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Show OMB No. 1024-0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No. 8 Page 22 Ogden Central Bench Historic District, Ogden, Weber County, UT American mainstream in the early 1900s, and from 1905 to 1925 it became by far the most popular house type in Utah. Ogden was no different, and many builders, architects, contractors, and construction companies began to surface in the city during this era to provide this highly popular housing style, especially in the early 1920s. The Taylor Building Company, and the work they produced, is a perfect example of the building craze that hit the district in the 1920s. The Taylor Building Company had made its way to Ogden, from Salt Lake City in late 1921 responding to Ogden's housing needs. By 1921, Ogden realtors and homebuilders had joined together to find ways in which housing could be obtained by those who needed it; to them good affordable housing was essential. 67 Thus came the Taylor Building Company, which was headed by Harold Bowerman Taylor, who had moved to Salt Lake City in the early 1900s from South Dakota. By the spring of 1922 the company had started building several homes in Ogden, targeting the Central Bench District. Throughout the 1920s the company continued to develop numerous undeveloped subdivisions in the district, constructing over a total of one hundred homes within the area. They specialized in bungalows, but also a built a number of period revival homes (Photo 44). The houses were touted as being well built, affordable, modern, convenient, and attractive. Most the homes were complete with oak floors throughout, tile bathroom floors, enamel finishes, modern lighting and bath fixtures, full basements, and furnace heats. Indeed, the homes were well built and received praise from the Ogden City Building Inspectors. The homes attracted a wide range of people, including Ogden mayors, businessmen, and a wide range of working and middle class families. The company did as much as they could to sell their homes, such as creating the Taylor Sales Company, a financial division that took care of most mortgages for prospective buyers. The company represented a change in the district; homes in the district were previously built generally for individuals in the location of their desire and liking. Now various homes were built in large quantities in hopes that demand would meet the supply. The company was a mainstay in the city until 1930, when, as was the case with many builders, it went out of business as a result of the Great Depression. Large building companies were not the only ones to take part in the building action of the 1920s. Local citizens that previously had no real estate or building experience became involved, as was the case with Henry Skinner and his son-in-law Albert Erickson. At the time the two were involved in Ogden with entertainment and performing arts, Mr. Skinner was the manager of the popular Colonial Theater at 2465 Washington, and Mr. Erickson was a musician and music teacher. Their building endeavors started in 1923, when they collaborated with the Taylor Building Company and had a home built at 2710 Brinker Avenue (Photo 45). They owned the home and occupied it for a year and then sold it for a profit to Leo Peck. Then in 1926 the two contacted the Taylor Building Company again and had seven homes built in a small subdivision between 22nd and 23 rd Streets, just below Harrison Boulevard. The area was called Rue Anne Court, named after Mr. Skinner and Mr. 67 Ogden Standard-Examiner. "Realtors and Home Builders: Providing Methods for Financing Housing in Ogden to Meet Needs," 17 April 1921. 68 Ogden City Corporation to Taylor Building Company, 25 May 1923. Taylor Building Company File, Long Range Planning Department, Preservation Files, Ogden, Utah. |
