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 Tenby Brad Westwood Not long after the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter LDS Church, also known as Mormons) entered the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles instructed Henry G. Sherwood and Orson Pratt, to design an ideal agrarian-based city. Young’s …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Eightby Brad Westwood Utah was never entirely isolated from the United States, Latin America, and the Pacific World. From the 1800s onward, the Great Basin was a point of intersection where people from many cultures interacted with one another in several ways. One of the most well-known events that drew people west of the …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Sixteenby Brad Westwood Throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, businesses and government entities targeted Pioneer Park for what they labeled as “public good” purposes. The park, of course, had many identities. It was the site of several public work projects, and it stood as a memorial to Utah’s Mormon (members of The …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post TwoBy Brad Westwood This post clarifies the traditional boundaries of Salt Lake City’s Pioneer Park neighborhood or, the original west side. It also defines terms used throughout the series when discussing geographic locations. When we discuss Salt Lake City’s original west side, we refer to a specific geographic area. The boundaries are as follows: …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-OneBy Brad Westwood The arrival of later economic immigrants, from across the United States and around the globe, to Utah and the Pioneer Park neighborhood, created conflicts with the Mormon Church’s (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons) all-encompassing societal ideal. This post was updated in February 2023. Salt …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Eighteenby Brad Westwood In the decades following the Civil War, the United States emerged as one of the world’s largest economic engines. It was railroading, mining and industry that attracted thousands of economic emigrants to Utah, that allowed Utah to be part of this larger economic story. The United States’ emergence as an industry …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Seventeenby Brad Westwood In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act. This Act allowed for the construction of an interstate highway system with the main purpose of defending the nation from foreign attack. In Utah, representatives from the state legislature called upon eminent domain – the condemning and purchasing …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Thirty-Threeby Brad Westwood Since the mid-1990s, the Pioneer Park neighborhood has gradually redefined its identity from that of an industrial, transient, and impoverished area, to a more permanent and economically stable area. Like all change, the neighborhood has both gained and lost much in this process. Change is a constant in the Pioneer Park …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Twenty-Six By Brad Westwood During the second industrial revolution (1865-1920), the United States absorbed a large population of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe. These new immigrants joined other immigrant groups already working in Utah’s expanding mining, industrial, and transportation sectors. Most of Utah’s Italian immigrants arrived in Utah after the 1890s. The majority of …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post Thirtyby Brad Westwood and Cassandra Clark The Pioneer Park neighborhood offered several amenities to Utah residents and tourists alike. After 1909, the park had one wading pool for women and one for men. It also had a framed bandstand that hosted musical performances on weekends. A craft house also welcomed the young and old …
Salt Lake West Side Stories: Post ThreeBy Brad Westwood Historical themes allow us to understand the past by drawing connections to larger events and historical contexts. Weaved together in this serial history blog are eight recurring themes. We define them here. One theme that is evident throughout the series is “homeland.” Throughout Utah’s history, many people have considered the Salt …