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Show NPS Form 1()'9OO-a Utah WOIIIP1Itec17.0 FonMI (~May 1997) a.eNo.l~8 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No. Jt Page..£. Johnson/Kearns Hotel, Springville, Utah County, UT Narrative Statement of Significance The 1892 Johnson/Keams Hotel (also known later as the Manitou Hotel and Valley Tavern Hotel) is significant under the "Growth and Commercial Expansion" context of the "Historic Resources of Springville City" Multiple Property Submittal as a reflection of the growth and increasing prosperity in Springville in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The changes that Springville underwent with the arrival of the railroad in Utah and the success of Springville industries such as railroad contracting and agricultural processing led to the development of·buildings such as the Johnson/Keams Hotel. Originally operated by Moses and Ann Keams Johnson and called the Johnson Hotel, it was one of three hotels doing business in Springville at the tum of the century. The presence of the railroad, which had its depot at the end of 200 South Street, and later the influx of visitors in Springville arriving by automobile, provided a market for the hotel. During 1910-37, it was operated by the Keams family and known as the Keams Hotel. Springville City, in Utah County, Utah, was settled in September, 1850 by a company of pioneers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LOS or Mormon Church) led by Aaron Johnson.2 The colonizing families had crossed the plains during the summer as part of a train of 135 wagons captained by Johnson. Upon arriving in Utah, they were called by church leader Brigham Young to establish a permanent community on the banks of Hobble Creek, in Utah Valley. The suitability of the area for settlement and agriculture had been noted earlier by William Miller and James Mendenhall, who had traveled the length of Utah Valley during the winter of 1849.3 Industrial and commercial enterprises during the pioneer period tended to be small in scale, locally-based, and oriented toward supplying the utilitarian essentials of the community. In Springville, as in other early settlements established by the LOS church in Utah, emphasis was placed upon cooperative efforts which ensured the viability of the community as a whole. Material luxuries and private monetary gain to a back seat (officially) to the good of the community during this period of Utah's history. The pioneering period of establishing Springville as a viable community was followed by an era of growth and diversification of industry and commerce. Promotion of the organized cooperative move- . ment may have helped to initiate this new phase of development. The greatest impact, however, was brought by the railroad. Completion of the transcontinental rail line in 1869 ended Utah's geographic isolation, linking the state to the products and markets of the entire nation. It made goods from the outside more readily available, created new markets for Utah-produced commodities, stimulated commerce and the development of new industries, and brought in more settlers together with more 2Flnley, Mary J. Chase, A History of Springville (Springville, Utah: Art City Publishing, 1989), 1. 3Flnley. viii. X See continuation sheet |
