Salt Lake City's Old GreekTown is Being Eaten Away by Demolition and Development

Map showing new and current construction (2021)
along 200 South and between 500-600 West

Four major construction projects have or will demolish all but 5 of the historic buildings along 200 South between 500-600 West. This section of 200 South was, until recently, one of the better-preserved historic streetscapes representing the historic Greek and Italian ethnic neighborhoods of SLC.

SLC’s Old GreekTown once encompassed the area northwest of Pioneer Park: between the two Railroad Depots (Union Pacific at South Temple and 400 West and the Rio Grande at 300 South and 350 West) and along 200 South between 200 West and 600 West.

In the pre-pandemic era of 2019, there were 12 remaining historic buildings along 200 South between 500-600 West; this was down from nearly 30 historic buildings lining the block in 1950.  After all the current construction is completed there will be 5 historic buildings remaining.

The four projects are:

1. Central Station at 549 W 200 South: This 65-unit apartment project has demolished the 3 Thomas Electric Co buildings in 2020.
2. Central Station West at 577 W 200 South: This 65-unit apartment project has recently demolished the building previously known as the Bricks/Club Sound/In the Vue nightclub.
3. The Cinq at 530 W 200 South: This 203-unit apartment project will preserve most of what remains of the historic Central Warehouse building (520 W 200 South) and will demolish the Citizens Investment Co Building (most recently known as Metro Bar/Café Orbit) at 540 W 200 South.
4. Greenprint Gateway at 592 W 200 South: This 150-unit apartment project will demolish the Green Manufacturing Co (most recently an automobile repair shop) built 1940 at 568 W 200 South. 

Of note, the existing Artspace Bridge Projects complex at 511 W 200 South built in 2001 demolished the buildings associated with SLC Greek Boss Nicholas D. Stathakos; you will remember his story from his house at 963 E200 South that I profiled as part of the “China Blue” rezone proposal a few months ago.

What will be left will be part of the Central Warehouse (520 W 200 S), Am Furniture Manufacturing (566 W 200 S), Michael Shoenfeld Studio (560 W 200 S), the Hong Kong Teahouse (565 W 200 S), and the Corum Building (561 W 200 S).

This stretch of Old GreekTown is part of the Warehouse National Historic District (Boundary Increase) which was designated in 2016 to incentivize historic preservation through the availability of federal tax credits.  The designation of a *National* Historic District does not offer any legal protections against demolition, only the designation of a *Local* Historic District at the city level mandates a review through the SLC Historic Landmark Commission. None of the buildings along 200 South between 500-600 West are Local historic landmarks or within a local historic district.

Green Manufacturing Co (most recently an automobile repair shop) built 1940 at 568 W 200 will be demolished as art of the Greenprint Gateway project.

Most of the buildings in this photograph from 2016 have been demolished. The Thomas Electric Co (beige buildings on the left) and the Bricks/Club Sound/In the Vue nightclub (red buildings at right). For now, the the Hong Kong Teahouse (obscured by trees, but right of the grey building), and the Corum Building (grey building, center of photo).

History of Father's Day in Utah

Salt Lake Tribune 1926-06-19

Happy Father’s Day!

Father’s Day was first proposed and celebrated by Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, Washington in 1910 as a tribute to her father, a widower who raised Sonora and her siblings.

Utah Governor William Spry heard about Sonora’s proposal and was an early supporter saying that he believed much good would come from honoring fathers.

The Salt Lake newspapers were not so supportive, and they cringed at Governor Spry’s suggestion to adopt the holiday in Utah. The Salt Lake Herald Republican had to the clarify that the Governor was “not jesting.” Both the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune suggested that celebrating a Father’s Day holiday would emasculate fathers. Governor Spry soon dropped the idea.

In 1912 the Westminster Presbyterian Church located at 175 W 500 South (now demolished) brought in a new pastor from Spokane, Washington. Reverend Robert Asa Smith had been celebrating Father’s Day since its inception in Spokane in 1910 and he brought the celebration to Salt Lake City in 1912 where he offered a special Father’s Day sermon in which he said:

“I believe men, especially fathers, would be better if loved more. The feeling that no one holds him in the deserved affection has sent many a man into a careless and ruinous life.”

and

“I call upon you to honor father’s love. I refute the idea that woman has all the heart and all the love and that man is not capable of it. He may be gruff and reticent, but he really loves.”

Slowly other Salt Lake City area churches began adopting a Father’s Day celebration on the 3rd Sunday in June but still the newspapers seemed cool to the idea.

In 1915 the Salt Lake Herald sarcastically suggested that a way to celebrate Father’s Day was to challenge fathers to endurance tournaments in holding babies, dish washing contests, and a speed competition to see how fast their paycheck went to their wife.

In 1916 the Salt Lake Telegram considered that it might not be a terrible idea and asked around what others thought. One person was concerned about how Salt Lakers would be able to celebrate Father’s Day if Utah became a dry state (which happened Aug 1 1917).

In the 1920s downtown Salt Lake City business started promoting sales for Father’s Day gifts, especially ties, hats, shirts, and other items that “dad needed.”

By 1923 the Deseret News was warning of the “Father’s Day Rush” at downtown stores. Display windows were decorated for the occasion and Father’s Day gift ideas advertisements were throughout the newspapers.

In 1925 KSL broadcast a radio address on the “sanctity of fatherhood” by Axel A Madsen and that removed any further misgivings Utahns had about the holiday.

The 3rd Sunday in June officially became recognized as Father’s Day in 1966 through a proclamation by President Lyndon Johnson. It became a national holiday in 1972 when President Nixon signed it into law.

Sources: SL Herald 1910-05-13; Deseret News 1910-05-21, SL Trib 1910-06-29; SL Trib 1912-05-20; SL Herald 1915-05-19; SL Telegram 1916-05-21; Deseret News 1923-06-14

Happy Juneteenth & Intro to Sema Hadithi Foundation

Happy Juneteenth (the first Federally official Juneteenth)!

Today I would like to highlight a new non-profit organization that I am a part of:

The Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation.

The group was founded last year by Robert Burch and recently obtained official 501(c)(3) status. We are partnering with the Utah Division of State History and other organizations to help preserve and tell the story of African Americans in Utah.

Give them a follow on Facebook: Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation. 

I am part of the Black Women Research Group which highlights amazing stories, some of which I have shared here. 

But there are so many other stories that others have compiled including a history of the celebration of Emancipation Day, Black women social clubs, the Black church in Utah, stories and illustrations of Buffalo Soldiers in Utah, and lynching of Black men in Utah.

I’m still working on a number of stories for this group and hopefully you will see more of them soon:

• Frankie McMonnas (? – 1902) and her niece Frances Worfork (1879-1945). Frankie’s occupation on the 1900 census is listed as Nurse and Frances lists hers as School Teacher… Intriguing, hopefully I can learn more about these women.
• Ella Louise DeBies (1889-1985): “A lady really had to work for a living in those days” but she was able to send her son to the U of U in the 1920s.
• Colored Women want ads- classified advertisements of people looking to hire Colored Women, generally for domestic housework tasks. And Colored Women looking for people to hire them.
• Restaurants where Black people were allowed to eat in SLC. So far I have the St Louis Hotel and Café, Black Elks Club, and some Asian owned cafes. (Anyone know of anything specific and I will add it to my list).
• More short but intriguing stories from the Interviews with African Americans in Utah Oral History Collection at Special Collections, Marriott Library.
  
  
  

In 1977 the MCC and SLC's Gay Community Made a Splash into Utah Politics

My idea of what the MCC's 1977
dance event may have looked like
in the Utah Capitol Rotunda.

Before the Sacred Light of Christ Church (previous post) was known by that name it was known as the Metropolitan Community Church of Salt Lake (MCC).

In 1977 the MCC made a splash into Utah politics, albeit unintentionally.

In Feb 1977 the Board of the MCC voted to hold a church dance on April 22 in the Utah Capitol Rotunda, similar to decades of past LDS Church dances held there. They followed the proper procedures and applied for a permit, which was granted by Lt Gov David Monson.

However, 2 weeks later and after “certain informants” called him, the Lt Gov rescinded the permission with Monson saying that the MCC was a “gay organization whose purpose for existence is strictly to satisfy the needs of the gay community” and later saying that he may reconsider if the MCC could “demonstrate it is not a homosexual organization.”

The Daily Utah Chronicle responded in an editorial titled “Gays are people” asking if Monson wanted them to perform a heterosexual sex act before being admitted to the dance.

The MCC soon filed suit in 3rd District Court against Monson alleging religious discrimination. On April 19 Judge Dean Condor denied the church’s request for a court order forcing the dance stating that the rental of the Capitol Rotunda was “discretionary” on the part of the State.

The MCC filed a new suit asking that the decision be reversed. Utah Deputy Attorney General, Mike Deamer, then filed a motion to obtain the membership list from the MCC so that police and sheriff departments could compare it to their lists of “known homosexuals.”

On May 17, Judge Condor turned down both of those motions- ruling against the State in that it was “unnecessary” for them to have the MCC’s membership list and ruling against the MCC in that the Lt Gov did have the legal authority to not rent the Capitol Building.

In historian Ben Williams telling of this story, he states that “the courts eventually ruled that the Lieutenant Governor had no right to rescind permission to hold a dance in the state capitol building simply because the church had homosexual members.”  (I am looking for that decision and have asked the University of Utah's Faust Law Library to help me track it down, so hopefully more on that soon.)

The fallout from the fiasco of denying the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) the ability to hold a church dance at the Utah Capitol Rotunda continued throughout 1977.

 Hatch-Monson Dialogue headline from
The Daily Utah Chronicle June 2 1977

Lt Gov David Monson and Senator Orin Hatch were already scheduled to speak at a June 2 1977 “Dialogue” at the University of Utah where many of the U’s students asked questions about gay rights.

Hatch said that homosexuals should not be allowed to teach school and likened them to the American Nazi Party. He also said it was the fault of a “growing number of perverts” for the deterioration of the country.

Also at the Dialogue event, Monson tried to spin his dance decision to be a liability issue and said he tries not to let his personal feelings influence his public actions. However, a few years later in 1981 when Monson was attending an anti-Equal Rights Amendment rally, he boasted about his “important decision” to “refuse homosexuals permission to dance in the Capitol Rotunda.”

Further, in Oct 1977, just a few months after the enormous press coverage of the MCC’s denied dance, the MCC’s request for a loan to purchase the building at 870 W 400 South for their church and a community center was rejected by their bank, the Bank of Utah at 70 E South Temple, despite having credit-worthy cosigners and $19K (~$85K today) on hand for a down payment.

The church at 870 W 400 South was originally the Grace Methodist Church and most recently the Tongan Methodist Church which burned down in 2000 and is now demolished. The MCC rented part of this building for most of the 1970s.

Yup, 1977 was quite the year for the Utah LGBTIQ+ community and much of the activism can be attributed to MCC’s Worship Coordinator and later Reverend, Bob Waldrop.

Sources: 1977 by Ben Williams, published in Salt Lake Metro 2005-05-12; SL Trib 1977-02-19; Ogden Standard Examiner 1977-02-19; Daily Utah Chronicle 1977-02-25; SL Trib 1977-03-26; SL Trib 1977-04-23; Utah Daily Herald 1977-05-18; Daily Utah Chronicle 1977-06-02; Rocky Mountain Open Door 1977-10-01; SL Trib 1981-07-19

The church at 870 W 400 South that the MCC used during the 1970s.
Also known as the Grace Methodist and the Tongan Methodist church.
Image from UDSH.

History of Sacred Light of Christ Church at 823 S 600 East

Sacred Light of Christ Church at 823 S 600 East SLC, June 2021.

This church at 823 S 600 East has served various small, but devoted, congregations.

It was designed by architect William J Camomile and built in 1913 as the First Swedish Baptist Church.

As the church is located just north of Liberty Park and outside the main downtown area, most people used the streetcar lines to attend services and the Sugar House line had a convenient stop at 900 South and 600 East (hence the lack of designated parking).

Most Swedish immigrants in Salt Lake were members of the LDS Church so the Swedish Baptist Church remained a small congregation and struggled to attract new members. The church held services in both Swedish and English until 1929 when it abandoned its efforts as a separate Swedish congregation.

In 1930 the Second Christian Church (the First Christian Church being in Ogden) took over use of the church; in 1931 they purchased the property and renovated and enlarged it. 

In 1934 the church morphed into the nondenominational Church of Christ. The church’s Elder, Mr. D. L. Thomson, sold the church in 1939 against the wishes of its 35 church members.

The new owner of the building ca.1940 was the Pillar of Fire church which actively used the building until about 1980. The Pillar of Fire was founded in Colorado by Alma White, who is known for being the first woman ordained as a Bishop in the US. Alma was a short-time resident of SLC in the 1880s where she taught at the SLC Methodist Seminary.

In 1983 the building was briefly leased from the Pillar of Fire for use by the Salt Lake Children’s Choir.

The current owner and occupant of the building, the Metropolitan Community Church, started using the building in 1987. The MCC had previously bounced around various church buildings in SLC before finding its home here.

In the early 1970s the MCC met at 740 S 700 E (now Masjid Al-Noor/Islamic Society of SLC), then moved to 870 W 400 South (which was the Tongan United Methodist church until it burned down/demolished in 2000).

In 1977 the MCC attempted to purchase the building at 870 W 400 South but their bank, the Bank of Utah at 70 E South Temple, refused a loan to the MCC after it became well known for serving the Gay and Lesbian community of SLC when the Lt Governor rescinded permission to use the State Capitol for a dance (more on that later!).

The MCC then held services at the Unitarian Church at 568 S 1300 East through most of the 1980s.

In 1987 the MCC moved here (823 S 600 East) where it is now known as Sacred Light of Christ and serves SLC’s LGBTIQ+ community.

Sources: SL Telegram 1912-03-05; SL Telegram 1914-03-21; SL Trib 1931-06-12; SL Trib 1940-03-27; Daily Utah Chronicle 1973-10-30; Rocky Mountain Open Door 1977-11-01;SL Trib 1983-02-27; SL Trib 1987-07-16  

Portion of a postcard for the Pillar of Fire church, front.

Portion of a postcard for the Pillar of Fire church, back.

Redwood Drive-in and Swap Meet

Aerial view Redwood Drive-In, 1970s, from Salt Lake County Archives.

You may have heard by now that the Redwood Drive-in was proposed for rezone and demolition but last night the developer withdrew the application from West Valley City. 

The protest rally planned for Sunday is now a support rally for the swap meet. Head over to @slcsanchez801 for details.

The Redwood Drive-in opened for business Friday July 22, 1949, with the technicolor picture “The Big Cat” which was filmed at Hoosier Lake in Iron County, Utah.

The land for the theater was purchased from Leon C. Breeze who operated a chicken farm; the Breeze house is still standing at 3740 S. Redwood Road and is used for storage by the current Redwood Drive-in owners.

The original Redwood Drive-In in featured a single 40x60 foot screen with a 600-car capacity. The theater also had several family friendly activity areas including picnic tables, BBQ pits, a wading pool, swings and playground, and offered pony rides for children and bottle warmers for babies.

Outdoor seating was provided for those who did not wish to watch the movie in their car. For those in their cars there were individual speakers and a push button for refreshment service.

The theater experienced several fires and incidents over the years:

1. A homemade bomb made from a garden hose and dynamite exploded in the men’s restroom in 1953
2. Arson at the ticket booth by a juvenile crime gang of tweens and young teenagers in 1953
3. A suicide in a car by carbon monoxide poisoning in 1955
4. A man who purchased a ticket and then came back to the booth to rob the attendant of $46 in 1958
5. A fire caused by a short in a neon sign burned down the large screen in 1966
6. An overheated furnace started a fire in the projection booth in 1971
7. Salt Lake County Firefighters intentionally burned the old snack bar located in the center of the parking area for a training exercise in April 1978, with the permission of the owner.
8. A field fire burned one of the screens in 1994

The swap meet started at Redwood Drive-In in 1960 after failing to gain traction at a different drive-in theater. It has been a mainstay for weekend buyers/sellers/swappers nearly continuously since. In 1978 it was reported that 10,000 visitors attended the swap meet each Sunday.

Sources: Des News 1949-07-21, Des News 1953-05-01, Des News 1953-10-01, Des News 1966-11-29, Des News 1971-03-11, SL Trib 1978-04-08, SL Trib 1978-08-17, SL Trib 1994-09-18

Poster of the debut movie "The Big Cat" at Redwood Drive-In

One of the many fires, 1966. From UDSH.

The Snack Bar, a year before it was burned by Salt Lake County
Firefighters in 1977, from Salt Lake County Archives.

 Debut Swap Meet advertisement From SL Trib 1960-04-17

Newspaper page from Salt Lake Tribune 1978-08-17

Kick off to SLC History Pride Month

LGBT Salt Lake by J. Seth Anderson

LGBT Salt Lake by J. Seth Anderson, 2017, is a great book to check out for Pride Month.

The book is readily available at bookstores, online, and even the Salt Lake City Public Library has a copy (available for check out as of this posting!)

The book has lots of color photographs and a good overview of LGBT+ history in SLC.

This month I will be posting some history tidbits highlighted in this book.

I've always been curious about the history of the Sacred Light of Christ Church at 823 S 600 East so I'll probably be digging into that.

And the history of the building Ruby Snap currently inhabits is super interesting too.

More to come!