Historic Intermountain Casket Building at 276 W 100 South

Intermountain Casket Co. building, constructed by the Villadsen Brothers, 1920.
Located at 276 West 100 South, Salt Lake City. Image from USHS.

The historic Intermountain Casket Building (aka Struve Distribution Building) at 276 W 100 South, in Salt Lake's Japantown, was built in 1920.

As discussed in my previous post about the Midwest Casket Building, several casket manufacturers were in Salt Lake City during the 1910s and1920s and one of them was the Intermountain Casket Company.

Intermountain Casket Company building, 2024.
Located at 276 West 100 South, Salt Lake City. 

Intermountain Casket was founded in 1919 by Alma O. Taylor (son of “Pioneer Undertaker” Joseph E. Taylor) and Lafayette Holbrook (quite wealthy from mining and commercial endeavors, former mayor of Provo, and well-connected political and religious relationships).

Alma split from his brothers Samuel and Joseph W. Taylor’s Salt Lake Casket Company and formed his own competing operation. There must have been some Taylor family drama there, especially factoring in that "Pioneer Undertaker" Joseph E. Taylor practiced polygamy, which meant that Joseph W. was the first-born of the first wife and half-brother to Samuel and Alma who were both from the third wife.

As a new company, Intermountain Casket built a new and modern 3-story factory at the corner of 100 South and 300 West. Construction started in 1919 and it opened in January 1920. 

As an aside- The property of the Intermountain Casket Company building was purchased from Annette “Nettie” Eliza Amussen Evans, who inherited it from her father Carl Christian Amussen who was an early Mormon Pioneer, Utah’s first jeweler and wo built the Amussen Building originally located at 62 S Main Street in 1869. The facade of the Amussen Building was relocated during the construction of City Creek Center and is now within a pedestrian walkway south of Deseret Book at about 45 W South Temple.

 I mention this because I wondered why Intermountain Casket built in SLC's Japantown, which would have been very active in the 1920s and Intermountain Casket (unlike the Midwest Casket Co) seemed heavily affiliated with the LDS religion, so it seemed an odd choice of location. However, it seems as simple as it was a large lot with a small adobe home owned by a Mormon pioneer family; the adobe house was being rented out and, like today, a large lot was more valuable for building upon so it was available for purchase. The lot was split with the Intermountain Casket Co building on the west half at 276 W. 100 S. in 1920 and the Japanese Church of Christ building on east half at 268 W. 100 S. in 1924. 

Japanese Church of Christ adjacent to the Intermountain Casket Company (note sign).
Unknown date.  Image from USHS.

The 3-story Intermountain Casket building was constructed by the Villadsen Brothers, who had recently opened an office in Salt Lake City. The Villadsen Brothers were authorities on reinforced concrete and one of the biggest general contractors in the Western US. They also built the Ford Motor Company Service Building at 280 S. 400 West and the Continental Bank Building (Hotel Monaco) at 15 W 200 South, Salt Lake City. 

Villadsen Brothers advertisement. Deseret News 1920-07-12 p11.

The Intermountain Casket building is made of reinforced concrete frame and brick infill that was popular around the time of WWI. The insignia of the Intermountain Casket Company “cIc” can still be seen on the second level of the façade along 100 South.

Intermountain Casket Company insignia "cIc"

Intermountain was described as having “the finest casket display rooms west of Chicago.” They were a wholesale company supplying Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada.

In 1924, Intermountain Casket supplied 120 caskets for the victims of the Castle Gate Mine Disaster near Price, Utah.

Mass burial services for some of the Greek immigrants killed during the Castle Gate Mine explosion in 1924. Held in a hall at Castle Gate. Caskets supplied by Intermountain Casket Company in Salt Lake City.  Image from USHS.

Intermountain Casket closed business in 1943 with the company’s president Alma O. Taylor saying that WWII wartime restrictions had become too severe to manufacture caskets as ordered. He was quoted as saying “production of metal caskets and handles were ordered stopped by the war production board, a 50% reduction on silk for trimming was ordered, then the length was reduced, then came the limitation of styles, and with no priorities what can one do?”

These wartime restrictions were ordered by the War Production Board and included an order that steel could not be used for caskets so manufacturers switched to wood and concrete. I also found reference to “Order L-34 (caskets, shipping cases, and burial vaults)” which mandated reduction of length of certain percentage of caskets.

Consolidated Amusement purchased the building in 1943 and in addition to its own offices it also provided office space to a variety of other businesses.  Consolidated Amusement was known for jukeboxes. 

Consolidated Amusement 1945. Interior of the Intermountain Casket building.
Image from USHS.

The building in 1945, when it was the Consolidated Amusement Company.
Located at 276 West 100 South, Salt Lake City. Image from USHS.

Intermountain Casket Company building, 2024.
Located at 276 West 100 South, Salt Lake City. 

Struve Distributing Company purchased the building in 1966. They were known for pool tables, billiard supplies, and other amusement and tavern equipment. They closed 2011.

Struve Distributing Company advertising home pool tables.
From The Salt Lake Tribune 1967-12-16 p35. 

Struve Distributing Company advertising Elton John's Capt. Fantastic pinball machine.

From Marketplace Issue July 04 1976 (from International Arcade Museum)

Some comments on my Instagram post made reference to Real Ride Skatepark using the interior of the building (and all that concrete!) as a (private?) skatepark.   

Interior of the Intermountain Casket Company building, from LoopNet.

Interior of the Intermountain Casket Company building, from LoopNet.

Interior of the Intermountain Casket Company building, from LoopNet.

Currently the building is available for lease. It is located just east of the Delta Center and although not specifically identified for redevelopment, it is within the general area of the Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) redevelopment project.

Location of the building relevant to Japantown and Delta Center.

Sources:

• Goodwins Weekly 1924-08-23 p30
• Salt Lake Herald 1919-07-13 p23
• Salt Lake Herald 1919-06-11 p14
• SL Herald 1916-06-12 p7
• Salt Lake Herald 1919-07-13 p29
• Salt Lake Telegram 1924-03-10 p3
• Salt Lake Tribune 1943-02-11 p12
• 276 W 100 S USHS file
• Various Sanborn maps and FamilySearch data

WWI 1918 Military Draft Map of Salt Lake City

More map fun! This is a World War I (WWI) 1918 military draft map of Salt Lake City. This map shows men where they needed to go to register for military service, both citizens and non-citizens.

Clip of map from SL Trib 1918/06/04 Page 11

Detail of the same (above) clip of map from SL Trib 1918/06/04 Page 11

Of interest, the Japanese Association Headquarters building at 168 S West Temple is specifically noted and marked. The Japanese Association was the precursor to the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).

The building at 168 West Temple was part of Salt Lake’s old Japantown which was mostly demolished for the construction of the Salt Palace in the 1960s.

Image 3 shows what the building looked like in 1918. The “Lodge Pool Hall” is the location of the Japanese Association. As it was mostly a fraternal association of men, it is sometimes identified as a Lodge.

I’ve denoted the approximate location of this building on the other images by using a torii gate icon in red.

Image of the building at 168 S West Temple in 1918. From USHS Shipler 18591.

Clip from a postcard of the Salt Palace in the 1960s

 Modern Google Maps showing the Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

USS Utah: The Forgotten Ship of Pearl Harbor

Today, Dec 7 2021, is the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

One of the losses of the attack on Pearl Harbor was the battleship USS Utah, now often referred to as “The Forgotten Ship of Pearl Harbor.”  

The USS Utah at Pearl Harbor as it appears today. From ussutah1941.org

The USS Utah was launched on Dec 23 1909 with Utah Governor William Spry’s daughter, Mary Alice Spry breaking a bottle of champaign on the ship’s bow. At the time of its launch it was the largest vessel in the US Navy. In 1932 the Utah was converted for use as a target and training ship.

USS Utah in 1913. From US Navy History and Heritage Command

On Dec 7, 1941, the Utah was moored off Ford Island in the center of Pearl Harbor. The attack on the fleet at Pearl Harbor began at 7:55 am and lasted about 2 hours, but for Utah it was over in a few minutes.

At 8:01 am the ship was hit by the first of two torpedoes and immediately started to list to port (left side of the ship). At 08:12 am, the mooring lines snapped causing the Utah to completely capsize.

The crew abandoned the ship. Most sailors were stationed below deck and they quickly headed topside. There are many heroic stories of sailors helping with the evacuation such as Chief Peter Tomich who remained at his post in the engineering section until he saw that all boilers were secure and all men were evacuated, even at the cost of his own life. Tomich posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions.

Fireman 2nd Class John B. Vaessen also remained at his post in the electrical room making sure that the ship had enough power to keep the lights to aid in the evacuation process. After the ship capsized, Veassan was trapped for 2 days in the overturned hull of the ship. For those 2 days he tapped on the hull hoping for rescue. Machinist S.A. Szymanski and other men from the neighboring USS Raleigh were able to cut through the hull of the Utah and rescue Vaessen. The Navy Cross was awarded to Vaessen for his actions. He died in 2018.

 Rescue and recovery efforts at USS Utah, Dec 1941. From ussutah1941.org

Altogether, 30 officers and 431 enlisted men of the USS Utah survived the attack and 6 officers and 52 enlisted men died. Only the remains of 4 men were recovered and interred ashore leaving 54 sailors still entombed within the Utah.

As the ship had little military value no effort was made to refloat it. A small monument is present at the site of the USS Utah on the opposite side of Ford Island from the USS Arizona. Of the several battleships sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor, only the USS Arizona and the USS Utah remain.

USS Utah Memorial in 1950, From US Navy History and Heritage Command

Sources:

• The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Updated 07 December 2018. History and Recovery Efforts for the USS Utah (BB-31) https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/Documents/USSUtahSupplementReport.pdf
• Cressman, Robert J. Updated 3 Feburary 2021. Utah I (Battleship No. 31) 1911-1944. Naval History and Heritage Command. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/u/utah.html
• USS UTAH: The Forgotten Ship of Pearl Harbor website https://www.ussutah1941.org/home.html
• SL Trib Dec 26 1909.

Ghost Sign on State Street, Dec 2021

The other day I saw this historic painted sign being uncovered by workers at 1480 S State Street Salt Lake City, which is the recently closed Pappy’s Pawn shop. Pappy was of Greek heritage and a longtime resident of State Street. 

Detail of newly revealed painted sign, Dec 2021.

The workers said they were repairing the stucco when they found this older sign under it. The workers thought the older sign was incredibly cool and were carefully working to keep it intact.

Unfortunately, it will not be visible for long as the plans of the new owner are to cover it back up.

I did a little history digging and found that the building was constructed in 1938.

Below is an incomplete list of businesses that have occupied the space:

• Crystal Laundry (1930s-1940s)
• Good Laundry and Dry Cleaning (1940s-1960s)
• European Auto Parts Inc (1960s-1970s)
• Jensen Distributing Co (1970s)
• Betty’s Collectables (1975-1976)
• Earl Shiel (1980s)
• Pappy’s Pawn (1990s-2020s)

The only letters clearly uncovered are “ING” so I’m not sure what the full word could be but my best guess is Good Laundry and Dry Cleaning which was operated by a Japanese-American family.

View of Pappys Pawn as it appeared in 2019, from Google Street View.

International Peace Garden Cherry Tree Fiasco

Japanese Garden at SLC International Peace Gardens, ca. 1951. From UDSH

Importing cherry trees from Tokyo for planting at SLC’s International Peace Garden resulted in an international fiasco.

On July 11 1950, the Japanese garden of the International Peace Garden (IPG) was formally dedicated located in Jordan Park just off 900 West (1160 Dalton Ave SLC). It was the first garden section to be developed in the IPG and was developed in cooperation between SLC and the Japanese-American community of SLC.

Included in the dedication was a letter from the Japanese people in Tokyo promising a gift of 3,000 cherry trees to arrive in the fall.

It was largely through the efforts of Tokyo’s Mr. Tomatsu Murayama in which items from Japan were donated to the SLC garden. He secured the donation of the 17th-century stone lanterns that currently adorn the garden and he arranged shipment to SLC through General MacArthur’s office in Tokyo.

He also arranged for the boy scouts of Tokyo to raise money to buy the 3,000 cherry trees destined for SLC’s new IPG.

Murayama sent word to SLC that he was going to send the first shipment of 1,000 cherry trees by air as they would arrive in better condition than if by sea. Just as he had done with the stone lanterns, he shipped the trees payable on delivery assuming SLC would pay the freight as they had before.

The cherry trees arrived in Seattle and SLC was notified of the $1,482 freight bill (~$15K today) by Pan American Airlines. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) then notified SLC that new customs regulations prohibited the entry of the trees due to potential diseases they may introduce to domestic crops. The USDA stated that the Japanese government was informed of these new requirements 2 days before the shipment of the trees.

Some members of Congress got involved to see if a waiver could be obtained but ultimately the gifted cherry trees were burned at the Seattle city dump on Friday the 13th of April 1951.

As SLC never received the trees the City refused to pay the freight charge. Mr. Murayama then understood the bill to be his responsibility. Not having the 500,000 yen, he needed to mortgage his house in Tokyo to pay the bill. Even then, the SLC Commissioners refused to pay the bill.

Mayor Glade and the SLC Boy Scouts then formed a committee to raise the funds to pay the freight bill. Within a couple months enough money was raised to more than cover the bill. By that time Pan American Airlines had cancelled the debt.

There was enough money raised to purchase 1,000 new cherry trees for the IPG (from a domestic source) and to purchase camping equipment to send to the Boy Scouts in Tokyo. In March 1952 the Boy Scouts of Tokyo were presented with 275 camping tents from the Boy Scouts of SLC at a ceremony in Tokyo’s Hibiya Public Hall and with the participation of the US military

The cherry trees were planted in the Japanese garden and along the west bank of the Jordan River. However, all these trees died or were stolen. Replacement cherry trees were added to the Japanese garden in 1988.

A note: Murayama was born in Seattle but had gone to Japan and was drafted into the Japanese Army during WWII, as such he lost his American citizenship. After WWII he revived the Boy Scouts movement in Japan.  

Sources SL Telegram 1950-07-08; SL Trib 1951-03-20; Des News 1951-04-29, SL Telegram 1951-04-16; IPG NRHP form.

Japanese Garden at SLC International Peace Gardens, June 2019

The History of the Japanese Cherry Blossoms at the Utah State Capitol

Blooming cherry tree at Utah State Capitol, probably the Kwanzan variety. ca 1940s. From UDSH. 

The History of the Japanese Cherry Blossoms at the Utah State Capitol begins 100 years ago.

The construction of the Utah State Capitol was completed in 1916 and a special tree planting ceremony on April 15 1916 was planned to start beautifying the grounds. The first tree planted was a Norway Maple and several hundred of other trees followed, each planted by a distinguished member of the government or citizenry.

For this event in 1916, Mr. Shiro Iida, publisher of the Japanese newspaper Rocky Mountain Times in SLC, ordered several Japanese evergreens from California to be planted around the State Capitol.

The first reference that I could find to Japanese cherry trees was in March 1921 when the Japanese Association of Utah gifted the state with 4 Yoshino and 3 Fugenzo blooming cherry trees which were then planted by the state’s landscape gardener on the State Capitol grounds.

Additional cherry trees were planted in 1931, some donated by the Intermountain Japanese Association and some purchased by the State of Utah.

Throughout the 1930s cherry trees were donated to the capitol grounds by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) of Utah, many of the trees were the Kwanzan variety with large double pink flowers.

When WWII began, the Japanese cherry trees on the State Capitol grounds were vandalized and security patrols were implemented 1943-1945.

By the mid-1950s, the cherry trees were struggling due to lack of caretaking and early frosts.

In 1958, Governor Clyde accepted 36 cherry trees from the JACL of Utah. JACL chapters in California also contributed to this gift to memorialize the Japanese who died in the Topaz Internment Camp during WWII.

During the Capitol renovation 2004-2008 the trees were removed, and several hundred Yoshino variety of cherry trees were planted around the Capitol grounds.

Sources: SL Telegram 1916-04-14; SL Trib 1921-03-19; SL Telegram 1931-04-12; SL Trib 1935-02-24; SL Trib 1958-05-05; Utah.gov

Of Note: I have seen some histories of the cherry trees at the Utah State Capitol indicate that the cherry trees were donated by the government of Japan as a symbol of friendship and reconciliation immediately following WWII. I found no primary sources to support this statement. There is an interesting history of an ordeal concerning importing of cherry trees from Japan for the establishment of the International Peace Gardens adjacent to the Jordan River in the early 1950s that I will tell in a separate post. As far as I can tell, all the cherry trees on the state capitol ground (past and present) were either purchased by the State of Utah or donated by SLC Japanese American residents, but always purchased from a domestic vendor.

Utah Celery Week

Betty & Calleen Robinson, Centennial Queen showing Utah grown celery, 1947, From UDSH.

For decades SLC sent its famed Utah celery variety to the White House for the President’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.

The SLC area was once a top producer of celery in the USA. The Utah Tall Celery variety was especially well regarded and is now often found in grocery stores and home gardens alike.

The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce established the first annual Utah Celery Day (later expanded to Utah Celery Week) in Dec 1915 to promote the superiority of Utah-grown celery. Utahans were encouraged to send packages of celery to friends and family.

In 1923 Utah Governor Charles Mabey started an annual tradition of sending Utah celery to the White House for the President’s Thanksgiving meal. This was part of an initiative from the White House to receive the finest product from each state to highlight the President’s Thanksgiving.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was said to have particularly enjoyed the Utah celery and even asked for second shipment to be sent in 1941.

Utah celery was sent by Utah governors until 1948, with President Truman being the last to receive a gift of Utah celery.

The Utah celery industry faded at the end of WWII and died, almost overnight, about 1948.

Utah Celery was primarily grown by Japanese farmers living along the Wasatch Front and the Japanese largely failed to return to celery farming after being released from the WWII Japanese internment camps.

Further, much of the Wasatch Front farmland was turned into housing following WWII. Both aspects contributed the the demise of the Utah celery industry.

Sources: SL Telegram 1923-11-27; SL Trib 1941-11-22; SL Trib 1967-11-22. Colorization by PlaybackFM.

Utah Celery Week label, 1927

Celery Farmers Nov 1941, SL Trib Negative Collection. From UDSH.

C.M. Hall and Governor Henry H Blood packing the gift box
for the President’s table. From SL Trib 1939-11-12

Dorthea Stevenson and Lois Denne pack celery which was shipped to
President FDR for the White House Thanksgiving. From SL Trib 1942-11-14

SLC Was Once the Source of 75% of Miso in the US

Richard Sugasawara mixes ingredients to
make miso, SL Trib Aug 14 1949

The Fujimoto family of SLC once produced 75% of miso manufactured in the US.

In 1945 Edward K. Fujimoto and his wife Rae re-established the Fujimoto & Co in SLC at 302 S 500 West, just behind the Rio Grande Depot.

Originally, Edward’s father Genpei Fujimoto started the company in 1917 in San Francisco- it was the first and largest miso company in the continental US. Edward inherited the company when Genpei died in 1929. Operations continued in San Francisco until the US entry into WWII.

Edward, who immigrated to the US in 1916, was soon arrested for being a foreign-born Japanese of prominence and was sent to Camp Livingston in Louisiana.

Rae, immediately took over operations of the business. Anticipating the upcoming forced relocation, she put some of the equipment in storage, sold other equipment, and haggled for the best price of their miso in the warehouse.

A few months after Edward’s arrest, his wife Rae, teenage daughter Grace, and mother Tsuya were all forcibly placed in Topaz Relocation Center, near Delta, Utah (Grace and Rae were both US Citizens).

By 1944 Edward has been paroled to Topaz and was reunited with his family. He and Rae immediately began planning for the reestablishment of their miso business, this time in SLC.

In 1944, from inside the walls of Topaz, Rae wrote to the SLC Council and obtained a business license. By early 1945, Edward and Rae had established their new miso manufacturing factory at 302 S 500 West SLC. Soon, daughter Grace joined them to help with the bookkeeping.

They made the Kanemasa brand of miso using the old methods and without the use of modern machinery. The business provided jobs to many recently released internees.

In 1956 Edward drowned while on a fishing trip in Idaho. Rae continued operations of the business until her retirement in 1976. Fujimoto & Co was acquired by Miyako Oriental Foods in the 1970s and they still manufacture miso under the Kanemasa brand. Rae died in 1997, Grace died in 2017.

Note: The University of Utah Marriot Library has an oral history of Grace Fujimoto Oshito in which she describes the traditional process of making miso (and her time in Topaz). The process is too long for me to post here but it is an interesting read.  

Fujimoto & Co, 1954 at 302 S 500 W, from Japanese Americans in Utah

Mrs. Rae Fujimoto, SL Trib Nov 12 1962

Car Bombing of a Japanese Household in 1955

920 S. Gale St as it appears today.

This abandoned house at 920 S. Gale Street SLC is on the demolition list; it is located across the street from the triplex I posted about yesterday.

It may not look like much now but it does have an interesting past.

The house was built in 1897 by Ared H. White (1851-1920), a SLC policeman who dabbled in mining. He built a barn and planted several fruit trees for his wife and two sons.

By 1912 Ared and his family moved to Portland. The house had several occupants after Ared indicating it may have been used as a rental.

During the first half of the 1900s, the Gale Street area was home to a high percentage of immigrants, mostly from European countries such as Germany, Sweden, England, Switzerland, Denmark, and Russia.

Soon after WWII, a Japanese family moved into the home. Richard and Dorothy Sugasawara were both born in California, married in 1940, and were sent to the Manzanar Japanese Relocation Camp during the war. By 1948 they had moved into this house in SLC where their 2nd daughter was born.

Just before 10:30 pm on May 19 1955, a homemade bomb was placed on the gas tank cap of the Sugasawara family car which then exploded. The force of the blast ripped through the trunk of the car, blew in two front windows of the house, and cracked a wall in the house. None of the Sugasawara family were seriously injured in the blast.

Several other people in SLC were victims of similar bombings and the reporting in the local newspapers does not indicate that the Sugasawara family was specifically targeted. The police thought that the perpetrators were juveniles but even after a $500 reward was offered no one was ever caught for the crimes.

The Sugasawara family soon left SLC and by 1956 they were living back in California.

The last record I could find of the house being occupied was 1995. Currently the roof of the house has collapsed and the current owner wishes to demolish it and “hold the land for future development.”

Sources: multiple news articles but especially SL Trib May 19 1955.

Ared H. White, original owner, image from findagrave.

Remains of the Sugasawara family car after the bombing, from SL Trib 05-19-1955.

Dr Edward Hashimoto Became Known as the Ambidextrous Irishman Following the Bombing of Pearl Harbor

The Ambidextrous Irishman - Dr. Edward Hashimoto ca. 1980s.
From Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah

Continued from previous post

In 1911, E.D. and Lois’s only child, Edward Ichiro Hashimoto was born, he often went by the name “Eddie” and became a physician practicing family medicine out of this home and teaching gross anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine for 53 years.

E.D. died in 1936, before WWII, leaving his widow and his son living in the house through the war years.

Eddie and Lois were not subject to Japanese relocation policies during WWII and continued owning and living in their house.

In his oral history, Dr. Eddie said if his father were still alive his father would certainly have been interred because he was such as prominent Japanese businessman. Dr. Eddie was working for the University of Utah at the time of the war and said he was under the protective wing of the University. The University even obtained a waiver from the draft for Dr. Eddie because he was the University’s only teacher of anatomy at the time.

Dr. Eddie tells a story about him returning to teach anatomy the day after Pearl Harbor. He entered his classroom and said “What are you fellows staring at? I’m Irish. I was home in Dublin at the time!” Everyone laughed and moved on. Dr. Hashimoto was also known for drawing human figures with both hands simultaneously and became known as the “Ambidextrous Irishman.”

Dr. Eddie said he wasn’t really affected by the prejudices during WWII. Only one time was he wrongly detained for fear that he might sabotage a water pump. But he promptly called his friend the Utah Attorney General and was immediately released with an apology.

Dr. Eddie saw many patients out of his medical office in the basement of his home. He died in 1987. The house continues to be owned by the Hashimoto family.

Sources: Peoples of Utah; Japanese Americans in Utah; Oral Histories of Hashimoto family; SL Herald June 3 1909.

Young Dr. Hashimoto in his car on 1200 East, 1926.
(Duplex in background is 302-304 S. 1200 East).
From the book Japanese Americans in Utah. 

Party at the Hashimoto house 1926. From Marriott Library, University of Utah.

E.D. Hashimoto and his Japanese Style House at 315 S 1200 East SLC

Hashimoto family house located at 315 S 1200 East SLC

This is the Hashimoto family house located at 315 S 1200 East SLC. It was designed by architect A. J. Hamilton in 1909 for Edward Daigoro Hashimoto (1875-1936) and his family.

E.D. Hashimoto was the nephew of Yozo Yashimoto (see previous post) who brought him over from Japan when E.D. was 15. He was immediately sent to work as a cook for the railroad in Montana. He didn’t last long: first, he didn’t know how to cook, and second, the Yellow Peril Vigilantes drove out and killed most Asians working the railroad. E.D. hid from the vigilantes and then walked to SLC.

In 1902 he established the E. D. Hashimoto company at 163 W South Temple. By then he was known as “Daigoro Sama” (Great Man) to the Japanese and “E.D.” to American business associates. Like his uncle, E.D.’s company supplied Japanese labor, food, and clothing and ran his business out of SLC's old Japantown.

E.D. was involved in other business opportunities including mining, board of directors of Tracy Collins Trust and Bank, and started Red Feather Bus Line which is now Grayhound Bus Lines. He also supplied Mexican labor and was an honorary Mexican consul in Utah.

E.D. built the family house in 1909. E.D. wanted a Japanese-style house on the exterior, hence the curved roofs and shoji-style windows, but the inside was entirely Western and was furnished with Mormon antiques by his wife Lois.

Many dignitaries were hosted in his home including President Taft who visited SLC in Sept 1909. And he often hosted Governor Spry.

The Hashimoto story continues in the next post.

Sources: Peoples of Utah; Japanese Americans in Utah; Oral Histories of Hashimoto family; SL Herald June 3 1909.

E.D. Hashimoto in 1914. From Men of Affairs in Utah.

Yozo Hashimoto's Changed Headstone

This headstone of Yozo Hashimoto (1851-1914) in the Salt Lake City Cemetery has an interesting past.

Yozo was one of the early Japanese immigrants to Utah and was a successful businessman. He supplied Japanese labor workers throughout the Intermountain West in the late 1800s.

One of the individuals he brought over from Japan was his nephew, Edward Daigoro Hashimoto (more on him in another post).

Yozo’s funeral was well attended by the SLC Japanese community and a large headstone was installed when he was interred in the City Cemetery.

The headstone featured a “swastika” symbol common in Japanese and Buddhist culture.

Decades later, on a Memorial Day during WWII, Yozo’s great nephew Dr. Ed I. Hashimoto, son of Edward Daigoro Hashimoto, noticed Yozo’s headstone had been tipped over. In his oral history, Dr. Ed Hashimoto said he presumed it was done by a bunch of kids because of the Nazi takeover of the traditional Buddhist symbol.

Dr. Ed Hashimoto, then the only living patriarch of the SLC Hashimoto family, decided to “erase the swastika” so the headstone would no longer be subject to vandalism.

His modification to the symbol is how the headstone remains today.

Funeral of Yozo Hashimoto 1914, from UDSH.

Detail of the Yozo Hashimoto’s headstone as it appears today.

Taijiro Kasuga: SLC Strawberry King

 Taijiro Kasuga from UDSH.
Colorization by MyHeritage

Inspired by TigerKing, I’m going to highlight some of the Kings of Salt Lake City.

First up is the Strawberry King: Mr. Taijiro Kasuga. 

Taijiro Kasuga was a Japanese immigrant who developed and patented a new variety of strawberry in 1926.

Tijiro Kasuga immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1895 and came to Utah in 1901. A believer in luck and that someone was looking after him, Kasuga worked as a cook at a mining camp in Alta in 1909 when he got into an argument with his boss and quit; a week later, an avalanche buried the camp and killed the new cook in his cabin.

Kasuga turned to farming, especially strawberries. He and his family tried several locations: Butlerville (now Cottonwood Heights), Murray, Granite, and Union (now Ft Union). Kasuga’s had difficulty farming in Butlerville and Murray due to drought, early frost, and alkaline soil; his attempts to farm strawberries in Granite and later in Union thrived.

After 10 years of experimenting Kasuga developed his own variety of strawberry by crossing the Berri-Supreme with the Rockhill; he named it the Twentieth Century Everlasting. The Century was highly favorable, prolific, and stayed fresh during shipping. Kasuga patented it in 1926 and made it available to commercial growers in 1932.

In 1940, the Century became highly publicized as one of the best strawberry varieties available. Unfortunately, soon thereafter the US became involved with WWII and sentiments toward Japanese living in the US turned suspect. 

The Kasuga family became a victim of this mistrust, especially since their farm at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon contained an open pipeline with access to Sandy City’s water source. Many neighbors felt that the Kasuga’s would sabotage the water system and pressured Kasuga's landlord to evict him but the landlord felt Kasuga was an honorable man and that he would not be evicted.  After the war, the Kasuga family settled in Sandy.

Although the Twentieth Century strawberry is no longer common its descendant the Ozark Beauty is. The Ozark Beauty variety is a crossbred of the Twentieth Century and the Red Rich varieties and is one of the most common strawberry varieties available to Salt Lake City home gardeners.

Update May 17 2021:

Check out this SLC History Minute on Taijiro Kasuga.

Japanese in Utah

From my newly acquired book Japanese Americans in Utah is a description of the first delegation of Japanese to visit Utah.

Their visit to Salt Lake City lasted nearly 3 weeks and included observing an amputation of a leg, soaking in the warm springs at Wasatch Plunge, visiting Camp Douglas, and of course meeting with Brigham Young.

A digital version of Japanese Americans in Utah is available at archive.org.