| OCR Text |
Show United States Department of the Interior National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMS No. 1024-0018 Christensen , Herbert & Lillian, House Name of Property Washington County, Utah County and State Additional Historical Context The Christensen House property was originally part of homestead patent obtained by Samuel K. Gifford in 1882. The patent was within the SE~ of Section 29, Township 41 S, Range 10 W. This area was part of the original Springdale Townsite, which was plated in 1863 (later officially surveyed in 1904). The original settlers came in 1862 and Springdale was essentially a line village with homesteads on either side of the winding road into the canyon, unlike the typical early Utah gridded townsite plats. By the early 1900s, Lot 20 within the townsite was owned by Samuel K. Gifford's son, Oliver D. Gifford. Oliver, in turn, deeded a portion of Lot 20 to his son, Samuel Kendall Gifford, soon after Kendall's marriage to Althera Gifford in 1916. The Giffords built a home at 998 Zion Park Boulevard that is still standing (altered). In November 1928, Oliver Gifford deeded a second parcel within Lot 20 to Kendall and Althera. In August 1931, Samuel K. and Althera Gifford sold the 1.62-parcel to Lillian A. Christensen. 6 Lillian Anderson Christensen was born on September 24,1912, in Parowan, Utah. She was the daughter of Albert and Deslie Anderson. Lillian was educated in Washington County schools and graduated from the Brigham Young Academy in Cedar City. On December 12, 1931, Lillian married Herbert K. Christensen. Herbert K. Christensen was born in Springdale on August 25, 1906, the son of Samuel K. and Lora Ann Gifford Christensen. 7 The couple moved to Springdale after their marriage. They lived with Lillian's parents at 948 Zion Park Boulevard while Herbert worked on their house. The first son, Albert Leon Christensen was born in 1933 in Orderville, Utah, at the home of Lillian's sister. A second son, Eldon Herbert Christensen, was born in 1939 in St. George, at Lillian's mother's home. Lillian A. Christensen served as Springdale postmaster in the 1930s, taking over from Esther Gifford. According to Eldon Christensen , the post office was located in the front room of the house. The current owner, Joe Pitti noted from a conversation he had with Eldon, He pointed out the two doors on the front porch and told me that the front living room was the Town Post Office. The left door on the front porch was its entrance. He shared that his mom, on occasion, would hang his bassinet/carrier from one of the many hooks on the ceiling meant for mailbags. 8 Later, the post office moved to a small building that was located where the parking lot of the bed & breakfast is located today. Eldon also noted that Herbert K. Christensen began working on the house in 1930, but the property was not deeded to Lillian until 1936. The house was substantially completed and the family began living there in 1936, but still needed an outhouse and water from a well in the backyard for several years. During the depression, Herbert was a foreman on the Mt. Carmel Tunnel through Zion National Park (a National Monument at the time). He was gassed by fumes from the digging machines and developed a kidney disease that plagued him the remainder of his life. His condition limited his work on the house and other employment, but Herbert served as a sheriff in Washington 6 The current legal descriptions use metes and bounds and only the earliest deeds refer to the townsite lot numbers. 7 One family record provides the middle name Knight, but Herbert's birth certificate noted UK" was a middle initial only. 8 Joe Pitti, interview with Eldon Christensen , email correspondence, July 2019. Section 8 page 12 |
