Ogden Central Bench Historic District

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OMB No. 1024-0018, NFS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No. 7 Page 8 Ogden Central Bench Historic District, Ogden, Weber County, UT broad gabled roof that extends over the front porch (Photo 61). The third is a small gabled cottage fronted by a wide front porch (Photo 62).2 Multiple Dwellings Another common type of building in the district is the duplex/double house. The majority of duplexes in the district were originally built for use as duplexes; however, a large number of former single-family residences have since been turned into duplexes (the same is true with a number of apartments in the district as well). Most of the homes that have been converted from single-family to multi-family were done so during the 1940s, to create more housing for defense workers. Many types of duplexes are found in the district, including doublehouses that have the appearance and size of a single-family house, but have two different entries to the home, often called "double cottages" or "pair of houses" (Photo 63). Another common type of double house in the district is one that two stories in height that appears to be two similar houses joined at the end, creating a selfcontained unit (Photo 64). Other multi-family units found in the district include several row houses (Photo 65) and various types of apartment buildings. The buildings are not lumped together in a particular spot in the district, as many times is the case with apartment buildings, but can be found scattered throughout. Just as those people who lived in single-family homes enjoyed the tranquil quality of this neighborhood, so to did the large number of renters. Large three-story apartment buildings became widely popular during the 1910s and 1920s, with 15 of them found within the district (Photo 66). In 1987 these were listed in the National Register of Historic Places nomination "Three-Story Apartments in Ogden, Utah, Built 1908-1928."3 Although the building of apartments steadily rose from the 1910s to the 1940s (slumping a bit during the 1930s), construction of several multi-family residences started as early as the 1880s in Ogden, with a good number of them being built during the boom years of 1889-1891, to cater to the railroad employees and Ogden's large working-class community Cross-wing Cross-wing type buildings are a common type of structure in the district. The cross-wing configuration, usually an L or T shape and one-and-a-half-stories tall, is most commonly found on the earlier Victorian homes in the district. Oftentimes cross-wing dwellings in the district were built during two different time periods. For instance, a single-cell house could be built in the 1870s or 1880s, and then years later the owner of the home would add a cross-wing section (Photo 67). Other Residential Various other types of buildings are found in the district in smaller numbers. Some other earlier types in the district include the central block with projecting bays (found with many Victorian Eclectic homes), several hall parlor (found with many Classical homes), and also the side-passage (a popular type found with some of the larger Victorian homes). After the turn-of-the-century, foursquare homes became prevalent; many of the large, two-story, cubed-shaped, pyramidal roof variety of this can be found in the Central Bench District (Photo 68). 2 Ibid., 54. 3 Cooper and Roberts, Architects, "Three-Story Apartments in Ogden, Utah, Built 1908-1928," National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 1987. Files located at Ogden City Planning Office and at SHPO.