Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Salt Lake West Side Stories”
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Thirty-Fourby Brad Westwood The Pioneer Park neighborhood has always been a contested space. Initially, the area was owned by Native Americans until Mormon (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Pioneers colonized the land. Since 1847, the region has been in constant transition as new and old residents and business interests …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-fiveBy Brad Westwood and Cassandra Clark The above photo was taken in 1944 by Chinese American newspaper photographer Ray King, from the Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City’s segregated USO Club for Black or African Americans. This post was updated and expanded in early September 2022 and in February 2023. African Americans contributed …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Sevenby Brad Westwood Above photo caption: Utah’s Hall of Relics, built as a small Parthenon replica. Note above the pediment is a smaller replica of Ralph Ramsey’s flying eagle sculpture (the original atop Brigham Young’s Eagle Gate). The hall, constructed of plaster and jute fiber over a wooden frame, was built for the 1897 …
Salt Lake West Side Stores: Post Twenty-FourBy Brad Westwood and Cassandra Clark The above photograph was described by the photographer as “Wright’s Card Club, Blacks, at 313 E. 8th S. [Salt Lake City, Utah], April 27, 1945;” Ray King, photographer; Salt Lake Tribune Negative Collection, courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society. This post was updated and expanded in early …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twentyby Brad Westwood and Cassandra Clark Above image caption: The Salt Lake City office of the Modern Woodmen of America, a workers’ fraternal life insurance organization, was located in 1911 in an upper floor office of the Bamberger Building (163 South Main Street). Photo courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society, Shipler Photographic Collection …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-ThreeBy Brad Westwood Above photo caption: Based on information provided on a Salt Lake Tribune folder, the above image was described simply as the “Yee Family, Plum Alley.” What we know for certain is that the image was taken on January 9, 1946, by Chinese American Tribune photographer Ray King. The photo backdrop is …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-EightBy Brad Westwood, Cassandra Clark and Catherine Aviles Above photo caption: Two men accompany “Señorita Chicana 1971” (Miss Chicana 1971) at “Adelante [Ahead!]: A Plan for Action Conference,” held on October 29-30, 1971, in the Salt Palace. Elio Rios from Puerto Rico (left) is the only individual identified in this image. This gathering was …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-SevenBy Brad Westwood and Cassandra Clark During the late nineteenth century, Japanese American immigrants arrived in Utah seeking employment opportunities. Initially, many worked for railroad companies that previously employed Chinese immigrants. Many Japanese Americans made their mark by opening businesses, worshiping in their temples and churches, and participating in Utah’s civic life. Japanese migrants, …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Thirty-fiveBy Dr. Mariya Shcheglovitova, Emma Jones, Catherine Aviles, and Brad Westwood Unlike other areas that received a grade (A to D) from the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (a federal corporation created during the Great Depression), the Pioneer Park neighborhood was designated “Industrial,” implying it was nonresidential. However, woven between the railroad yards and spurs, …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Thirty-Twoby Brad Westwood Although the LGBTQ+ community had many prior informal political and social gathering spots elsewhere in Salt Lake City, a number of bars and taverns located in the Pioneer Park neighborhood served as a place to gather for Salt Lake City’s emerging LGBTQ+ communities. In 1970, just one year after New York …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post OneBy Brad Westwood Welcome to this serialized and illustrated history of Salt Lake City’s old west side. This blog consists of over thirty posts and scores of images, all presented online to tell the story of a very unique area of downtown Salt Lake City. This series consists of short, quick-to-read segments. Expect to …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Fiveby Brad Westwood Above Illustration: “Fort on the Great Salt Lake,” researched and rendered by Kirk Henrichsen, circa 1995; used with permission of the artist. In 1847, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) decided to organize an exodus to the West in search of a new homeland where …