Disappearing Bed at the Critchlow Apartments

An interior view from 1909 of the Critchlow Apartments, 379 1st Ave SLC.

These images showcase a disappearing bed that can transform into a desk. The apartment boom of the early 1900s spurred the popularity of these beds, many of which were for sale in local Salt Lake City furniture shops.

Other names for a disappearing bed include Murphy bed (a specific patented brand), pull-down/fold-down bed, or hideaway bed.

Disappearing bed at the Critchlow Apartments, 1908. Image from USHS.

Disappearing bed, configured as a desk, at the Critchlow Apartments, 1908. Image from USHS.

Disappearing bed at the Critchlow Apartments, 1908. Image from USHS.

Advertisement for a disappearing bed available at Freed Furniture Store, Salt Lake City.
Image from Salt Lake Herald, June 4 1909.

Newspaper feature praising the benefits of Disappearing Beds.
Image from Salt Lake Tribune, July 12 1908.

The Critchlow was built in 1908 by John Q. Critchlow and designed by architect Charles B. Onderdonk. Built of dark red brick with white stone trim. The interior featured maple floors and colored tile baths and showers.

A building announcement promised soundproof floors with brick walls between apartments, a unique and notable feature at the time.

Both one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments were available and rented in 1908 at $30 (about $1K in 2025 dollars) and $46 (about $1.5K) a month.

The Critchlow became known by many other names through the years and is now known as First Avenue Flats.

1911 Sanborn Map showing the Critchlow Apts. Corner of 1st Ave and E Street, Salt Lake City.

The Critchlow in 1909 and 2022. Upper image from USHS, lower image from Google Street View.

Then and Now of the Karrick Block

A then (1890) and now (1986) view of the Karrick Block on Main St, Salt Lake City.

The adjacent Lollin Building has not been constructed in the 1890 photo, but the Karrick Block is easily located by the distinctive pinnacles (which are missing in the 1986 photo).

The tall building in the background of the 1986 photo is the Continental Bank Building, now Hotel Monaco.

Today, the Gallivan Plaza TRAX station and rails run down this section of Main Street. And the buildings north (right) of the Karrick Block are occupied by the 222 Tower.

Image from Utah Historical Society, Charles Raymond Varley collection.

Then and Now: The Rio Grande Depot

Then and Now: The Rio Grande Depot at 300 S. Rio Grande St, Salt Lake City.  

Then is ca. 1920-1930. It is a historic photo of the Rio Grande Depot from the Denver Public Library Special Collections (Number GB-5633). Now is from 2018 Google Streets View.

At the time of the photo, the building was known as The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Depot.

Note the trolly tracks in the foreground. Passengers disembarking from the Depot could then access Salt Lake’s large network of trolley lines in all directions.

Now & Then: Monheim Farm in Sugar House

Then and Now. Believe it or not, these are the same two houses from 1910 and 2018.

Located at about 2100 S and 2500 E in Salt Lake City these two houses were built in 1905 (left) and 1902 (right) by the Monheim family. In 1910, real estate man H. E. Monheim divided his mother's 50-acre farm into a subdivision and called it Monheim Park. He planted an acre of strawberries and held a free strawberry picking festival in June 1910 to help sell the lots. These two homes are what remain of the original Monheim farm.

Sources: Salt Lake Tribune May 1910, SL 1910-05-20, Salt Lake Tribune 1910-04-24, Salt Lake Tribune 1910-05-29

Photo taken June 3 2018

Monheim Park, April 15 1910. From UDSH.

Salt Lake Tribune 1910-05-29

Then & Now: Fire Station No 7

Then & Now. Fire Station No.7 located at 273 N. 1000 West, Salt Lake City, Utah (although the historic address was 273 9th West). 

The historic photo is from 1923 (courtesy UDSH) and modern photo is from Google street view. The modern building was constructed in 1979.

By 1946, the old Fire Station No. 7 was determined to be inadequate to properly protect the Utah State Fairgrounds and surrounding neighborhoods. It had only one pumper truck and four men. 

In 1963 $20K in funds were dispersed from Salt Lake City to renovate the building. Eventually it was replaced with this modern structure in 1979. 

Burned out house at 264 S 1000 East

Yesterday (Aug 18 2016) this house at 264 S 1000 East in Salt Lake City caught fire and burned down. Here is a Deseret News article on it.  

The insert is a view of the house from the Salt Lake County Assessor.  The house was built ca 1900 and was a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath. 

Then & Now Demolished at 829 S 800 East

Then and Now. This modest Victorian house at 829 S 800 East Salt Lake City was built in 1893 and was demolished in June 2016.

The upper left image is from the Salt Lake County Assessor, the lower left image is from Google Street view 2014, and the demolished image on the right is from June 2016.

Update 1: A modern style house was constructed on this lot in 2017.

Update 2: The two Victorian homes adjacent and to the south are also slated for demolition and the Telegraph Exchange building is slated for adaptive reuse in 2021.