Ogden’s Central Bench Historic District
Ogden’s Central Bench Historic District is the area from 20th Street to 30th Street and from Adams Avenue to Harrison Boulevard in Ogden, Utah.
Previously Listed National Listings, Jefferson Avenue Register/Contributing Properties Within District Boundaries (Individual District, Eccles District, Three-Story Apartment Listings):
- 2461 Adams Ave – Perry Apartments – 1909
- 2579 Adams Ave – Fern Apartments – 1923
- 2509 Adams Ave – Leroy & Myrtle Banks Eccles House – 1917
- 2522 Adams Ave – John Shannon & Louisa Curtis Houtz House – 1910
- 2529 Adams Ave – Mr. J. M. & Mrs. Otis Canse House – 1914
- 2532 Adams Ave – William & Wilhelmine Green/Sherman House – 1914
- 2533 Adams Ave – William & Bertha Eccles/Morrell Wright House – 1911
- 2540 Adams Ave – Edmund Orson & Martha Bybee Wattis House – 1914
- 2545 Adams Ave – Leroy/Larkin, Elijah A. & Rosella Eccles House – 1911
- 2555 Adams Ave – Dr. Hugh & Vern Tavey Rowe House – 1912
- 2565 Adams Ave – Marriner Adams & Dorothea Browning House – 1914
- 2580 Adams Ave – Patrick & Jr. & Mary Sodwick Healy House – 1920
- 2508 Jackson Ave – Royal & Cleone Eccles House – 1924
- 2513 Jackson Ave – J. Willard Marriott House – 1927
- 2529 Jackson Ave – 1911
- 2536 Jackson Ave – Clarence C. Hetzel House – 1915
- 2540 Jackson Ave – 1926
- 2541 Jackson Ave – 1955
- 2548 Jackson Ave – 1924
- 2553 Jackson Ave – 1922
- 2554 Jackson Ave – 1925
- 2557 Jackson Ave – 1926
- 2560 Jackson Ave – 1924
- 2563 Jackson Ave – 1918
- 2567 Jackson Ave – 1922
- 2575 Jackson Ave – 1927
- 2248 Jefferson Ave – Helms Apartments – 1920
- 2300 Jefferson Ave – Upton Apartments – 1925
- 2519 Jefferson Ave – First Baptist Church – 1923
- 2520 Jefferson Ave – Thomas H. Carr House – 1910
- 2523 Jefferson Ave – Edmund T. Hulanski House – 1891
- 2532 Jefferson Ave – Thomas A. Whalen House – 1889
- 2539 Jefferson Ave – Farnsworth Apartments – 1922
- 2540 Jefferson Ave – Hill / Hoxer House – 1889
- 2546 Jefferson Ave – Fred M. Nye House – 1910
- 2554 Jefferson Ave – Boreman Hurlbut House – 1889
- 2555 Jefferson Ave – Spencer Eccles House – 1895
- 2660 Jefferson Ave – John G. Tyler House – 1891
- 2575 Jefferson Ave – Thomas Jordan Stevens House – 1891
- 2580 Jefferson Ave – Bertha Eccles House – 1890
- 2604 Jefferson Ave – James Pingree House – 1908
- 2606 Jefferson Ave – First Methodist Church – 1928
- 2615 Jefferson Ave – 1906
- 2619 Jefferson Ave – George Halverson House – 1915
- 2627 Jefferson Ave – Richard & Ellen Leek House – 1905
- 2631 Jefferson Ave – Frank A. Baker House – 1890
- 2640 Jefferson Ave – Emil & Emma Bratz House – 1903
- 2646 Jefferson Ave – 1908
- 2656 Jefferson Ave – Thomas Beason House – 1910
- 2659 Jefferson Ave – 1910
- 2660 Jefferson Ave – Alfred Meek House – 1890
- 2663 Jefferson Ave – 1900
- 2668 Jefferson Ave – William Scott House – 1890
- 2670 Jefferson Ave – B. G. & R. C. Nye Blackman House – 1891
- 2671 Jefferson Ave – William “Coin” Harvey House – 1891
- 2683 Jefferson Ave – John & Amy Corlew House – 1903
- 2687 Jefferson Ave – 1910
- 2418 Madison Ave – Madison School – 1890
- 2622 Madison Ave – John Dalton House – 1890
- 2681 Madison Ave – Flowers Apartments – 1923
- 2465 Monroe Blvd – Fontenelle Apartments – 1924
- 2485 Monroe Blvd – Hillcrest Apartments – 1923
- 2408 Van Buren Ave – Gustav Becker House – 1915
- 2432 Van Buren Ave – Elmhurst Apartments – 1929
- 2507 Van Buren Ave – 1925
- 2516 Van Buren Ave – 1905
- 2524 Van Buren Ave – Witherell House – 1889
- 2527 Van Buren Ave – Dr. Ezekiel R. & Edna Wattis Dumke House – 1917
- 2538 Van Buren Ave – Earl E. & Elizabeth E. Greenwell House – 1919
- 2541 Van Buren Ave – Ruth W. & Marriner S. Eccles Gwilliam House – 1917
- 2544 Van Buren Ave – 1905
- 2547 Van Buren Ave – Peter D. & Helen I. Kline House – 1913
- 2550 Van Buren Ave – 1885
- 2553 Van Buren Ave – 1921
- 2558 Van Buren Ave – “Taylor Made” Apartments – 1927
- 2559 Van Buren Ave – 1924
- 2571 Van Buren Ave – 1929
- 823 23rd St – Arvondor Apartments – 1925
- 795 24th St – Heber Scowcroft House – 1925
- 549 25th St – Don Maguire Duplex – 1891
- 607 25th St – David Eccles House – 1904
- 635 25th St – Dennis Smyth House – 1889
- 726 25th St – Andrew Warner House – 1890
- 802 25th St – McGregor Apartments – 1924
- 961 25th St – Avon Apartments – 1908
- 583 26th St – Amos & Eva Corey House – 1884
- 670 26th St – Ladywood Apartments – 1926
- 461 27th St – La Frantz Apartments – 1920
- 505 27th St – John Browning House – 1900
- 579 27th St – Fairview Apartments – 1916
The Central Bench Historic District is significant under both Criteria A and C. Under Criterion A, the district is significant as Ogden’s largest historic residential neighborhood, with a period of historical significance dating from 1877 to 1954. The buildings reflect the transition of Ogden’s residential neighborhoods as the city emerged from its agricultural beginnings to become a major center for government, commerce, education, and industry. Prominent families involved in local, state, and national affairs all made the Central Bench Historic District their home. Although the district is primarily residential in nature, it also includes an institution of higher learning, several religious facilities, and various commercial buildings. Because of the diversity of uses, historically the neighborhood was self sustaining, further differentiating it from the industrial/commercial sector of town. Under Criterion C the district is architecturally significant for the diversity and integrity of the buildings. The district contains the best concentration in the city of examples of historic styles and types that were popular both in Ogden and throughout Utah. The houses range from early vernacular Classical style to high-style Victorian architecture to more modest bungalow, period revival, and post World War II styles. The historical and architectural diversity in the neighborhood, along with the high concentration (73%) of well preserved, contributing historic buildings makes the Central Bench Historic District the most important historical neighborhood in the city of Ogden.
Early Development and Structures: 1870s to 1887
Exploration and Settlement
The first European-American settler of Ogden, Miles Goodyear, built a fur trading post in 1845 on an attractive spot of the Weber River, not far from where the Weber and Ogden Rivers converge. In 1847 he sold the property to Captain James Brown, a one-time leader of the Mormon Battalion. Soon after, numerous Mormon families started to migrate to the area. In 1850 Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, established the basic plan for the city. More Mormon families were sent to settle the area, and in 1851 Deseret incorporated the city of Ogden, with Lorin Farr being called to serve as its first mayor. Later in 1851, Henry Sherwood surveyed the streets, blocks, and lots as planned by Brigham Young. An early Ogden journalist noted, “Those who planned the future of Ogden intended that the city should be a mile square; that they made the blocks to contain 10 acres, divided into 10 lots of one acre each; the blocks were 660 feet square and the streets were 99 feet wide excepting Main Street (Washington Boulevard) which was 132 feet wide; the first plat provided for 56 blocks, arranged in seven rows of eight blocks each.” A large portion of that original plat included part of the Central Bench Historic District, the area between 21st and 28th Streets and Adams and Madison Avenue, approximately one-third of the district. Originally, the streets in the district were given names other than United States Presidents. Starting at the western boundary of the district moving eastward the streets were titled Spring (Adams), Smith (Jefferson), Pearl (Madison), Green (Monroe), East (Quincy), 1st East (Jackson), and 2nd East (Van Buren). The streets that ran east to west have also been changed. Twenty blocks were added to its original development, and for instance 1st Street and 4th Street are now known as 21st Street and 24th Street, with twenty blocks added northward to its original development.
Ogden Valley’s geographical make-up played an important role in the early settlement of the city and subsequent development in the Central Bench District. On the eastern border of Ogden lies the Wasatch Mountain Range, with the Weber and Ogden Rivers flowing through it and emptying into the Great Salt Lake, lying just west of the city. In the early 1850s as Mormon families began to move to Ogden in large numbers, the most desirable land was that which was located between the two rivers in the northwest corner of town, with its rich soil and easy irrigation. A good portion of the area was surveyed into farming tracts and large numbers of people settled portions of the riverbanks. By the mid-1850s this desirable portion of town was largely populated and the community started to look eastward for expansion. And in 1855, under the direction of Isaac N. Goodale, appointed by Brigham Young, construction of the Ogden Bench Canal had begun. Canals and irrigation ditches were a common feature in almost all Mormon platted towns.
The building of the canal was an important endeavor, as an editorial in the Ogden-Standard Examiner stated in 1945, “The story of the Ogden Bench Canal is pretty much the history of early Ogden.” The purpose of the canal was to use the canyon streams east of Ogden to provide irrigation to the bench area in order to sustain the newly developing community. Running north to south the canal flowed from the northern tier of the city (at the time 21st Street) to the southernmost boundary (28th Street), and from east to west it cut through just below 2nd East (Van Buren Avenue) and ended up near Green Street (Monroe Boulevard). Another important early canal was the Weber Canal. Although it did not run through much of the district (it only ran through the area of the 2800 and 2900 block of Porter Avenue (a half-block between Adams and Jefferson Avenues) and left the district westward on 28th Street) it did give the Boyle family, who resided between Adams and Jefferson Avenues on 28th Street, power to run tools to make their patented furniture. The curved street between 28th and 29th Streets on Porter Avenue is a good reminder of the canal; when the block was subdivided in the early 1900s the street was graded following the crooked path of the canal.
Community Development and Planning
By 1860 limited building and settlement had started to take place in the district. A Deseret News article described the gradual movement of families to the area in 1863, “A few of the settlers, preferring to dwell on more sightly [sic] ground and where the streets, with slight grading, would be passable most of the year, have located themselves on the upland, or bench, as it is usually called, where the houses generally, as in further witness of their good taste, if not superior judgment, are of a neat and comfortable appearance and, so far as I could learn, fully occupied by an eminently practical and enterprising class of citizens.” The term “bench” was fittingly designated early on for the area because of its unique geographical position to the rest of the city, lying on a small hill looking down on the rest of Ogden.
Throughout the 1860s development was gradual and persistent in Ogden and in the bench neighborhood; by the end of the decade Ogden’s population had grown to 3,000, from 1,500 in 1860. Then in 1869 the Union Pacific Railroad Company completed the railroad through Ogden, and after the transcontinental connection was made at Promontory, Utah, it was agreed that Ogden was the ideal intersection for the east-west railroads. It was more difficult for the railroad companies to decide where the intersection for the north-south railroad would be located, as Corinne, located 15 miles northwest of Ogden, was better geographically located. However, after Brigham Young promoted Ogden by deeding 131 acres of land to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, the decision was made to make the city the hub of the north-south lines. Ogden soon became the “Junction City” of the Intermountain West.
The early impact of the railroad was significant, however in the beginning it did not change the face of the Central Bench immensely. In an 1875 reproduction of Ogden, a bird’s eye view of the district shows a sparsely developed community with only a few structures located on each block. One of the earliest homes remaining in the district was constructed during this era. The Hathron Chauncey Hadlock House, c. 1877, is located at 478 28th Street.
Other kinds of development started to take place in the district as the bench area started to solidify itself as a key residential sector of the city. A good example of that is found at Liberty Square (now Lester Park). The tree-lined park, located at 25th Street and Jefferson Avenue, was initiated for public use in 1870, and soon became a popular meeting place for religious groups, political organizations, school functions, parties, and other. activities. One decade later, as it became an important gathering place, a large drinking fountain and dance pavilion was added to the park.
During the 1880s, as Ogden’s population continued to grow in larger numbers due largely to the impact of the railroad, the Central Bench remained to be a predominantly rural community. A well-preserved example of the rural folk house of this period of time is the small picturesque cottage located at 937 22nd Street, constructed by local builder Henry Ware in 1887. The John F. Gay House, located at 2121 Adams Avenue, is another notable home constructed during this era. Mr. Gay was a Utah pioneer of 1851 and was a lieutenant in the Utah Black Hawk War in Manti in 1865. He came to Ogden in the late 1860s and commissioned William W. Fife to design and build this large Gothic Revival style residence in 1885.
According to Olivia Gay, J.F. Gay’s daughter, the home was the first residential structure in the city to be built and designed by an architect. In fact, the 1880s is when Ogden first started to witness a number of buildings being erected by architects.
Architecture
Early Architects/Builders
William W. Fife is the most noted early professional architect in Ogden; prior to this era in Ogden and Utah in general the housing design at the local level was usually the responsibility of the person in the building trade. As an architect Mr. Fife designed several early structures in the district, as was the case with the Gay House. Mr. Fife was born in Ogden in 1856. His father, William Nicol Fife, was a well-known builder and contractor from whom W.W. Fife received his training at a very young age. While just a teenager, W.W. Fife helped run his father’s business. And although W.W. Fife died in his fortieth year, his accomplishments in the building of the city were second to none. 15 Mr. Fife also resided in the district at 2122 Adams Avenue, building the Vernacular-Classical style hall-parlor family home c. 1885. In addition to William N. and William W. Fife, some other early builders in the district include D.D. Jones, who was also listed as an architect in the late 1880s. Henry Mortensen, who resided and ran the family business M.F. Mortenson and Sons in the district, lived just above Madison Avenue on 23rd Street. Nils C. Flygare, who was a contractor, resided in the district on 24th Street just above Monroe Boulevard.
To supply the aforementioned builders and other early settlers in constructing their homes, several industries were established. Ogden’s first Mayor, Lorin Farr, was instructed by Brigham Young to build a sawmill and gristmill, which were established as early as 1851 to aid the Ogden pioneers. Ogden Canyon was the early settler’s favorite location to collect timber for construction of their homes. A sawmill was later placed in the canyon, and other mills were also placed elsewhere throughout the city. Adobe supplemented lumber in Ogden’s early years. A large adobe “hole,” where adobe was made, could be found lying east of the cemetery and just across from the northern boundary of the Central Bench District; undoubtedly this is the location where several of the early home’s material in the district were made. Other industries related to building during the 1850s-1880s were also established, such as stone quarries, limekilns, brick kilns, carpentry, plumbing, painting, and tinsmithing. The materials needed for home building was made possible for early builders, by the early Ogden settlers, and everything could be found within the city; and by the late-1880s materials became even more available due to the advent of the railroad in Ogden City.
Subdivisions
Another new development in the 1880s in Ogden was that of subdivisions. As will be seen the proliferation of subdivisions occurred greatly in the very late-1880s, however, Ogden’s first subdivision-Kershaw’s, was platted in 1881 by A.J. Kershaw. Kershaw Avenue was eventually changed to Eccles Avenue in the 1910s, after the development of the Eccles Subdivision, which lies one block south of Kershaw’s.
It is clear that by 1887 the Central Bench had started to establish itself as the dominant residential sector in Ogden. Located on the bench, it was a place where families could move to escape the more bustling and busy area of town west of the district. The bench area slowly became a destination for a wide variety of people, including railroad employees, merchants, laborers, and businessmen. As was noted in a publication of the University of Utah Graduate School of Architecture, “After becoming a railroad hub in the 1870s and 1880s, Ogden slowly developed something of a split personality. A schism emerged between the residential and commercial area running east from Washington Boulevard, and the western industrial district, located near the rail yard.” And of the Central Bench they concluded that it was an attractive sector of the city with tree-lined, middle-class neighborhoods and represented stability, refinement, and peacefulness. Indeed, this sentiment of a need for a stable and peaceful neighborhood only grew as Ogden was approaching a new, more rapidly changing turn to greater growth and development.
A good percentage of the homes that were built pre-1887 in the neighborhood have been razed, with most demolished by the end of the 1920s to make room for more modern houses. Also, during the early days of the Central Bench, most families initially settled on large parcels of land and built smaller adobe and wood frame houses, usually with a stable and/or a barn in the rear of the property. As many of these Ogden pioneering families grew in size by the turn of the century, so would the need to increase the size of the home. So, many demolished their original dwelling and constructed a new home on the site or kept the old dwelling for a while and built new structures on their surrounding property, sometimes building homes for their children. William G. Biddle and family, of 2447 Monroe Boulevard, is a good example of this process.
The Biddies, Mormon pioneers, trekked to Utah in the early 1860s and by 1870 had settled on an acre of land in Ogden, located on the 2400 block of Monroe Boulevard (Green Street). They built a small rectangular shaped wood frame home on the north end of the lot. Two decades later the Biddies demolished this home and built a more modern Victorian Queen Anne style dwelling at 2447 Monroe on the south half of the lot; after demolishing the old home and building the new, the Biddies then sold the north half of their lot. Many other residents would simply build their home in the rear of the lot and years down the road build a modern home closer to the street front.
Another factor that changed the older face of the district during the building and population boom that was to come during 1888-1892, was that many families started to subdivide lots to help provide land and make profit during the boom, and their old property was systematically absorbed by Ogden’s expansion. Replacement homes were very common in the district, old homes being demolished and replaced by newer homes on the original home’s site. The years prior to 1888 were a time of settlement and growth for the district and helped set up what was to become one of the largest 5-year spans of growth in the district and city’s history.
Growth, Prosperity, and the Changing Face of the District, 1888-1899
Social History
The district is important in that it portrays the development of civic life during the late-1800s, serving as the main residential neighborhood in the entire county. This could be seen during that era as people, ranging from blue collar workers to businessmen, flocked to the area.
Ogden’s “Boom” and Sudden Popularity
In the early months of 1888 the Ogden Semi-Weekly Standard started to pay particular attention to a rather peculiar demand for rental housing in the city. In the past, several houses in the city had been built for the sole purpose of renting. The homes were constructed in numbers to more than meet the demand of renters coming to Ogden, and were offered at a reasonable price. However, by early-1888, homes that were easily procured at the renters own price in 1887, could hardly be attained now at any figure. As one gentleman residing in Ogden remarked, “There had probably never been so great a demand for rentable houses as there is at the present.” It was mentioned that the “Junction City” was starting to enjoy a season of prosperity that was causing the citizens to enjoy the highest satisfaction, and to look forward to the future with a renewed energy. Although Ogden had seen considerable growth since the railroad’s arrival in 1869, no one was likely prepared for the boom that lay directly ahead.
It was suggested that investors with the means start to put money into building well-appointed tenement houses. Soon, talk of construction for the upcoming summer months was underway. In addition to the many public institutions that were projected, the building of residences was highly discussed, particularly in the Central Bench District. It was in the hope that the new homes would provide for the many who were moving to Ogden to work for railroad related businesses, create jobs for the unemployed, and add to the appearance of the city which had started to be more recognized. Realizing the possibility of a real estate boom, investors started to take notice of the city. In February a timely article in the Ogden Standard was published forewarning Ogden citizens of the upcoming real estate boom. It was emphasized that individuals who had a homestead or owned a tract of land not feel entitled to sell it. It was also suggested that people not get caught up in buying land for speculative purposes in order to not drive away those interested in Ogden, and so those who wanted to buy land to build on could do so affordably.
Several factors, over and above being the railroad hub of the intermountain West, played into the attention Ogden starting receiving in 1888. Mr. Alfred H. Nelson, proprietor of the Weber County abstracts and an old time realtor of Seattle during its boom days, who came to Ogden in 1883 because of the potential he seen of it becoming a robust city, was quoted as saying, “The only wonder is that the attention of Ogden has been so long delayed, as no other city in the West equals it as a railway and commercial center.” Moreover he claimed, “The attractions of Ogden are manifold, and no one article could do it justice.” He went on to discuss Ogden’s importance as a commercial and manufacturing center, the high quality of land and easiness to obtain the lands as land titles in Ogden were the most accurate he had ever seen, Ogden’s geographical location in terms of its proximity to the Great Salt Lake and beautiful Wasatch Mountains, and best of all its climate. His explanation for Ogden being overlooked in the past was the fact that Salt Lake City had been synonymous to Utah, and consequently the only place people came to stay or visit.