Historic Clock from SLC's Main Street Now at Lagoon

This old street clock was relocated to Lagoon's Pioneer Village in 1977 from Main Street and 300 South in Salt Lake City.

Throughout much of the 1800s, street clocks were manufactured in the Eastern states and were costly to ship, making these clocks a sign of prestige in the West. By the turn of the century, however, street clocks could be found up and down Salt Lake City’s Main Street. 

The last clock from the 19th century still in operation in Salt Lake is the Old Zions Bank Clock at Main Street and 100 South. In its early days, water diverted from nearby City Creek drove an underground water wheel that powered the clock.

From the nameplate on one side of the base of Lagoon’s clock, it looks like the clock was constructed by a company in Boston, Massachusetts. It’s unknown how old the clock is or how long it stood at its former location.

In 1977 the old clock was removed from SLC and restored by Lagoon. Only one of the original clock faces remained and it was used as a pattern to etch three other faces in glass. The original motor, operated by 100-pound lead weights, was removed and is now displayed in the tool collection. The restored clock now runs on electricity.

Source of text: www.lagoonhistory.com

Now & Then: Salt Lake County Fire Station at 4735 S State

Then and Now: The old Salt Lake County Fire Station at 4735 S State Street in Murray Utah. 

Part of this building was constructed in the 1890s by the J.A. Jones Planning Mill. Salt Lake County bought it in 1915 and converted it into a repair shop for county vehicles, a county fire station and Firemen's Hall. 

Now it is a BMW sales shop. 

The historic image is from Murray City Museum and is undated.

The modern images were taken June 29 2018.

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

Samuel Gilson's Flying Machine

Salt Lake Herald Nov 25 1903

Starting about 1890, Salt Lake City residents and inventors became infatuated with various flying machines, commonly called "air ships" or "air cars." A Utah Aero Club was even established in 1909. 

Many local inventors sought to patent their designs (and some of these are even on file at the Smithsonian), but more commonly many of these designs never came to fruition and many tinkerers in this field were commonly thought of as fools.

One of the many Salt Lake folks interested in the new aeronautics field was Samuel H. Gilson (of which the mineral Gilsonite was named). He invented this unusual flying machine which he hoped to fly to the 1904 St Louis World's Fair and exhibit in the aeronautics competition (and win the $100,000 prize). 

This picture was clipped from a November 25 1903 edition of the Salt Lake Herald.

For historic context information, Wilbur and Orville Wright made their first flight at Kitty Hawk in December 1903.

Sanitary Drinking Fountains Were Once Throughout the Downtown Business District of SLC

Sanitary Drinking Fountain, SLC
ca 1910 postcard. Image from ebay.

New “sanitary fountains” were all the range in Salt Lake City in the early 1900s. 

Beginning about 1909 the SLC Council had these types of fountains installed throughout the business district of downtown. 

The “sanitary” aspect was a mouth guard on the fountain that prevented the spreading of germs. These types of fountains replaced earlier drinking fountains where people placed their own cup under a spout of running water. 

Many “Ban the Cup” campaigns around this time convinced the nation that the sanitary fountain was a safer alternative.

Salt Lake Telegram 1909-07-31

Salt Lake Tribune 1912-06-03

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. 

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.