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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. §. Page ~ Wells Historic District, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, UT The four primary contextual eras-Initial Settlement, Streetcar Suburbs, The Era of Infilling, and the Post War Period-are marked by key milestones in the history of the district. The platting of the Big Field area encompassing Wells began in the 1880s during the Initial Settlement era but was initiated by the establishment of the streetcar system in Salt Lake City in the early 1870s. The Streetcar Suburbs era encompasses the expansion of multiple streetcar lines into the Wells area, while the Era of Infilling is highlighted by the Great Depression, the associated steep decline in development, and the wartime recovery. The Era of Infilling, the third period of significance, represents the first focus on developing previously undeveloped lots in subdivisions that had been platted during the earlier periods. The fourth period, the Post War Period, marks the final phase of historical development in the Wells area, when most of the platted lots had been developed and only occasional individual parcels or small sections of contiguous parcels were available for construction of the distinctive housing stock of the period. History of the Wells Area Farms and Fields (1847 to 1870) 10 Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS; or "Mormons") settled the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847, when the first contingent of settlers arrived under the guidance of church president Brigham Young. Within a few days of the pioneers' arrival in the valley, the basic layout of Salt Lake City was in place. The city was laid out in plats· the platting of the city took three years, and one plat was laid out in each of the first three years the settlers were in the valley. 11 The first three plats were designed in a grid of 10-acre blocks, each block containing eight lots, with dirt roads 132 feet wide and 20-foot wide sidewalks. 12•13 The layout ofthe city was based upon the "Plat of the City of Zion", a city plan with a configuration of lots and blocks and intended land uses put forth by Joseph Smith, founder of the LDS Church. The configuration of the City of Zion plat encouraged family-level subsistence, efficient land use, and social cohesion by avoiding individual, isolated residences outside of the city's core area. The original three plats for the city included the present downtown area and extending as far south as 900 South. The area to the south, platted in much larger lots of between 5 and 80 acres, was commonly referred to as the Big Field. The Big Field, which encompasses the Wells Historic District, was designated as an area within which primarily agricultural activities would take place in support of the residents living in the developing heart of the Salt Lake City. The smallest lots in the area, those of 5 acres, were to be located in the northern portion of the area closest to the platted portion of the city (between 900 South and 2100 South) and were to be used by 10 11 This period is included for contextual information only and is not within the period of significance. Sillitoe, Linda. A History of Salt Lake County. Utah Centennial County History Series. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah State Historical Society and Salt Lake County Commission, 1996. 12 Alexander, Thomas G. Utah, The Right Place, The Official Centennial History. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs-Smith Publishers, 1996. 13 Sillitoe, 1996. |
