PROVO — Buildings are an important part of our collective history. "It is in the homes, the schools, the factories and businesses, the stores, churches and civic buildings that we experience what becomes our own history and ultimately the history of the community," says Randy Christiansen, a member of the Provo City Landmarks Commission and chairman of the Freedom Festival Commission.
Part of that history will be featured on the free Historic Buildings Tour and Landmarks Reception on Thursday.
The purpose of the guided tour, which will include interior visits to five homes and walk-bys of several others, "is to increase awareness of the value of our historic buildings," says Christiansen. "We hope it will establish a greater desire for people to know about our past and connect with it."
That is important, he says, because "so much of what we do today is tied to the past. That link is absolutely necessary, not only to appreciate those who have gone before and the things they have done, but also to appreciate a sense of place that makes this place unique."
You visit other cities, and they are beautiful places, he says, "but they don't have nearly the history that we do."
Provo was one of the earliest cities established by Mormon pioneers outside the Salt Lake Valley. The first settlers, sent by Brigham Young in 1849, built a fort near where the Provo River, named after Canadian trapper and explorer Etienne Provost, entered Utah Lake.
In 1850, the settlement was named after the river, and Provo City took up permanent residence on the map.
The earliest homes and commercial buildings were built around an area set aside for a tabernacle and school at what is now 500 West and Center Street. The city spread out from there in all directions.
Much of what gives the city its historical flavor today was built in the late 1800s and early 20th century. And a lot of it, says Christiansen, was the result of a competition between the city's east and west sides fostered by mining entrepreneur Jesse Knight and business leader Thomas Nicholls Taylor.
That history and rivalry will be discussed by Stephen Hales at a reception following Thursday's tour.
Among the buildings featured on the tour will be:
Maeser Elementary School, 150 S. 500 East, built in 1898 and designed by Richard C. Watkins, one of the most prolific architects in central Utah. The school was named after prominent educator Karl G. Maeser. It is no longer being used as a school, and although a number of community groups are looking at ways to keep the building from being demolished, this tour could represent one of the few times to see it before it is lost or changed, says Christiansen.
Reed Smoot House, 183 E. 100 South, built in 1892 for the then-U.S. senator and LDS Apostle. Preliminary designs for the house were drawn by Smoot himself and completed by Richard K.A. Kletting. Its style is called "Victorian Eclectic — a stately, solid, early Mormon square block home with some Victorian exuberance displayed in the detailing."
Ambrose P. Merrill House, 424 E. Center Street, built in 1912. This unusual bungalow was later owned by several prominent citizens, including William Hornibrook, who served as U.S. ambassador to Siam, Iran and Costa Rica during the Woodrow Wilson administration.
Andrew N. and Lydia Holdaway House, 190 E. 100 South, built in 1911 and an example of a "neoclassical central block form with projecting bays." At one time the home became the Union Pacific Rooming House, a boarding house for railroad workers.
Other houses featured on the tour include the Beeson House, the Charles Naylor House and the Josiah and Cordelia Beck House.
In addition to the guided tour, the Provo City Landmarks Commission has joined with the Utah Division of State History, the National Parks Service and the Freedom Festival to produce a self-guided tour booklet of buildings listed on the National Historic Register and on Provo's Landmark Register.
To take this tour, you can pick up a complimentary "Historic Provo" guidebook at the Utah Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau (Historic County Courthouse, suite 111), the Provo City Library (550 N. University Ave.), the Provo City Utilities Building (251 W. 800 N.), the Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce (Courthouse, Suite 215), Los Hermanos Restaurant (10 W. Center) or the Freedom Festival Office (Courthouse, Suite 317).
The guide books will be available from Saturday to July 4 (or as long as supplies last).
Featured in the book are such other historic locations as the Hannah Smith House, boyhood home of LDS Church President George Albert Smith; the Startup Candy Factory, famed for producing the first candy bar in the United States; the Jesse Knight Mansion, influenced by the 1893 Chicago World Fair; and numerous others.
"Each building has a unique story," says Christiansen. And each is a reminder of the efforts and sacrifices of our predecessors. They weren't building a temporary village here, he says. They worked hard to create a modern, beautiful city that would be a credit to themselves and their posterity."
Stand on the corner of University Avenue and Center Street, he invites. "You will see landmark buildings on all four corners. You don't get that in every city. But here, it says so much about what came before and what those people did." And, he says, they and the other old buildings we live in, work in or simply walk by now and then, become an important part of who we are and what we remember.
If you go
What: Historic Buildings Tour and Landmarks Reception
When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday for tour; 7 p.m. for reception
Where: Maeser Elementary School, 400 E. 200 South, Provo, for tour; Crandall Historical Printing Museum, 275 E. Center, Provo, for reception.
How much: Free
E-MAIL: carma@desnews.com