The Ghosts of Eden Park and Utah's Very Slight Connection

The audiobook I'm listening to right now: 
The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who
Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America

George and Imogene Remus

The Ghosts of Eden Park is about the bootlegger king, George Remus and his wife Imogene. They were big names in the Midwest in the 1920s. 

Of course I found a (slight) Utah connection: Clarence Beard was an associate (or so he says) of George Remus and he was captured in Salt Lake City in 1928, after his escape from a Criminally Insane Hospital in Ohio for the murder of Stephen Zaborskis in Cleveland. He was identified by the new technology of fingerprinting.

Utah closely followed the sensational trial of George Remus.

Charles Beard, an associate of George Remus, was captured in SLC.

Beyond the bootlegging aspect, the women are independent and ambitious. I particularly enjoy Mabel Walker Willebrant, US Assistant Attorney General in the 1920s and prosecuted Remus. She was a professional lawyer who turned down an offer of marriage to keep working and then adopted a child as a single mother.

Judge Building, Salt Lake City

1909 Postcard of the Judge Building, Salt Lake City.

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The Judge Building, 8 E 300 S SLC, built in 1907 by Mary Judge and designed by the Judge family architect David C. Dart who also designed the Judge Miner's Home, now part of Judge Memorial High School.

Mary and her husband John made their wealth primarily from the Daly-Judge Mine in the Park City Mining District. John died in 1892 and Mary took over business operations and invested in real estate.

She also contributed the establishment of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, YMCA, and All Hallows College.

Judge Building in 1908. Image from USHS.

Judge Building 1939. Image from USHS

Judge Building 2023

Dr. Nell C. Brown, Hair Physician

In 1902, 30-year-old Nell Young Clauson Brown reinvented herself as “Dr. Nell C. Brown: Hair Physician.”

Advertisement from the Salt Lake Theatre program, 1903. From USHS.

Her husband, Leigh, died a couple years previous, leaving her a widow with 2 children. Leigh had been in ill health for years, and for a time, the family lived in San Francisco and then Idaho Falls before returning to SLC where Leigh died.

Nell was not a destitute or desperate widow. She was a granddaughter of Brigham Young and a daughter of well-connected Hiram B. Clawson (through his 4th wife, Emily Augusta Young). She had affluent family she could entrust the care of her children while she completed coursework in San Francisco.

Perhaps it was while the family lived in San Francisco that Nell met Dr. Edith E. McClean, or perhaps Nell responded to one of the many advertisements recruiting women to take a 3-month course in “alopecia and dermatology using the Dr. W.S. Gottheil method.”

Edith was a character herself. Also reinventing herself after a divorce, she built up a hair restoration business in San Francisco and rebranded herself as Dr. E. E. McClean offering specialized hair and scalp services and a bottled Medicated Hair Tonic of her own concoction.

Dr. Edith E. Corey McClean, of San Francisco.

Nell studied under Dr. Edith and returned to Salt Lake in May 1902 and began her own business to “scientifically treat the hair and scalp” with special attention given to baldness, promising the majority of such cases were curable under the proper treatment.

She also offered manicuring and shampooing. Like Dr. Edith, Nell rebranded herself as Dr. Nell C. Brown. Her offices were in the ornate Templeton Building at 1 S Main St (now Zions Bank Building).

Various clippings advertising Dr. Nell C. Brown

The Templeton Building where Dr. Nell C. Brown had her offices.

In Jan 1904, Nell married John Aski Silver, of the famous Silver Brothers Iron and Foundry Works, and her hair career ended.

However, two of her associates began their own business: Miss Charlotte Lynberg and Miss Carrie Leaker relocated to the Constitution Building.

Nell was widowed again in 1916 and married Morris D. Rosenbaum in 1918. When Nell died in 1937 she had amassed an enormous extended and blended family.

Preservation Story of the Karrick Block

The distinctive Karrick Block and adjacent Lollin Building (236-238 S Main) were preserved in 2002 as part of an agreement with Salt Lake City and the owners, Hamilton Partners, as part of the process to build the 222 Main Tower (222 S. Main).

In 2001, Hamilton Partners (HP) demolished the historic buildings that were located between the Continental Bank (now Hotel Monaco) and the Karrick Block. These buildings housed Wendy’s Restaurant, Walk-Over Shoes, Lord’s Big and Tall, Dahle’s, English Tailors, the Catholic Center, and others).  

The original intent was to construct the 222 Tower in their place, but office space was in low demand at the time due to the newly constructed American Stores Tower, now knows as the Wells Fargo Building, HP erected temporary one-story buildings made of wood that were used during the 2002 Olympics by organizations and vendors (SLC pushed for some kind of use of the empty area, HP originally wanted a surface parking lot). In 2004, these temporary buildings were then demolished and the 222 Tower built in their place.

The Karrick and Lollin buildings were preserved because they are local historic landmark sites, which provides them with some level of protection by Salt Lake City regarding their modification/demolition, which is overseen by the SLC Historic Landmark Commission.

The Karrick Block was built in 1887 for Lewis Karrick and was designed by famed architect Richard K.A. Kletting, who also designed the adjacent Lollin Building in 1894. The Karrick building is Kletting’s earliest example of work that is still standing.

The Karrick Block had been occupied by Leyson-Pearsall Jewelry since 1905. Originally, the upper floors were used as a gambling hall, offices, and had 8 rooms for sex workers but were later used as storage for Leyson-Pearsall. In 1976, the names of some of those sex workers remained on the doors of the Karrick Block (I could not find reference to what names). The upper floors were condemned in 1976.

In 1980, the interior of the Karick Block still had some of the original décor including ornate crystal chandeliers hanging from the hand painted gold leaf ceilings, wrought iron balcony railings, and some areas with original ceramic tilted floors.

The main occupants of the Lolling Building were the Hudson Bay Fur Company until 1962 and then the G.E.M Music Store. The second floor were business offices, primarily dentists. And the third floor was the residence of the Lollin family until 1960.

In 2000, HP hired MHTN Architects to renovate the Lollin and Karrick Buildings. The buildings underwent a full exterior restoration, including masonry, stone, bricks, lintels, decorative aspects of the façade, structural upgrades, new elevator structure, and steel interior structural bracing. The additions on the back were also demolished. Total cost of the renovation of the two buildings was $5.3M, of which $2.276M was eligible for reimbursement by the SLC Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Building Renovation Loan Program.

The interior of the Lollin and Karick Block were nearly completely gutted and adapted for modern residential living, which prompted disagreement about how the interior rehab of the buildings were done. Some features were saved, including a tin ceiling in the Karrick Block. 

In 2000, the Utah State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) wrote that the upper levels of the Lollin were “remarkably intact” prior to the renovation. After the renovation the interior spatial configuration was significantly altered and many of the original wood features were removed, including an oak staircase, wainscot, and trim. Some of these features were replaced with similar looking materials.  Additionally, new windows were introduced on the north side of the Karrick Block.

Currently, the bottom floor of the Lollin and Karrick Block are occupied by commercial/retail operations and the upper stories are residential. It is still under the ownership of HP.

The Hancock Mansion is said to be haunted by Hollister Hancock

The Hancock Mansion at 444 S 700 East in SLC is said to be haunted by the ghost of Ms. Hollister Hancock. 

The Hancock Mansion at 444 South 700 East, Salt Lake City. January 2023.

Built in 1890 for SLC businessman Thomas F. Mulloy, the house is often referred to as the Mulloy House by historians but it was the Hancock family that occupied the house for decades and the owners of the building call it the Hancock Mansion.

The mansion was purchased in 1901 by Col. William M. Ferry Jr, who owned several silver mines in the Park City area; he gifted the house to his daughters, Kate Hancock and Mary Allen. 

Kate Hancock lived in the house with her husband George, daughter Mary “Hollister” and son John. Two of Kate’s other children had died in the two years prior, the loss of which was devastating to the family. The gift of a new home was likely an attempt to cope and adjust to their new reality.

Side note: Mary Ferry Allen’s son, W. Montague Allen designed the Daughters of the ill-fated American Revolution fountain gifted to Salt Lake City that is now a decoration at Liberty Park.

 Second side note: Col William Ferry is also known for gifting 22 acres of land for Westminster College. A stipulation of his gift and the construction of Ferry Hall, the women’s dormitory, that the management of the women’s building be handled by a board of women. The original board included Col William Ferry’s wife, Jeanette, and their daughter (Hollister’s mother) Kate Hancock.  Hollister Hancock also served on the board for 57 years.  Ferry Hall was demolished in 1987.

In the early 1900s, the Hancock family often hosted parties and weddings at their home, which was often decorated with roses and ferns. Hollister was a socialite who attended prestigious finishing schools in the East; and, in 1903 she attended a reception at the White House hosted by the First Lady, Edith Roosevelt. 

Hollister Hancock inherited the house after her mother’s death in 1940. Hollister lived in the house for 75 years, until her death in 1976. She was an active club woman and was devoted to her service with the Women’s Board of Westminster College.

Hollister was said to have a prickly personality; my guess is that due to her extensive society and etiquette training, her disapproval of changing cultural norms were likely expressed quite often.

Ms. Hollister "Holl" Hancock in 1956 having tea with the Westminster Mothers. 
Image from USHS.

The Hancock Mansion, ca 1970s. From USHS.

In 1977, the house was leased and restored by Pam March, who established her floral business, Every Blooming Thing.  Pam reported that items were rearranged overnight, doors were locked from the inside, and once an individual fell through the ceiling from the attic during repairs and landed in the bathroom below (he was not injured) and a card fell with him that read “Merry Christmas from Hollister Hancock.”  

Pam reported seeing the ghost of Hollister during Christmas season who told her that “Hollister Hancock is pleased with what you have done with the house and her spirit is with you.”  Perhaps a reference to flowers once again filling the old mansion (?). Pam called “Holl” her guardian angel.

Ghost hunters and psychics have investigated the house. Little children can be heard talking and laughing upstairs.  A tall, thin man who is somehow connected the Civil War also stands in front of an upstairs bedroom, likely a reference to Col William Ferry who was an officer in the 14th Michigan Infantry of the Civil War.

The Hancock Mansion at 444 S 700 East is located in the Central City Historic District and is the last of the historic buildings on the block. 

The adjacent buildings such as Fendall’s Ice Cream/Big Daddy Pizza, the old Modern Display and McArthur buildings were demolished in 2023, leaving the historic Hancock Mansion a stalwart outlier to the surrounding demolition and development.

The Hancock Mansion after some adjacent structures were demolished, Aug 2024.

Sources:

• Salt Lake Community College Student Newspapers 1993-10-27 Page 6
• The Salt Lake Tribune May 3 1970 p87
• The Daily Utah Chronicle 1903-01-27 p7
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1901-12-21 p3
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1977-04-04 p15
• Deseret News 2010-03-17
• Specters in Doorways by Linda Dunning 2003

Using a black cat to heal the sick, a Utah folklore story

Using a black cat to heal the sick is a regional folklore story.

Lyman Lafayette Woods (1833-1918) was an early Mormon settler who lived in Provo, Springville, St. George, and Clover Valley (near Barclay, Nevada).

Lyman was described as a “good Latter-day Saint and active in Church work” and a “splendid nurse using mostly nature’s remedies.”

A daughter of Lyman, Roxa, was ill with pneumonia and was not improving with his normal cold-water treatment. He and an individual described as “an old Welsh lady” known as “Grandma Jones” cured Roxa using the skin of a black cat. Grandma Jones saying “the darker the cat, the surer the cure.”

The cat was killed, and its skin removed and placed on Roxa. As told, the [static] electricity in the skin of the black cat seemed to draw out all the poison from the body of the sick girl. Roxa survived.

There are several other examples of the belief in using the skin or fur of a cat to cure various ailments. The book Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from Utah records references to cure appendicitis, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and various stomachaches. And the editors of the book note that as recently as the 1960s, drugstores in Paris displayed tanned cat furs in their store windows for use in various respiratory and arthritic diseases.

After a little sleuthing, I believe the old Welsh lady to be Dinah Davies Vaughn Jones (1813-1895). She was born in Wales, arrived in Salt Lake City in 1861, and is often referred to as a healer, physician, and midwife. She and her family spent a few years in Salt Lake City and then relocated to Gunlock, Utah. However, Dinah spent a lot of time away from her Gunlock home while tending to her patients, primarily women.

Her affinity to travel may not be too surprising as she had a weird home life: Dinah had four surviving children with her first husband, William Vaughan, who died in 1852 in Missouri. Dinah married her second husband, William Ellis Jones in 1856 in Missouri. Dinah, William, and their blended family made the trip across the plains to Salt Lake City in 1861. William married Dinah’s eldest daughter (William’s stepdaughter), Martha Vaughan, as a plural wife and they had six kids together.

Needless to say, it was probably weird for Dinah to visit her husband, who was also married to her own daughter. Dinah’s grandchildren were also her stepchildren.

 
This story comes from the book Our Pioneer Heritage Vol 2 by Kate Carter, 1959, “And They Were Healed” “A Black Cat” pages 105-106 and seems to have been derived from The Dora Woods and Larkin Richard Schaffer Family manuscript pgs 105-126, which is on FamilySearch.

Other sources:

• The Woods Family of Clover Valley, Nevada 1869-1979. Published by Woods Family Genealogical Committee, Boulder City, NV 1979. Available from Washington County Historical Society
• Life of Lyman Lafayette Woods of Brigham Young’s Company, by Roxa Edwards Keele, 1956.
• The Dora Woods and Larkin Richard Schaffer Family. Ch 17 Dora’s Close Ancestors. From FamilySearch
• Popular beliefs and superstitions from Utah. 1984. University of Utah Press. Edited by Anton S. Cannon, Wayland D. Hand, Jeannine Talley
• Washington County News 1941-11-20 p1. St George Woman Dies at Home
• Various genealogical data sources on FamilySearch, Ancestry, Find-a-Grave

Midwest Casket Company Building at 440 W 600 South SLC

Midwest Casket Co Building, September 2024.
Note the recently demolished buildings to the east (right). 

Midwest Casket Co Building, September 2024.

The old Midwest Casket Company building at 440 W 600 South is one that you have likely passed by on numerous occasions. It is representative of the transition to modern funeral services, especially among the middle class.

The building was constructed in 1912 (although the Salt Lake County Assessor states 1905) for the Utah Casket Company for the manufacture of caskets, undertaker’s supplies, and a dressmaking department for burial dresses, shrouds, and robes.

The early 1900s was a busy time for the casket industry in SLC. Prior to about 1880, SLC had one primary undertaker – Joseph Edward Taylor (often referred to as the Pioneer Undertaker) and his family. He was appointed by Brigham Young to be the SLC Cemetery Sextant, undertaker, and provide coffins (through his father-in-law, William Capener, who was a cabinet maker).

Slowly, things changed around 1880. In James Farrell’s book “Inventing the American Way of Death 1830-1920” (so interesting!), he indicates the growth of the middle class demanded attention to the deceased “more in accordance with their surroundings,” meaning something more elaborate than a simple box lined with linen. At this same time in SLC, a greater influx of non-Mormons demanded a greater variety of services, commodities, and cemeteries.

Utah Casket Company advertisement showing an elaborate casket, 1913.
Clip from Salt Lake Herald 1913-04-04 Page14

 
At the end of the 1800s, there were a variety of funerary start-up businesses. Most only lasted a few years but several have endured to the modern time (some names you may recognize Evans, O’Donnell, or Larkin). Often, when one of these businesses ended, another would purchase their real estate and equipment, often at auction.

This is what happened with the original occupant of this building; in 1910 a newly incorporated Utah Casket Company acquired the equipment of the Crescent Manufacturing Company. 

Crescent manufactured caskets and its establishment in SLC was a bit of weird situation. Through my reading of the old newspapers articles, it seems that Mr. Edward H. Sherman re-established Crescent Manufacturing Company in SLC in 1908 from Butte, Montana and it seems he did so in order to escape a significant judgement against the company in Butte. In 1910 Sherman sold the equipment and supplies of Crescent in exchange for stock in the Utah Casket Company. At the time, Utah Casket Company was located at 32-36 E 800 South.

A year later, in December 1911, The Utah Casket Company announced it would build a new modern facility to manufacture caskets, undertaker’s supplies, and couches at 440 W 600 South. The two-story building is constructed of brick and cement and was constructed so that a third story could be added if needed. The building was “modern in every detail…with rest and lunchrooms for the employees, which will include a large number of women” who worked in the sewing department creating burial clothing, shrouds, and linings for the caskets. The building formally opened in October 1912.

Utah Casket Factory announcement illustration, January 1912.
Clip from the The Salt Lake Tribune 1912-01-28 Page 11

Utah Casket Company building completion, December 1912
Clip from the Deseret News 1912-12-21 Page 97

 
Two workplace accidents at 440 W 600 South were reported in the newspapers in January 1919. Sixteen year old Rulon Hanson lost his little finger of his left hand while working with the buzz saw and another employee lost four fingers of his right hand while using the same saw.

The Utah Casket Company occupied the building for about 8 years. They exhibited their caskets at the Utah State Fair and won a blue ribbon, which they proudly advertised. Around 1920, Utah Casket Company was defunct.

Around the same time period, there were competing casket business. The Salt Lake Casket Company was incorporated in 1910; this company was associated with Joseph E. Taylor (“Pioneer Undertaker”) and his son Alma O. Taylor and was the successor and outgrowth of Joseph E. Taylor’s operation. 

In 1919, Alma O. Taylor split from Salt Lake Casket Company (run by his brothers Samuel and Joseph Taylor) to form the Intermountain Casket company with Lafayette Holbrook. In 1920 the Intermountain Casket Company opened a new three-story building at 276 W 100 South and is still standing in SLC’s Japantown.

In 1920, it was the Salt Lake Casket Company that acquired the building at 440 W 600 South including the real estate, building, and equipment of the defunct Utah Casket Company. They occupied the building for several years. In 1937 the company was bankrupt and the building, real estate, machinery, fixtures, and equipment were sold at public auction.

Around 1938 the Midwest Casket Company moved into the building. Midwest Casket was associated with brothers Curt and Henry Skola. Midwest Casket occupied the building for decades. It became known for its custom caskets and interiors, including caskets for pets. They provided custom options in an ever-growing market of mass production with limited choices.

A 1991 article from the Salt Lake Tribune interviewed three women who worked as seamstresses at Midwest Casket. They worked in a sunny room on the top floor that was filled with bolts of fabric and antique sewing machines. (The casket production area was on the main floor.)

As an example of how the workplace environment has changed since 1991, there were posters of Chippendale dancers in thong bathing suites covering holes in the walls on one side of the room. In 1968 they provided 35 caskets for an airplane crash at the SLC Airport. They provided caskets for LDS church presidents, local politicians and in 1985 they sent a champagne velvet lined casket for actor Rock Hudson as one of the options for his burial. They are still in business and have relocated to South Salt Lake.

Recently the building and surrounding parcels are undergoing redevelopment as part of the Silos Block project in the Granary District. Many buildings on the block have been or will be demolished, the most notable being the Cereal Foods Silos.

The Midwest Casket building is to be preserved and adaptively reused as a commercial space. The adjacent building to the west (Euro Treasures) will also be preserved and adaptively reused (plans indicate a garage for 117 parking stalls). Rimini Coffee at 532 S 400 West will also remain.

Also of note, the old Portland Cement art-dec style building (554 S 400 West) will be demolished.


Sources

• Sanborn Maps for Salt Lake City, 1898,1911,1926,1950,1969
• Salt Lake Herald Sat, Sep 03, 1910 ·Page 15
• Salt Lake Telegram Thu, Dec 08, 1910 ·Page 10
• Salt Lake Herald Wed, Dec 13, 1911 ·Page 4
• The Salt Lake Tribune Sun, Jan 28, 1912 ·Page 11
• The Salt Lake Tribune Mon, Jul 08, 1912 ·Page 10
• Salt Lake Herald Fri, Oct 04, 1912 ·Page 12
• Deseret News Sat, Dec 21, 1912 ·Page 97
• Deseret News Sat, Apr 05, 1913 ·Page 38
• Salt Lake Herald Fri, Apr 04, 1913 ·Page 14
• Salt Lake Herald Tue, Nov 16, 1915 ·Page 8
• Salt Lake Telegram Fri, Jan 31, 1919 ·Page 13
• Salt Lake Tribune Oct 7 1919 Page 20
• Deseret News 1930-10-26 Page 32
• The Salt Lake Tribune Thu, Dec 31, 1936 ·Page 20
• Salt Lake Telegram Jan 6 1939 Page 16
• Deseret News 1939/05/17 Page 11
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1955-06-24 Page 54
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1980-07-17 Page 103
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1988-03-27 Page 41
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1991-03-11 Page 12
• The Salt Lake Tribune 1943-03-05
• Biennial Report by Utah Secretary of State 1913
• Kate B. Carter, Heart Throbs of the West, 1945, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. 
• James J. Farrell, Inventing the American Way of Death, 1830-1920. 1980. 
• USHS Files for Midwestern Casket Co Building
• USHS Files for Intermountain Casket Co Building
• Salt Lake City, Silo Phase 2 Staff Report - Final, 2023

Mountainville Academy's Failure to Incorporate STEM Principals into Actual Practice: The Demolition of the Historic Carlisle House

Architectural salvage of the brick from the Fanny and Thomas Carlisle House, May 17 2024. Mountainville Academy will demolish the house for a parking lot and STEM building.

Demolition of the Carlisle House in Alpine has begun. Mountainville Academy (@mountainvilleacademy) refused the offer by Alpine City and the Friends of the Alpine City Library to purchase the property and turn it into a children’s library. As such, Mountainville has decided to demolish the house rather than let someone else buy it to be preserved or to utilize it themselves.

I visited the Thomas and Fanny Carlisle House on Friday, May 17 2024 and took these photographs. The workers in the images were hired by Alpine City (not Mountainville Academy) to conduct architectural salvage; their focus is on recovering the ca1910 brick, which I was told will be repurposed for the Alpine Library.

FOX13's Shanti Lerner reported that Mountainville plans to use the space for a parking lot and a STEM building… both purposes I find enraging. The parking lot is clearly a shortsighted decision and something that could have been designed to easily avoid the Carlisle House.

The lack of integrating the Carlisle House into a STEM building (an addition could have been added) is yet another shortsighted decision and illustrates Mountainville’s lack of creativity and willingness to incorporate the principles of STEM/STEAM into actual practice.

The entire drive back from Alpine all I could do was think of various science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics classroom exercises that utilized or focused on the Carlisle House. Incorporating historic preservation into STEM/STEAM would have been a true example of “Excellence.”

I helped build Utah’s first standalone STEM program of K-6 grades, at M. Lynn Bennion Elementary (soon to close) a Title 1 School that serves downtown SLC families. We did amazing things with very little funding.

It is so insulting to see a fairly privileged school like Mountainville Academy squander a unique opportunity. One quick example of a potential STEM exercise: make adobe bricks (sun-dried mud) with various compositions and then test their engineering strength.

This potential STEM lesson was on my mind because the adobe brick is now exposed while the exterior fired brick is being salvaged.

Action Alert - Help Save Alpine's Carlisle House

The Thomas and Fanny Carlisle House located in Alpine, Utah is now under threat and is planned for demolition by the adjacent Mountainville Academy 

The Carlisle House at 129 S Main St Alpine, Utah.  Photos from Carlisle House Photo Studio.

Interior images of the Carlisle House at 129 S Main St Alpine, Utah.
Photos from Carlisle House Photo Studio.

BUT, this historic home has a real chance of being saved!  There is a cash buyer for this house and no reason to lose it as the city of Alpine has said they would sell another lot for the school to build upon. Demolition of this important community place is not needed as there are alternatives available that are feasible and make sense for all involved.

The house is noteworthy because it was the first to be constructed beyond Alpine’s “Old Fort Wall,” which was expanded in 1855 from a smaller fortification called “the Wordsworth Fort.” The house stands as one of the last remaining pioneer homes in Alpine.

It was built in several stages from around 1855 to 1910 and is associated with the early settlement and development of Alpine. The various building periods are noticeable externally due to the different materials that were used.

Carlisle House construction history, from USHS, colorized by author.

Carlisle House construction history, from USHS, colorized by author.

 Fanny and Thomas were famous inhabitants of Alpine who were friendly to everyone. They were renowned for their generosity and often had indigenous people camp on their property and dry their blankets after storms passed through the area. The Carlisle house was a symbol of friendship and a community hub for those in need.

Images from familysearch.org

The house remained in the family for many years until it was recently sold and transformed into a photo studio. Hundreds of families visited the studio and had their pictures taken inside the house and on the property. 

The Carlisle house is now under threat and is planned for demolition. Help us save this important community asset – post a comment and tell us your stories and memories of the Carlisle house.

Image from Google, modified by author.

Contact the Mountainville Academy and tell them why it is important to you and the Alpine community, and ask them to accept the offer to purchase the Carlisle house.

Contact the Alpine City Council and tell them to preserve the Carlisle house.

Also, fun fact, Thomas is my 8th cousin 4 times removed. I had to trace my ancestry back to the 1500s in jolly old England but we are related!

A selection of comments posted on my Instagram:

• Thank you for sharing! I'm an Alpine resident and I love this old house!
• Thank you for sharing the story wow!
• My family’s been in Alpine for a few generations, and my grandma worked at the old Bank of American Fork that sits right next to this house. Alpine as I remember it doesn’t exist anymore! Losing another pioneer home in Alpine would be a tragedy.
• Fanny was the oldest person in Alpine at the time of her death.
• Growing up, I moved a lot and didn't have a real "hometown." But my grandparents lived in Alpine for most of my life, so the drive past this house and up the hill toward Moyle Park is forever etched in my brain. It's the only place the feels like home to me. I'd buy that house immediately if I had the cash myself! Please, please save it.

Update - 4 Jan 2024
Mountainville Academy does not want to sell the Carlisle house to the private buyer who has submitted a cash offer.  Mountainville Academy has not been listening to the community and they are demanding Alpine City initiate a land swap with stipulations as the only way they will not demolish the historic home. Which now puts the burden on the Alpine City Council to facilitate their demand or face the loss of this important community gem. 

Update - 17 May 2024
Mountainville Academy has rejected an offer by Alpine City and the Friends of the Alpine Library to purchase the house for preservation and to use it for a children's library.  Rather than easily designing around the house, Mountainville will demolish this Civil War-era home for a parking lot and STEM Building. More here. 

Great-Grandma Edna’s Fruit Cake

Great-Grandma Edna’s Fruit Cake

3 to 4 4-oz jars Glacé mixed fruit peeled
3 4- oz jars Glacé pineapple, cubed
2 to 3 Glacé jars of cherries (red and green), cut up
3 3/4 cups seedless golden raisins
3/4 cup currants
2 1/4 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup grape juice
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks)
5 eggs
1 tsp almond flavoring
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mace
1/4 tsp baking soda
Brandy

COMBINE the fruits and nuts with the grape juice, allow mixture to stand for 1 hour.

MIX: sugar, butter thoroughly in large bowl. Add the eggs, flour, almond flavor, cinnamon, mace, and baking soda. Turn the batter into a tube pan (or bread pans) lined with wax paper. Press down lightly.

BAKE at 275 degrees until firm and evenly browned, approximately 3 hours.

Remove from oven and cool for an hour. Remove from pan and cool thoroughly.

Wrap cake in brandy-soaked cheesecloth. Store in air-tight container for at least one week.

Chill before serving.


Grandma used to make this about Thanksgiving and bring out for Christmas...it was delicious.