Utah's First Self-Service Liquor Store on Foothill Boulevard

The old Foothill Utah State Liquor Store at Lamplighter Square at 1615 S Foothill Blvd, Salt Lake City, was Utah’s first self-service liquor store.

Author's photo of the Utah State Liquor Store at 1615 Foothill Blvd, 2021.

The store opened in Feb 1967 and expanded with a front addition in the 1990s. In the photograph above  you can see part of the old-mid century modern design from the original building.

The Foothill store was different from others operating at the time as it operated more like a supermarket: customers were able to browse and select the items they wanted and then check out at a cashier stand (as is common now).

Previously, customers asked for their item and a clerk would obtain it for them behind a counter.

The new style of "self-service" store was an instant success. The Utah Liquor Commission quickly opened a second self-service store in Oct 1967 at the Avenues Plaza shopping center. Soon the Murray and Sandy stores converted to self-service as well.

To save on construction costs, the Utah State Prison carpentry shop built all the shelves, counters, turnstiles, and cashiers’ cages for these new self-service stores.

Interior of the SLC Sugar House Liquor Store in 1958 showing items behind the counter
Image from USHS and colorized by Adobe.

Interior of the SLC Foothill Liquor Store in 1967 showing shelves made by prisoners of the Utah State Penitentiary and open browsing aisles. Image from USHS and colorized by Adobe

Salt Lake's Franklin Avenue as a Historic Black Neighborhood

General location of Franklin Avenue, between 200-300 South and State St-200 East

Between about 1885 and the 1920s, Franklin Ave (now Edison St) became home to a large population of Black Americans.

This mid-block alley situated within the original 13th Ward, started out like other blocks of the original SLC plat- residential and agricultural lands divided among early Mormon settlers of the 1840s-1850s.

After the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 (through Ogden) and the first railroad spur to SLC in 1870, new arrivals became more common. Coupled with the great western migration of Black Americans after the Civil War, Salt Lake (and Ogden) became a place for people to find work relating to the railroad and hospitality, often the only type of jobs that Black people were allowed to obtain, such as porters, waiters, cooks, maids, laborers, etc. As such, both Salt Lake and Ogden saw population increase of Black Americans and other groups.

A view of Salt Lake City in the 1870s. Although Franklin Ave is located outside the image, it gives a good idea of what the area looked like at this time.

 
Also, by 1870, those early log cabins and small adobe homes on large parcels belonging to the original Mormon settlers had largely fallen into disrepair and had been subdivided; sometimes sold for redevelopment and sometimes rented out to the new SLC arrivals, generally those economically disadvantaged newcomers who could afford these low-cost rentals. On Franklin Avenue, these tended to be Scandinavian speaking converts to the LDS church (through the 1870s-1880s) and eventually to Black Americans.

Franklin Ave had a reputation for being a tough neighborhood in the 1870s. At the time a large Scandinavian population lived on the street. As was common with mid-block alleys, a number of raucous characters were present. Newspapers noted that two families often indulged “in the unlawful practice of calling each other bad names, in the Scandinavian language.”

Brothels started up on Franklin Ave at this time as well. Mid-block alleys and the hidden center of city blocks were out of sight from the more respectable business along the main streets and thus became the preferred location of many vices. At this time the brothels on Franklin Ave seem to have only been run by White people, mostly women. By 1878 the Deseret News identified Franklin Ave as a “Bad Place” with “loose characters.”

The 1880s brought some Black people to the neighborhood. The first Black residents of Franklin Ave that I could find were Alice and Benjamin Nesbitt who resided there in 1884. Alice later became president of the Colored women’s Republican Club and worked to secure voting rights for Black women in Utah. The rooms and houses available for rent were owned primarily by White people; the most prominent owner being John Johnson who supplied rented housing and jobs to people on Franklin Ave.

Notably, many of the buildings were lacking in maintenance and sanitary conditions were atrocious. A sewer line was installed in 1888 but many of the older homes were never connected, and outhouses remained common. The street remained unpaved through this time, which is an important consideration of the sanitary conditions when coupled with lack of standardized garbage disposal, accumulation of animal waste, and the prevalence of coal burning stoves.

Franklin Ave in 1905. One of the earlier images showing the majority residential buildings.

By the time the first Black residents moved into Franklin Ave in the mid-1880s, the street was already a difficult neighborhood. Rents were probably cheap, but brothels and gambling dens were common.

Sanitary conditions were notably inadequate. The Salt Lake Herald complained for several years of the perpetual cesspool that existed on the southern end of Franklin Ave at 300 South; their 1888 article described it as a “slimy, green, stagnant pool [that] emits a very nauseating effluvia these warm days and is bound to make somebody sick…”

The 1890s saw a dramatic shift from White to Black residents, likely drawn by cheap rent. Some of this influx was due to the arrival of the 24th Infantry (Buffalo Soldiers) at Fort Douglas in 1896 with some of the Soldiers families living on Franklin Ave and some Soldiers choosing to stay in SLC after they were discharged from the Army.

The 1900 census shows all but one of the buildings on Franklin Ave were home to Black families, including Ella Phelps who, along with her husband James and son James Roscoe, ran a rooming house for other Black individuals at 249 Franklin Ave (now a parking lot). Notably the Phelps did not own their building.

The exception to Black residents was the Salvation Army’s Workingmen’s Hotel (which is now the Franklin Ave Theater building at 231 Edison- more on that later) which was occupied only by White men.

The Black population of SLC continued to increase, especially in and around Franklin Ave. Throughout the 1890s and early 1900s the Salt Lake Herald-Republican newspaper referred to the street as “Darktown.”

Many of the SLC Black organizations that exist today can trace their beginnings to the residents of Franklin Ave. Both Calvary Baptist Church and Trinity African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church began on Franklin Ave with the initial fundraising efforts and early church meetings.

In 1906, SLC changed the name of Franklin Ave to Edison St, largely to “rebrand” the street from Black residential to White commercial. The first White-owned business, Skelton Printing, moved into the Franklin Ave Theater building in 1906.

Throughout the next decade more business displaced the residents. The 1911 Sanborn Map indicates about half of the buildings on Franklin Ave/Edison St were residential, mostly on the southern half of the street. By 1926, the Sanborn Map shows no residential buildings.

Many of the displaced residents moved to the south end of the Central City neighborhood, mostly 400 South-900 South and Main St-500 East.

Edison Street (formerly Franklin Ave) in 1936, showing majority commercial buildings.

A note on Salt Lake's Black population:

In 1900, 278 Black people were recorded as living in SLC and in 1910 this increased to 737, most of whom (but not all) lived on or around Franklin Ave. The overall Black population in SLC was small during this time, only about 1% of SLC (even accounting for undercounting of the census).

• 1900: 278 black / 77,725 total SLC population = 0.4%
• 1910 737 black / 131,462 total SLC population = 0.6%

For comparison, the 2020 census records Utah's Black population as 2%

Sanborn Maps showing the transition of Franklin Ave to Edison Street, 1926-1950

Blue Houses = Residential Buildings

Red Shopping Cart = Commercial Buildings

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The Skeleton in Grandpa's Barn

In 1923, a few schoolgirls found a box of human bones in the barn of the Lund family at 127 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City. The box of bones was an open secret known by many of the kids in the neighborhood.

Herbert Z. Lund Jr. recounts the story of these skeletal remains in a Utah Historical Quarterly article titled “The Skeleton in Grandpa’s Barn” (UHQ V35 N1 in 1967).

Herbert Jr. states that his father, Dr. Herbert Z. Lund Sr., was a physician at the Utah State Penitentiary (at what is now Sugar House Park) and acquired the body of J. J. Morris. Morris was executed in 1912 by hanging for murder; and, in accordance with common practice his body was donated for medical purposes.

Dr. Lund intended the body to become a teaching skeletal specimen. After the anatomical dissection was completed, Dr. Lund reduced the body to a skeleton. Part of the process to create a skeletal specimen is maceration so Dr. Lund and his friend William Willis (a druggist by profession) took the remains to an open area near Beck’s Hot Springs and boiled the remains in sulfur water and lime. The final process of bleaching the bones was never completed and the bones retained a rancid odor.

Dr. Lund placed the bones in a wooden box and stored them in the unused hayloft of his father’s barn, Anthon H. Lund’s house at 127 W. North Temple (now demolished).

Dr. Lund’s children (Anthon’s grandchildren) were aware of the skeletal remains and often found ways around the locked entry to view the bones. Even the grandchildren of the adjacent neighbor, LDS apostle Matthias F. Cowley, knew of the bones. So it is not surprising that other kids got into the barn to sneak a peak at the bones of a convicted murderer.

Around 1925, Dr. Lund’s mother, Sarah, demanded that the bones be buried to keep curious people away. Dr. Lund’s son, Herbert Jr, buried the remains behind the old barn. He and his grandmother Sarah had a little graveside service where Sarah read excerpts from the LDS publication “The Improvement Era” and placed the old magazines in the grave with the skeletal remains.

The gravesite was dug behind the barn. Sanborn maps show that this barn was demolished around 1950-1951. In the 1967 article, Herbert Jr. stated that the area of the grave was still open land but that development was happening all around.

Herbert Jr. drew a map of where he believed the gravesite to be. This location is now in an expanded parking lot of the old Travelodge Motel at 144 W. North Temple. It is unknown if construction has impacted the grave or if it is still intact below the asphalt parking lot.

One complication of this story is that there is a burial record for J.J. Morris in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, which contradicts the identity of the skeletal remains as being J.J. Morris. 

However, both the Lund family history and several 1920s newspaper articles (including an interview with Dr. Lund, himself) indicate that the skeleton in Grandpa’s barn is J.J. Morris.

The burial record for J.J. Morris indicates that he is buried along with 14 other prisoners whose remains were originally interred at the old Utah State Penitentiary, which is now Sugar House Park. These remains were disinterred from the Sugar House location in 1957 when the park was built. The remains were reinterred in a small prison cemetery at the Point of the Mountain Prison in Draper. In 1987, the remains were disinterred again and reinterred at the Salt Lake City Cemetery- with several remains (identified as cremains) interred in a single grave.

So if the cemetery record is to be believed (and with all those disinterment’s it is possible that records may have been compromised) then the remains buried behind the Grandpa’s barn are not those of J.J. Morris.

Utah executed several prisoners around the same time as J.J. Morris. It is possible that the identity of the skeleton in Grandpa’s barn is actually that of another prisoner whose remains were also donated to medical science around the same time. Potential candidates for this option include Harry Thorne executed Sept 26 1912 or Frank Romeo executed Feb 20 1913.

Utah Executions 1912-1913

• J.J. Morris, April 30 1912
• Jules C. E. Szirmay (Jules Zirmay), May 22 1912, Buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery
• Harry Thorne, Sept 26 1912, Body donated to medical science
• Thomas Riley, Oct 24 1912, Burred in Bluffdale City Cemetery
• Frank Romeo, Feb 20 1913, Body donated to medical science

Sources:

• “The Skeleton in Grandpa’s Barn” UHQ V35 N1,1967
• Ghosts of West Temple, Salt Lake County Archives
• "Ray Lund, Prison Doctor" by H Z (Zack) Lund (nd) from FamilySearch
• Salt Lake Tribune 1923-11-30
• Deseret News 923-11-30
• Ogden Standard Examiner 1923-11-30
• Salt Lake Telegram 1912-05-04
• Salt Lake Telegram 1912-04-30
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1980-06-19
• Various cemetery records from ancestry, names in stone, and find-a-grave

The 5 statues atop the SLC City and County Building

The statue "Columbia" atop the SLC City and County Building, ca 1894.
Historic photo from USHS.

The five statues atop the SLC City and County Building (451 S State SLC) have an interesting past. The current statues were placed in 1986 and 1989 as part of the massive building restoration effort.

(Fun fact = the City and County building was the first in the nation to be retrofitted with a seismic base isolation system).

The five statues are:

1. “Columbia” is located atop the central clock tower. Columbia was the popular symbol of America before the Statue of Liberty
2. “Liberty” on the north gable
3. “Justice” on the south gable
4. “Commerce” on the east gable
5. “Commerce” on the west gable
   

   
   
   

   The SLC City and County Building in 1905. Note the presence of the statues.
   Historic photo from USHS.

The 5 statues were part of the original building, dedicated in 1894. They were made of pressed zinc and were painted to simulate the sandstone of the building. The original statues were ordered from a catalog at a cost of $325 for Columbia and $300 each for the others.

The catalog may have been the W. H. Mullins Catalogue of Architectural Ornaments and Statuary, which was one of the primary suppliers of zinc statues and located in Salem, Ohio. One of their catalogs can be viewed on archive.org.

The Mullins Company supplied a variety of statues and architectural ornaments to many public buildings at this time. In addition to the five discussed here, depictions of Agriculture, Science, Music, Industry, and Freedom were popular. Some of these original statues on public buildings throughout the US have been restored.

After a large 6.6 earthquake in 1934, Columbia, Liberty, and Justice were damaged and removed (“junked” according to a 1954 Deseret News article) from the City and County Building.

But the two Commerce statues remained until 1954, at which point severe corrosion was found with their iron mountings and they were also removed.

One of the Commerce statues was placed at the SLC Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Memorial Museum storeroom, where it remained until the 1980s (not sure where it is now).

The SLC City and County building was void of its statutes for decades, until the restoration effort of the late 1980s.

The SLC City and County Building in 1972. Note the lack of statues.
Historic photo from USHS.

The first statue to be restored was the centerpiece Columbia in 1986 by artist Richard Young. The first concept of Young was rejected as being “anorexic by 1890s standards.” Young’s second concept plumped up the goddess statue by adding bulk to the shoulders and hips to make it more closely resemble the original catalog model. The new Columbia is made of cast bronze and has a leaden-tin finish.

The Commerce statue on the east gable was also replaced in 1986 and was created by Gordon Lewis Newby and Rudy Chagney. It seems this statue replacement was part of a roofing contract.

The remaining three statues (Commerce on the west, Justice, and Liberty) were able to be replaced because the overall bid to renovate the building came in under budget. That allowed these three statues and some other work, like stone carving restoration, to be completed.

These remaining three statues (Justice, Liberty, and the western Commerce) were created by artist Angelo Caravaglia, whose work I have featured in past posts- the fountain in front of the Bennett Federal Building and the twin bronzes previously attached to the old Mountain Bell Data Center building.

The Justice, Liberty, and Commerce statues are all made of hammered copper sheet (repoussé technique) with a dark patina finish.

As the two Commerce statues were made by different people, they are significantly different in appearance. I have included a possible catalog image for comparison (although the items in the hands are opposite).

Sources:

• Salt Lake Herald Republican 1893-12-08 p5
• Deseret News 1954-06-17 p50
• Daily Spectrum 1986-01-01- p4
• Salt Lake Tribune 1986-08-10 p21
• Daily Spectrum 1986-11-28 p2
• Salt Lake Tribune 1987-02-05 p39
• Salt Lake Tribune 1989-04-23 pg115
• Salt Lake City Corporation Insurance Appraisal by Allen Dodworth Art Appraisal Associates. March 2013.
• City and County Building SHPO file, Utah State Historical Society
• Catalogue of architectural ornaments and statuary, in sheet zinc, brass or copper / manufactured by W.H. Mullins, Salem, Columbiana Co., Ohio. 1894 (from archive.org).
• Zinc sculpture in America, 1850-1950 by Carol A Grisson, 2009. (from archive.org).  

Development of the SLC Glendale neighborhood as seen through aerial photography

While researching the history of the old Safeway building at 1179 Navajo St in the Glendale neighborhood of Salt Lake City, I found this serries of aerial photography showing the development of the neighborhood. 

Hale Market Ghost Sign

The Hale Grocery ghost sign at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City, has been revealed during recent renovations. The old market is soon to become a new location of Piko Mexican Grill (of Victor’s Tires fame!)

Hale Grocery ghost sign at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

Hale Grocery ghost sign at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

Hale Grocery ghost sign at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

Hale Market, as it was most commonly known, was established about 1925 by Parley W. and Olive Hale. They purchased and lived in the now adjoining home and converted the garage into a market.

In the first few decades, Hale Market was primarily known as a butcher shop, but it also sold dry goods, groceries, and notions (sewing accessories).

Parley Hale primarily worked at the store, and when his son Don C. Hale was old enough, he worked at the market too. The ca. 1940 photo shows both Parley and Don Hale in front of the market.

Hale’s Market with Parley and Don Hale, ca. 1940. From FamilySearch.

The son, Don C. Hale, wanted to go into business of his own and was intrigued by car hops. But having been denied the Big Boy franchise (it was purchased by someone else), Don decided to build his own burger shop and in 1959 opened Hires Drive-In at 425 S 700 East. Don was able to procure his fresh meat, bread, and produce through Hale Market. (Of note, it is called Hires because Hires Root Beer provided a sign if they agreed to sell Hires root beer.)

Glen Boldt took over ownership of the market in 1981. He started working at the market in 1954 as a bagger at the age of 14. He kept the old wood shelves and the pea-green wooden counter to keep that old neighborhood market feel that he loved.

As a local shop, Glen Boldt knew just about everyone in the neighborhood and extended credit to long-time customers.

 Hale Market about 2011, from Google Street View.

Even when the Smiths Marketplace (previously known as Fred Meyers) was built in 1995, Hale Market persevered.

Hale Market closed around 2016 and has been vacant since.

The building is located in the local Central City Historic District and any significant changes are subject to approval by the SLC Historic Landmark Commission.

Hale Market at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

Hale Market at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

The house adjoining Hale Market at 511 S 500 East, Salt Lake City. Nov 2023.

History of the Yardstick Building

The Yardstick Building at ~50 East 300 South, Salt Lake City, has been demolished, so let’s dive into its history... as told in three parts.

The Yardstick Building as it appeared in 2022.
52 E Broadway, Salt Lake City.

Part 1: Origin Story

This property has long ties to two early SLC Jewish families- the Brooks (Brooks Arcade Building at 268 S State) and the Auerbach family (Auerbach Department store at 324 S State) as represented by one woman: Eveline Brooks Auerbach (1860-1924).

Eveline was the daughter of Julius and Fanny Brooks, the first Jewish family to settle in SLC, in 1864. The Brooks family first lived in a small adobe house at the busy corner of 300 South and Main St. Both Julius and Fanny were entrepreneurs, both operating businesses, owning rental property, and buying more property along 300 South between Main and State St. They integrated well with LDS Church members and even attended LDS Sunday School before the first Jewish Synagogue was built in SLC in 1875.

In 1879, The Brook's daughter, Eveline, married a member of another prominent Jewish family, Samuel H Auerbach and Eveline’s parents allowed the newlyweds to build on a portion of land between Main and State streets, what is now the Yardstick (although the Brooks family retained ownership of the land).

By 1883 Eveline and Samuel built a new 2-story family home made of brick, located at 52 E 300 South. They also built 2 rental units just to the west at 48-50 E 300 South of the same style of their home, so much so that it looked to most that the family home and the 2 rental units were a single building.

 

 The home and rental units of Eveline and Samuel.
Original illustration from USHS.

Clip of the 1884 Sanborn Map showing their home and rental units.

They marketed their rentals as “elegant houses with modern improvements… suitable for dentist and doctor’s parlors.” In addition to dentists, musicians, and other professionals who rented these properties from Eveline, 2 notorious (and fraudulent) spiritualists also rented from her in 1902-1903: the Arnold-Dickson brothers (see a previous post from my #SpookySLC series).

These buildings replaced a log cabin that was previously located on the site and occupied by Alexander Pyper’s family, an early Mormon pioneer.

At the time, most of this section of 300 South was a mixture of old adobe homes originally built by early Mormon settlers and a few updated structures made of wood frame or brick, a much more rural setting. There was even a large “Chinese Vegetable Garden” located on the south side of block at about 45 E 400 South.

But the neighborhood was quickly developing into an urban district and by the 1890s their home and rentals were surrounded by large new buildings such as Freed Furniture & Carpets, the Telluride Hotel, and, of course, the Brooks Arcade building across the street (the façade still stands today). And much of this section of the 300 South was owned by the Brooks and Auerbach families.

Eveline formally inherited ownership of the property (and the Brooks Arcade and other property) when her mother Fanny died in 1901.

By 1908 Eveline and Samuel were living full time in NYC and they decided to demolish their SLC home and rental units and build a new theater and hotel in its location at 44-52 E 300 South. This is the building that became the Yardstick and is now being demolished.

Eveline Brooks Auerbach wearing a fashionable ostrich feather hat.

Eveline's husband Samuel Auerbach.

Part 2: Eveline’s Theater

In 1908 Eveline Brooks Auerbach constructed a new hotel and theater at 44-52 E 300 South at the site of her previous home (see last post), this building is what eventually became known as the Yardstick.

Eveline’s building was mixed-used with commercial on the ground floor, a rathskeller (bar/restaurant) in the basement, a hotel above (men’s bachelor quarters), and a large theater in the back. This was Eveline’s property, but she was living in NYC so she had her son George S. Auerbach oversee the construction (the location of his birth!).

Eveline’s husband Samuel H. Auerbach and her sons George and Herbert were involved with other endeavors in the area, namely Auerbach’s Department Store and other properties totaling more than 10 acres- making the Auerbach family the largest owner of commercial real estate in downtown SLC in 1909.

Eveline’s building was primarily known by the theater, as it was the largest portion of the building with the entrance and lobby of the theater being in the center of the building on the ground floor, with a large stage and auditorium occupying the back of the building. The building also included a smoking room for men, a parlor for women, and dressing rooms (individual rooms for the stars) for travel companies. The theater was decorated in ivory tones and outfitted with luxury lighting and textiles.

The front of the building featured a large sign made by Western Electric Co featuring individual lighted letters that could be swapped out to spell the current performance.

The theater was first known as the Colonial Theatre, and then became known as the Pantages Theatre (one of many) in 1913, Loew’s State Theater in 1921, and finally the Victory Theater in 1924.

Colonial Theatre with its big Western Electric Sign in 1909
Source USHS.

Eveline's theater when it was known as The Pantages Theatre, 1920.
Source USHS.

Interior of the Colonial Theatre, 1908.  Note the asbestos curtain.
Source USHS.

Victory Theatre lobby in 1924. The statue is a reproduction of the sculpture Winged Victory of Samothrace. Source USHS.

Long hallway entrance to the lobby of the Victory Theatre, 1924.
Source USHS

Victory Theatre with neon front, 1937.
Source USHS.

The Louvre Rathskiller occupied the basement, when it opened it was described as the “most novel and artistic metropolitan cafes… west of Chicago.”

The hotel was first known as the Touraine European Hotel, and was initially managed by Mrs. Ida M. Godman, described as “one of Salt Lake’s successful businesswomen.” The hotel was primarily used as a boarding house (typical of that era) rather than tourist lodging. The hotel became known as the St George Hotel in 1952.

Newspaper advertisements. The top is from The Journal Oct 7 1913; the bottom is from The Salt Lake Tribune March 20 1938.

Newspaper advertisements. The left is from The Salt Lake Tribune Nov 22 1928; The right is from The Salt Lake Tribune Oct 2 1937.

Of note, the first talkie film presented in Utah was shown at the Victory Theater on May 22 1928, and was “The Singing Fool” starring Al Jolson (in blackface!).

In 1943, one of the most devastating fires in SLC destroyed the Victory Theater. Several people were injured, and 3 firemen were killed. The fire was able to be contained to the theater building in the back and none of the adjacent buildings were burned.  See a previous post for more about that.

Detail of the Victory Theatre fire ruins, 1943. Source USHS.

After the fire only a brick shell surrounding rubble remained. The fire-ruined brick walls stood for several years; sometime after 1950 they were removed but the large concrete subterranean foundation remains.

Detail of the 1950 Sanborn Map showing the concrete ruins of the Victory Theater.

 
The property remained with the Auerbach family until 1949 when Eveline’s children sold the majority ownership to a Los Angeles real estate mogul, E. Phillip Lyon.

Part 3: Mid-Century Makeover 

Eveline Brooks Auerbach died in 1924 but the property remained part of the Auerbach holdings. After the Victory Theater fire in 1943, the property was sold in 1949 to a California group headed by E. Phillip Lyon who remodeled the building, including the new modern façade. In 1955, Lyon’s share was acquired by his partners Molly and Julius Fligelman, who became the long-time owners.

The Yardstick fabric store has been there since the beginning of the remodel. It moved into the section that was originally the hotel office, on the west side of the building (40 E). The middle section that once was the theater entrance was remodeled into a storefront with Lerner Shops as the primary occupant (44 E). The east side of the building (52 E) was generally a shoes or women’s apparel store, such as Juliette’s Intimate Apparel in 1977. And, for a time, Auerbach’s used the basement for storage.

The Yardstick in 1952. Source USHS.

 
Like many cities, SLC’s downtown family housing declined after WWII as the GI-bill-fueled suburbs expanded. For a time SLC was able to keep its downtown shopping district alive. Many people fondly remember shopping at the old ZCMI, Keith O’Brien, Auerbach’s, and others. These shops in the Yardstick building were a part of that shopping experience, with the Yardstick often being remembered as the best place to buy fabric anywhere in town.

The 1950s and early 1960s are often remembered fondly for downtown shopping. Check out the documentary film “Utah in the 50s” for a detailed view of that era.  

In 1962, the Cottonwood Mall in Holladay was built - Utah’s first large indoor shopping mall. And downtown shopping was further at risk. The big shopping days around the Holidays and Back-to-School became destination experiences and often local businesses banded together to put on events to draw people downtown.

Back to School shopping advertisement, from The Salt Lake Tribune Aug 14 1966.

Downtown Days newspaper advertisement at the Lerner Shops, from the Deseret News March 31, 1965.

The Yardstick Store closing clearance sale, from The Salt Lake Tribune Aug 30 1992.

By the 1970s, SLC was suffering…. Throw in lingering effects from redlining, racial housing policies, unequal access to education/utilities, and the new SLC RDA’s efforts to “clean up” urban “ghettos” and it was just a huge mess. More than I can talk about here.

Modern facade, Juliette's Intimate Apparel, 52 E 300 South, about 1979.  From UDSH building files.

Modern facade, Lerner Shops, 44 E 300 South, about 1979.  From UDSH building files.

Modern facade, Yardstick, 52 E 300 South, about 1979.  From UDSH building files.

The Yardstick persevered, however, as it remained at its location until 1992. The building was boarded up and became known for its ever-changing street art, until its demolition this week.