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Show -'., ---------------------------_........8~ Significance Period _ prehistoric _1400-1499 _1500-1599 _1600-1699 _1700-1799 _1800-1899 XX 1900- Areas of Significance--Check and justify below _ archeology-prehistoric _ community planning _ archeology-historic _ conservation _ agriculture _ economics -XX- architecture _ education _ art _ engineering commerce _ exploration/settlement _ _ communications industry _ invention .xx... Specjfjc dates ca. 1900 Builder/Architect _ landscape architecture_ religion _ law _ science __ literature _ sculpture military . - - social! _ music humanitarian _ philosophy _ theater _ politics/government _ transportation ,;.. . . :- j \ .. " . ~.;, _ . other (specify) UNKNOWN Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The John P. Cahoon House is significant as the finest example of residential Victorian Eclectism in t1urray City and as the home fo r over twenty years of John P. Cahoon, a pioneer in the brick industry in Utah and the West . The large, two-and-one-half story brick house! referred to in 1902 as "easily the finest home in the county outside Salt Lake City," (~1urray .is located about five miles south of Salt. Lake City) has remained virtually unchanged since its construction around 1900. Although its Victorian styling is mor.e s.ubduen than. .:tha.t . found on man.y- houses-:. in- Salt lake City, ..th.:is house represents the fullest expression of-.~·high style ,architecture, in its community;whet~e · the: housing stock cons-ists,mainly_of smaller scale., -modestly,.O:rnament.2d cottages. John P. Cahoon:· was the principal founder of what is claimed to 2be the first commercial brick manufacturing plant in both Utah and the West in 1878. Brick played an especially i mportant role in the const~uction business in Utah because of the scarcity of readily available lumber, and by the turn of the century there were several dozen companies competing in the brick manufacturing industry. Under John P. Cahoon's leadership, his company, incorporated in 1891 as Salt Lake Pressed Brick Company, emerged as one of the most successful in the industry, and Cahoon himself made important contributions to the industry. He was appointed to the War Service Committee on Brick in Washington, D.C. in 1918, and served as an organizer and vice president of the Brick Manufacturers Association of America. Also, under his leadership, his co·mp-any· starte'd the ifirst trade s'dl'Ool program in Utah, teaching brick laying to students. Interstate Brick Company, as it was renamed in 1939, has become the largest company of its kind in the Intenr.ountain Vlest and is still directed by members of the Cahoon family. . . ." - : John P. Cahoon was born fn the area known as South Cottom'lOod, on February 1, '1856. Hi s parents, Andrew and ~1argaret C. Cahoon, who had come to Utah ' in ·1848 as Mormon pioneers, were among the original settlers in that area, which later became known as Murray. John, the second of five sons, attended local schools and married a local girl, Elizabeth Gordon. ll In 1878, he and his brothers began manufacturing brick on a small scale with primitive hand-powered tools and equipment on a location near 5300 South in Murray. This brick was used primarily for the c6nstruction of their ~wn houses; and John buil~his t first house at 5600 South and Winchester Street (401 West). In 1891 John founded the Salt Lake Pressed Brick Company and moved the manufacturing plant from 4200 South, a later location, to a new location near 1100 East and 3300 South; where there was an abundance of good quality clay for brick manufacturing. The clay beds at that location completely filled the company·s needs until 1921 when clay began to be shipped in from other areas. 1. Biographical Record . . . , p. 356. 2. Utah: The Storied Domain, p. 559. |
