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Show OMB No , 1024-0018, NPS Fdom United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No. § Page Q Price Main Street Historic District, Price, Carbon County, UT time inclllde the Redd Building, at 21 West Main, \vhich John Redd completed in 1 921 then leased. to the J.C. Penney Company for its first location in Price, and the national-register-listed Star 'Theatre, built by Angelo, Peter and George Georgides in 1923, Yvhich was a popular venue for vaudeville, music, lectures and motion pictures. The economic collapse of the late 1920s and the Great Depression both had a great impact on Carbon County and Price. As the economic center of the region, Price business, perhaps suffered less, but all were affected. Workers \Vho did not lose their jobs often had their wages and/or hours reduced, anyway, and the effect rippled through the business community. For Price businesses, the result was often a merger oflike companies. Businesses that sun1ived this way included the Redd Motor Company, which acquired the Chevrolet Motor Agency in 1928, and the two local newspapers, the Sun and ]\Tews Advocate, \vhich together became the Sun Advocate, in 1932. Jn 1932 the Carbon Bank of Price and Emery Bank of Castle Dale also merged, and the bank in Price took over all business of the two for both Emery and Carbon counties. (None of these buildings still exists.) Even through the Depression, some Price businesses prospered, largely due to its economic dominance of the region. Construction of some private and public projects also helped alleviate the effects of the Depression on the local economy. The most significant of these projects was the replacement of the aging city hall building at the northeast corner of 200 East and Main Street with a new facility, the Price Municipal Building (Price City Hall--individually listed in the National Register). The Work Projects Administra6 <m (WPA) funded about onehalf of the projected cost of $200,000. Jn November of 1938 the city's offices moved into the new building and the mayor and city council held their first meeting there. The project also included a new ·auditorium attached to City Hall, which \Vas completed in February, 1939, and a new gymnasium, finished some time later. World War 11 brought new prosperity to Price. Because of the increased need for C<Jal to help fuel the war effort, outpllt at the region's mines increased, and of course, so did railroad traffic. Jmpro-,1ements in local roads and regional highways contributed to a conesponding increase in automobile traffic, wliich also brought new business to Price. Jn 194] the increased automobile traffic led to the installation or a new semaphore at Carbon Avenue and Main Street, with caution lights at a number oflesser intersections. Perhaps the most significant change during the war and immediately afterward was the construction of new businesses on the blocks west of the tabernacle and county courthouse as the few remaining empty lots were filled in. The largest of these was a new J.C. Penney store, at 78 East Main Street, CJpened in 1947. Some newer buildings replaced older structures, such as the new First National Bank at ] 00 West and Main Street, also completed after the war. The years after World War 11 through the end of the historic period also saw the peTiod of greatest economic prosperity for Price. The post-war economic expansion benefited Price, and Main Street thrived. The eastward expansion of the Main Street business district that began during the community's early years continued, with some businesses also being constructed east of the historic district. Prosperous miners in the area, among others, |
