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Show OMB No 1024-0016, 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 Streetcar Suburbs (1900 to 1929) Beginning in the early-1900s, a series of developments in electrical power generation and an apparent recognition of the drawbacks of the head-to-head streetcar competition lead the SLCRR and the SLRT to merge into the Consolidated Railway & Power Company (Consolidated). In 1904, Consolidated merged with Utah Power & Light to form Utah Light & Railway. 37 Fourteen years later, in 1918, Utah Light & Railway merged with a rival company, Salt Lake Light & Traction to form Utah Light & Traction (Carr and Edwards 1989:64). By 1919, streetcar routes extended throughout the city, offering service to Holladay, Midvale, Sandy, the University of Utah, Fort Douglas, and other points in the valley. As mentioned previously, these lines extended along the east and west boundaries of the Wells neighborhood as well as into the heart of the neighborhood along 400 East. The lines offered stops for would-be residents who worked in downtown Salt Lake City but wanted to live outside its heavily urbanized core area. The popularity of the suburb concept and the lure of easy transit was almost unprecedented, as many hundreds of new residents purchased lots and erected homes in Wells during this period. Nearly 77 percent of the contributing resources within the district were constructed between 1900 and 1929. This is the largest number of buildings in the history of the district. The overwhelming majority of construction was residential in nature, with single-family homes being far more common than multi-family structures. Sanborn Fire Insurance Company maps from 1911 show the beginnings of the existing street and parcel system in the Wells area, though many of the blocks remained undivided, and many of today's streets had yet to be constructed. In Wells, several prominent local land merchants were responsible for the promotion and development of the subdivisions during this time (See the Architectural Styles, Types, and Materials by Period; Section 7). Many of these individuals commissioned the construction of numerous single-family homes as speculative ventures, having them built before a buyer was identified and renting them out until such time as the property was sold to a permanent owner. For example, the Grand Haven Subdivision, developed by Philip A. Finegan, encompassed the area from Browning Avenue to Emerson Avenue, between 600 and 700 East. The development was platted in 1909 and, like many subdivisions during that time, heavily promoted in the Salt Lake Tiibune from 1909 through the 191 Os as a streetcar subdivision with valuable investment potential. The plat for the subdivision included 53, long, narrow, rectangular building lots, most of which now host single-family bungalow homes. The many subdivisions that were platted during the previous period had largely remained undeveloped until after 1905 and did not reach their full development until the 1920s. Around this time, a new LDS ward was established in the area and was named Waterloo Ward. The future Wells area thus became known as the Waterloo Area for a time. The influx of residents to the area was generally slow at first, but as evidenced by the known construction dates of buildings within the Wells neighborhood, by the mid 191 Os, residential development was in full swing. This development appears to have continued unabated until the start of the Great Depression following the stock market crash of late 1929. Commercial development accompanied the residential development, though only on a limited basis. State Street, 1300 South, and 2100 South saw the 37 Carr and Edwards, 1988. |
