it was destroyed by fire, but where they lived on Clark Street is not known. The couple had six children. Edwin M. Clark was the secretary for the Grantsville Grazing Association for more than 40 years. For the same amount of time, he served on the board of the North Willow Irrigation Company. Edwin Clark was a city councilman and the city recorder for 18 years. He was bishop of the Grantsville LDS Church’s 2nd Ward and was serving as the stake patriarch at the time of his death. Edwin “Ted” Marcellus Clark died on March 21, 1955. Matilda C. Clark served in the 2nd Ward primary (children’s) organization for 15 years. She was also the Relief Society organist. At the time of her death, she was living at 317 E. Clark Street. Matilda Clark died on October 5, 1962.

Other members of the extended family of Joshua and Mary Clark lived in the neighborhood and may have been involved in the operation of the farm, but their roles are not known. It is known that after Edwin and J. Reuben Clark’s deaths, the property was jointly owned by the heirs. J. Reuben Clark III and his sister Luacine Clark Fox held the largest interests. The farm continued its use as a family retreat. The farm was run by a number of caretakers, some living in the brick house. The farmstead was a working farm until the late 1990s. In 2004, the Clark family (Emily C. Clark, trustee, and the Clark Realty Co.) divided the property and deeded approximately 14 acres to Grantsville City. The parcels include the house, the outbuildings, and a large field to the north. The city has named the property the “J. Reuben Clark Historical Farm” and plans a complete rehabilitation of the site and its resources.

Francis ‘Frank’ and Eunice Smith House

The Francis “Frank” & Eunice Smith House, constructed in 1913, is significant under criterion C for its unique architecture and the craftsmanship of the builder and original owner, Frank Smith. The Smith House is architecturally significant as a good representation of Frank Smith’s carpentry and woodworking skills, particularly in the carved wood details and extant wood finish work in the interior. Smith was a local builder and woodworker who assisted in the construction of a large number of buildings in Vernal, Utah, and surrounding communities. His works include more than thirty residences as well as several various civic and religious buildings. The house is one of only two, two-story foursquare-type residences in the area and one of the larger houses in the settled area surrounding the city of Vernal. The foursquare house type is not as common in Utah as in other areas, especially in rural areas such as Vernal, and the Smith House is a unique variation of the type. There are a few alterations that date from the historic period, but only minor alterations on the interior and the majority of the original interior wood detailing and hardware has been retained. The house and yard retain their historical feeling and are significant historic resources to the area.

The Francis ‘Frank’ and Eunice Smith House is located at 1847 North 3000 West in Maeser, Utah and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#01000317) on March 29, 2001.

The city of Vernal is located in the Ashley Valley, named in honor of William H. Ashley, an early trapper who entered the area in 1825. Located in the rugged and barren Uintah Basin in the northeast corner of the state, and surrounded by various mountain ranges, the Ashley Valley was one of the last areas in Utah to be settled. Brigham Young, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church), who directed the settlement of the Utah Territory, feared that the proposed Pony Express route through the Ashley Valley would bring settlers who were hostile to the LDS faith, so he sent a scouting party to survey the area in 1861. The report from the party was that “The area was one vast contiguity of waste, and measurably valueless, excepting for nomadic purposes, hunting grounds for Indians, and to hold the world together.” This report discouraged Young’s attempt to settle the area for the time being. But he was not the only one discouraged by the findings of the report, for the area was also rejected as a possible Pony Express route.

Also in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln established the Uintah Indian Reservation south and west of Vernal, and placed Captain Pardon Dodds in charge as the agent. After his release in 1873, Dodds settled in the area northwest of present-day Vernal to raise cattle. What followed was typical frontier settlement, with trappers, prospectors, and drifters moving to and through the area. Families began to move to the valley in 1878. Because of Indian/Anglo skirmishes in nearby Colorado, a fort was constructed in what became known as Ashley Center. Later, after the threat disappeared and the fort was disassembled, many settlers remained and a post office was requested; but because there was already a town named Ashley, the post office was assigned the name Vernal.

Growth in Vernal was slow and somewhat uncoordinated. Settlement did not follow the typical pattern of development of most Mormon colonies in the state, where a town was to be laid out in grid fashion according to Joseph Smith’s “Plat of the City of Zion.” Later though, in 1884, the LDS church assisted in the organization of Vernal into a town, but actual incorporation did not occur until 1897. At this time the community and outlying areas began to slowly increase in population as more businesses were established and houses constructed. The community was largely self-sufficient because of a lack of railroad access. And even when the Uintah Railway Company was introduced in 1904, it was hardly sufficient to allow for much social or economic change in the area.

Architecture

The early twentieth century was a time of transition in Utah’s residential architecture. Homes built in the late nineteenth century were primarily based on classical or picturesque Victorian house forms and decorated with Victorian Eclectic details. A residential building boom between the depression of the 1890s and World War I was the impetus for a shift toward more quickly and easily constructed house types. The bungalow, for example, became ubiquitous in Utah between 1905 and 1920. Somewhat based on the bungalow, the foursquare became concurrently popular as well. This is the house type on which the Smith house is based. Two-story foursquares represent a rejection of the eclectic irregularity of the Victorian styles, while providing more interior space than one-story bungalows.4 This type of house is commonly found in metropolitan areas of the state. However, in smaller communities and less-urban areas it is found much less frequently. The foursquares located in smaller towns like Vernal seem quite monumental, compared to the humbler dwellings, and were commonly the residence of a wealthy or prominent citizen.

Only two examples of the foursquare have been identified in Vernal, one of them being the Smith House. Statewide, foursquares are quite uncommon as well. They constitute only 1.1 percent of the “eligible” residential buildings surveyed throughout the state. Sixty-eight percent of the foursquares are in Salt Lake City. The remainder are scattered throughout the state, with only one community having more than ten examples (Ogden has thirty-nine). Two-story foursquares in other communities were almost always built for upper middle-class families and were among the upper tier of residences in terms of size and quality. Though foursquares nationally were viewed as a common and ubiquitous house type, they were a more prestigious type of residence in Utah, especially outside the urban neighborhoods of Salt Lake City.

The combination of the two-story foursquare with the odd addition to three sides in bungalow form makes for a unique residence in the Vernal area. Although upon first appearance the foursquare seems to have once been a separate structure with later bungalow porch and additions, inspection proves that it was probably constructed as it appears now. Similar wood planking encloses the wide eaves on both the one and two-story segments and the cornices of both have similar stylized dentil trim. The foundation appears consistent around the entire structure, as does the brick stringcourse. The inside features oak and fir details including a built-in china closet, fireplace, a front door with carved flowers, and other wood trim. The house is still in excellent condition. The woodwork was all constructed and finished by Frank Smith with the help of his wife, Eunice, and is a fine representation of Frank Smith’s craftsmanship in home building and finishing in Vernal and the Uintah Basin region.

History of Frank Smith

Francis “Frank” Harper Smith, son of Job Taylor Smith, was born in Farmington, Utah, on May 6, 1868. Frank worked at various odd jobs in his youth, including delivering ice and meat products, working on a farm, and learning basket making from his father. Frank studied at the University of Utah and then went to work for Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI). Frank gave half of his wages from this job to his mother for construction of a new four-bedroom brick house on the site of their old one.

Frank married Eunice Elizabeth Fuller, his childhood sweetheart, in 1888. Eunice was born on April 8, 1872, to Reuben and Annie Preece Fuller, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Eunice had studied music much of her early life and trained on piano under a local professor, J. Marvin Chamberlain. Although she never became a professional musician, her musical training served her family and community throughout her life. The couple lived with Frank’s mother for a short time until Frank constructed another house next to his mother’s on the same property. Not long after this, his mother died and Frank quit his job. He “made a few trades and purchases” and in 1890, with two young children, moved to Georgetown, Idaho, where he worked as an itinerant farmer, raising and harvesting potatoes, grain, and hay. The family lived in a small two-room house that had a partial sod roof; Frank later added on to this house.

Frank was put in charge of drawing plans for and building a new Mormon meetinghouse in the area. He designed it after one that he had worked on in Salt Lake City. The bishop of the ward (ecclesiastical unit) was pleased with Frank’s work, and when the bishop was transferred to Montpelier, Idaho, he engaged Frank to oversee the moving and attachment of a large room to the meetinghouse there.

Frank’s brother, Wilford, had moved to Ashley Valley, and he urged Frank to join him there. Frank, finding farming not to be as successful as he had hoped, sold the ranch in Idaho for $900.00 in 1895, and the family decided to move to Ashley Valley, in northeastern Utah. The Smiths had four children by this time and traveled to Ashley with three wagons. They traveled over the old Carter Military Road (National Register pending) built by the soldiers at Fort Thornburg, over Taylor Mountain, and into the Ashley Valley. They purchased the current property, which at the time had a small, vine-covered home, into which they moved. They lived in this house until they built the subject house; the original house later burned down.

Frank went to work in Ashley Valley as a carpenter and contractor. It is through the many buildings he either constructed or on which he assisted in the construction during his approximately forty years here that his significance to the community and region becomes apparent. He helped build several public and religious buildings including the Congregational church building and LDS First Ward chapel in Vernal under contractor Will Cook. He did contract work for a chapel and hospital at nearby Whiterocks. Frank constructed the rectory for the Episcopal Church in nearby Randlett, as well as the placing of a 900-pound bell and additions to the church building. He also did considerable remodeling and building in Randlett on government schools. He was overseer in charge of the eight-room brick school in Maeser, and foreman for Howard McKean in building another LDS chapel in Vernal. Frank also worked on the tower of the Mormon tabernacle (recently remodeled into a Mormon temple) in Vernal and spent one winter with builder Mike Cook building stairs and doing all of the work on the pulpit in the same building. He did other woodwork in the east end of the building and finished the west entry hallway. He was contractor for the Uintah County brick jail, school buildings in Tridell and Maeser, along with a church building in Maeser, and a schoolhouse addition in Roosevelt (approximately 50 miles to the southwest).

In addition to the many public and religious buildings on which Frank worked, he also constructed, remodeled, or built additions to approximately thirty-five other homes in the Vernal area. And in 1913, Frank began construction of his new home where his family of fourteen resided for nearly twenty years, until Eunice’s death on March 6, 1933. Following her death, he did not want to live in the home because of the memories, so he sold it to his son, Marvin, and daughter-in-law, Blanche Seeley. Frank then moved to Salt Lake City, where he continued in the building and contracting trade, and married Verna Young Mitchell on May 15, 1944. They moved back to Vernal in their later years where Frank passed away on March 4, 1960.

History of Other Owners

Marvin and Blanche met during their freshman year at high school. Blanche later received a degree in teaching from the University of Utah and she worked for the Uintah School District, teaching at Fort Duchesne and later at Maeser School. The couple was married on May 19, 1934; they then purchased the farm and this house where they raised four daughters. Unfortunately, farming did not provide the family with a large income and they had a difficult time making the monthly payments. To make matters worse, Blanche had to quit teaching, since married women were not allowed to teach in the Uintah School District at the time. To enhance their income, the Smiths took in several boarders.

The Smiths eventually went $11,000 in debt on the farm, so Man/in went to work for the Uintah County Road department. He was employed with them for four years and then he went to work for the State of Utah as road supervisor. Unfortunately, on March 4, 1960, Marvin, who had suffered heart problems for years, went to Salt Lake City for heart surgery; he died that evening following the procedure. Blanch continued to reside in the house and teach school at nearby Maeser until she retired. She continued living in the family home until she passed away in October 1999, at the age of 90.

Errol and Darlene Burns purchased the home in June 2000. Interestingly, Darlene has an historical connection to the house; one of Frank Smith’s other tasks in the community was to build caskets. He and Eunice assembled the caskets in the living room for prominent people of the area. The last casket built by Frank was in 1932 for Sylvanus Collett, grandfather of Darlene Burns.