the hub 1889

After

HONORS THINK TANK

The Revolution of the Railroad

1870 all of this began to change, and by 1900 the area had pretty much assumed its present character. The key factor was the coming of the railroad in 1870 and the development in the next two decades of a network

of rails throughout the city, which split off and isolated the west side from the rest of the city. As this happened, much of the area became increasingly commercialized and industrialized. Thus, by 1890, a stockyard, two breweries . . . two tanneries . . . a brickyard, a brewery, a biscuit factory, a salt works, a soup factory, two lumberyards, several foundries, and an artificial ice factory [existed in this area]. The isolation of the west side also led to the sections that remained residential becoming workingclass neighborhoods, many of whose residents worked for the railroads and for associated enterprises. As the west side evolved from being part of an agrarian village to a mixed commercial/industrial/working class residential section, it became increasingly blighted, in several senses. First, the original lots were subdivided, and new streets and courts were cut through the original blocks. The idea was to enable more people to live close to town and to the railroads. The new streets, however, were subject to little regulation and instead of becoming quiet retreats from the noise and dirt of the city, they often degenerated into crowded back alleys of squalor. Both small operators and large developers, who bought entire blocks and subdivided them, undertook this new construction. Secondly, disagreeable industries and establishments increasingly located on the west side . . . for example, the city dump, the city stray pound, and the city crematory were all located there. Thirdly, city services were extended to the west side much slower than to other parts of the city. John McCormick, The Westside of Salt Lake City

Economic Divide: As this graph shows, blue collar workers began to locate overwhelmingly on the citys periphery, which includes the area under study. Note that the names for the west streets shifted one block east in the 1970s. In this case 4th West street is today 5th West.

Although only sparsely segment at this time, this portion of 2nd south would soon become a pulsating area full of shops, bars, and restaurants.

This area and the original depots were served by two hotels. During this time period there was a prevalence of dwelling places (denoted by a D on the buildings), which denotes a primarily residential neighborhood. This was part of a much larger agrarian community which was just beginning of transform into an industrial-railroad based economy.

Future site of the 1911 Rio Grande Depot

Original Passenger Depot Built in 1881: Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway
T I 1872 A horse and buggy street car system established 1874 Fighting the social and economic changes brought by the railroad, Brigham Young launches the United Order of Enoch, in which each ward was to act as a self-contained cooperative community. The plan was successfully implemented in only four of the twenty four Salt Lake wards. M E L I N E 1880s: Salt Lakes population increases by 125% to 45,000

A network of streetcars, at first drawn by horse or mule, above, and then in 1889 electrified, brought people from across the city to the railroad depot.

1870 Only 7 percent of Salt Lakes population is nonMormon. However, parts of the west side were more than 33% non-Mormon in late 1860s.

1881 City streets and businesses begin to be lighted with electricity 1882 The Church ends its boycott of Gentile businesses

1870 Utah Territory enfranchises women

1889 Gentiles make up almost half of Salt Lake Citys population, allowing the anti-Mormon Liberal Party to take control of the city council and mayors office in 1890.

1889 Streetcar system electrified

1870
1871 Dedication of First Catholic Church in Utah (St. Mary Madeleine).

1873 The financial crisis of the Panic of 1873 plunges the nation into an economic recession

1880
1880 Residential neighborhoods carved out of the farmland that used to form the southern edge of the city. These streetcar suburbs were made possible and built around the new public rail system.

1882 Congress passes the Edmunds Act, outlawing polygamy and putting federal agents in charge of Utahs government

1885 A group of Mormons try to get rid of federal officials prosecuting polygamy by catching them in houses of prostitution. The plan fails.

1887 Congress passes the Edmunds-Tucker Act which disincorporated the LDS church and reverted all its property over $50,000 to the federal government

1889