Downtown SLC Lamp Posts

 An original to SLC, these ornamental lamp posts feature a medallion depicting the profile of a Native American man.

Installed in 1921 as part of the second phase of SLC’s streetlighting upgrades, they added a decorative element to the new lights along State Street and Broadway (300 South).

Photograph of post on State Street (2022).

Electric streetlights were first installed along Main Street in 1881, making SLC the fifth city in the US to do so.

In 1916, SLC upgraded the Main Street lights from arc lamps to tungsten incandescent lighting. When the new tungsten system was switched on along Main Street on September 30, 1916, SLC became the first city in the United States to illuminate a street with tungsten lighting. San Francisco followed four days later, on October 4, 1916.

Utah Power and Light Company pole, December 27, 2021. Image from USHS.

Detail of above.

In 1921, tungsten lighting was extended to State Street and Broadway (300 South). A distinguishing aspect of these streetlights was the addition of a decorative motif at the base of the lamp posts: a medallion bearing the profile of a Native American man.

At the time of the lighting ceremony, the Deseret News described the design as representing “the head of Chief Timpanogos, an Indian chief [perhaps referring to Chief Tabby-To-Kwanah]” and “reminiscent of the days when State Street was an Indian trail." Neither claim is historically accurate and instead reflects the romanticized “Vanishing Indian” mythology prevalent in the 1920s.

In 1951, a Salt Lake Telegram article explained that the Utah State Historical Society and Utah Power and Light Co. agreed the design was not intended to represent a single individual. Instead, the motif originated with the casting company Union Metal, with additional redrawing by H. Allan Gardner, an engineer with Utah Power and Light, the company responsible for installing the streetlights.

H. Allan Gardner, from Salt Lake Herald Oct 20, 1920 p35.

Union Metal was particularly proud of the design (number 1161) and featured it prominently in their 1920s catalogs to showcase the sharpness and quality of the casting.

Examples of designs from the 1924 Union Metal Manufacturing Co. Catalog. From Internet Archive.

Highlighting the SLC design in the 1924 Union Metal Manufacturing Co. Catalog. From Internet Archive.

I have not identified another city where this Native American profile medallion was utilized. Perhaps you know of another?