Town Hall, 43 Main Street, Ophir

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS UTAH,23-OPHIR,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

One of the few remaining mining town city hall- fire stations. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Original and subsequent owners: Town of Ophir 2. Date of erection: c. 3. Architect and builder: Unknown k. Original plan and construction: The building was a combination City Hall, Firehouse and jail. The fire station still contains two high-wheeled man-powered fire carts, complete with ^00 feet of two-and-a-half inch cotton rubber hose. The fire department was a volunteer company, not organized. 5. Alterations and additions: None known B. Historical Events and Persons Associated with the Building: Ophir became significant in Utah mining in when soldiers of General Connor's army found croppingsof lead in East Canyon on Treasure Hill, which they named the St. Louis Lode.

The Ophir mining district was organized in and that year A. W. Morris laid out the town and buildings were built along Main Street. In August, silver was discovered and Ophir be- came a "boom town. Between and mills and smelters were constructed in the canyon, and for nearly 10 years the camp thrived, but in the boom was over, and the mines were all but abandoned. Other booms revived the district as copper and zinc were discovered. Senator W. A. Clark of Mon- tana operated mines here for 25 years, and Marcus Daly put the profits of the Zella Mine into the Anaconda Copper Co. TOWN HALL HABS No. U-38 (Page 2) C. Sources of Information: 1. Primary and unpublished sources: Sanborn Map Co., Map of Ophir. Utah. July, 2.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS UTAH,23-OPHIR,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

History of Tooele County^ Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Wolle, Muriel Sibell. The Bonanza Trail. Indiana Univer- sity Press, Prepared by John L. Giusti September 5, PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: 1. Architectural interest: The town hall, jail, and fire department are combined in a single structure. The building is in a small mining town, 2. Condition of fabric: Structure is basically sound. How- ever, frame portion is not resting squarely on foundation. B. Description of Exterior: 1, Over-all dimensions: This is a simple, two-story rec- tangle, 26* 5" x 2M 6". 2, Foundations: Concrete forms the walls of the lower floor which is the jail. 3, Wall construction, finish, and color: Upper portion is horizontal clapboard siding and is six inches wide.

Exterior wood and concrete is now unpainted. U. Structural system, framing: Wood frame on concrete foundation. 5. Chimneys: One brick chimney 6. Openings: a. Doorways and doors: North or front elevation: Wood, five panel door to meeting hall and double wood doors to fire department. South elevation: One steel door to jail with hinges on outside. TOWN HALL HABS No. U-38 (Page 3) b. Windows and shutters: One double hung two-over-two window on north elevation, one on east elevation and one on west elevation. Two barred windows in jail on south elevation. T. Hoof: a. Shape, covering: Wood shingles - recently covered with galvanized corrugated sheet steel. b. Cornice, eaves: Wood on three sides and false front on north side. c.

Dormers, cupolas, towers: Bell tower (about 8 feet high) at peak of roof near front of structure* C. Description of Interior: 1. Floor plans: Three rooms including meeting hall, fire department and storage room for fire fighting equipment. Lower floor or jail was divided into two cells with one window in each, an .exterior door and a door between the cells. 2. Stairways: None. There is no direct communication between the two levels. 3. Flooring: Wood in upper floor and concrete in lower floor. U. Doorways and doors: One doorway between cells of jail and one door to storage room in fire department. 5. Lighting, type of fixtures: Incandescent globes - bare. 6. Heating: One pot-bellied stove in meeting hall, with an outlet pipe in the jail. D. Site and Surroundings: 1.

Orientation: Building faces north (more or less). 2. Landscaping and walks, enclosures: Concrete apron in front of structure on north side between structure and main street. Prepared by Kenneth L. Lambert Student Assistant Architect Utah Project July 25, TOWN HALL HABS No, U-38 (Page k) PART III. PROJECT INFORMATION This record is part of a Utah Survey conducted in the summers of and under Joint sponsorship of the Historic American Buildings Survey of the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation of the National Park Service and the Utah Heritage Foundation. Field work, historic research and record drawings were done under the direction of Project Supervisor Paul Goeldner, AIA (Texas Tech Univer- sity) assisted by Project Historian John L. Giusti, AIA (University of Utah).

Photographs were made by P. Kent Fairbanks of Salt Lake City. Student Assistant Architects on the team were Robert M. Swanson and Charles W. Barrow, (University of Texas) and Kenneth L. Lambert and Keith Sorenson, (University of Utah). Student Assistant Architects were Keith Sorenson, Charles D. Harker and Robert Schriever, (University of Utah) and Donald G. Prycer, (Texas A, & M. University).