Wasatch County Courthouse, Main Street at Center Street, Heber City

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS UTAH,26-HEBER,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

This is part of what is probably the only remain- ing original Mormon town square in Utah not en- croached upon by other buildings. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Original and subsequent owners: Wasatch County 2. Date of erection: 3. Architect and builders: Unknown h. Alterations and additions: In 192U, a 2 story addition was attached to the west. Constructed on concrete, it was announced in the Was at ch Wave, the Heber City news- paper, on June 20, as "colored cement, marked to correspond with stone of present foundation".

On July 18, the paper announced that the foundation work was started, and on November 7, the building completion was noted, and was described as follows: "The ground floor consists of two splendid vaults, a' hallway and two toilet rooms" "Offices of the Clerk and Recorder and the Treasurer have been practically doubled in workable room " "In the second story of the new part of the building there are three good office rooms and a hallway." "The cost of Improvements made and including for new equipment in the vaults is " WASATCH COUNTY COURTHOUSE HABS No. U-25 (Page 2) B.

Historical Events, and Persons Associated with the Building: Wasatch County was created "by an act of the Utah Territorial Legislature on January IT* Before the courthouse -was "built, the probate judges and Selectmen held many of their early meetings in the old Latter Day Saints Tithing Office, a sandstone "building on Main Street and First North. A site was selected for a new courthouse on the south half of the public square (Block 90 of the Heher City Survey) on March h9 Selectmen Thomas H. Giles and Abram Hatch were appointed to direct the erection of the "building. County records authorizing payment of contractor's claims as of June 3, indicate work was under way "by that time.

Work apparently lagged, as construction was apparently complete as of September, when costs were reported at about plus for furniture. Further records indicate install- ation of a safe and sandstone walk in and landscaping in Early photographs of the courthouse show the "building with a "widow's walk" rail on the flat portion of the roof and a chimney on each corner of the building (probably for stove heat) and a flat roof front portico, all of which are now gone. A new county courthouse building is presently being designed; consequently the existing building is in some danger of demolition. This courthouse is especially significant since it is one of the last of the original courthouses in the state, and is part of the only remaining Mormon town square in Utah. C.

Sources of Information: 1. Original and unpublished sources: Interview with Mr. Don Barker, President, Heber City Historical Society. Interview with Ruth Witt, Treasurer, Heber City Historical Society. Minutes of Board of Selectmen of Wasatch County, 2.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS UTAH,26-HEBER,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Inventory of the County Archives of Utah, Historical Records Survey, Works Progress Asministration, No. 26, Wasatch County, July Mortimer, Wm. James, "How Beautiful Upon the Mountains," Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Wasatch Wave, December 21, WASATCH COUNTY COURTHOUSE HABS No. U-25 (Page 3) Wasatch Wave, June 20, 192U. Wasatch Wave, July 18, Was at eh Wave, November 7 Prepared "by John L. Giusti, AIA September 5, PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: 1. Architectural interest: TMs is the oldest structure of the unique Heber City Town Square complex. 2. Condition of fabric: Good at time of measurement, demolition threatened. B. Description of Exterior: 1. Over-all dimensions: Now 35! 6" x this two-story building was almost cubical before the addition of 2.

Foundations: Stove 3. Wall construction, finish and color: Red sandstone coursed ashlar. h. Structural system, framing: Masonry bearing walls. Roof framed with heavy timbers mortised, tenoned and pegged, 5. Porches and stoops: The present porch (192U) replaces an earlier and smaller one. A central door in the second story front indicates that the porch roof was intended as a deck or balcony. 6. Chimneys: Old photographs show chimneys at each corner of the roof. These were probably removed when central heating was installed and replaced by a central brick chimney. 7- Openings: a. Doorways and doors: The present entrance is a glazed door with narrow sidelights. b, Windows: Six-over-six double hung windows in wood frames with cornices wuggesting a pediment. WASATCH COUNTY COURTHOUSE HABS Ko.

Ur^5 (?^ge, hi 8. Roof: a. Shape, covering: A truncated hip which once had a widow's walk railing. The slope has wood shingles and the flat portion is covered with sheathing on the original portion is rough, glatsawn hoards with hark untrimmed. h. Cornice: The cornice has paired brackets which were carefully matched in the addition. C. Description of Interior: 1. Floor plans: a. First floor: A central hall connects the front and rear doors and contains the stair to the second floor. To the left of the entrance is the Sheriff's Office. Behind it is the Treasurer's Office with a vault behind. To the right of the entrance is the Clerk-Recorder's Office with a vault behind. Rest rooms are at the left side of the rear corridor. b. Second floor: A very small Court Room fills the front half.

At the left of the rear corridor are offices for the U.S.D.A. Home Economist and the Probate Judge. To the right is a judge's chamber and the office of the U.S.D.A. Extension Director. 2. Stairways: The stair from first to second floor is an open single flight with turned newel and balusters. The basement stair is below it and a steep, closed attic stair is above it. 3. Flooring: Wood boards are covered with linoleum and asphalt tile. h. Wall and ceiling finish: Plastered walls and ceilings with papered walls. 5. Doorways and doors: Paneled doors under two-light transoms. 6. Window openings: Window recesses are paneled in the Sheriff's and Treasurer's Offices and plain the Clerk- Recorder's Office. 7.

Notable hardware: Interesting devices on the window- jambs have a thumb piece on a disk attached to the jamb through an off-center hole. Turning the disk presses the sash against the frame holding it in any. open posi- tion or releasing it to move. WASATCH COUNTY COURTHOUSE HABS No. U-25 (Page 5) 8. Lighting, type of fixtures: Modern electric. 9. Heating: Central heating has replaced stoves. D. Site and Surroundings: 1. Orientation: Centered in the southeast quadrant of the Heber City Town Square facing Main Street, (U.S. Highway ^0) on the east. 2. Outbuildings: The Wasatch County Jail, Wasatch Stake Tabernacle and Heber Amusement Hall are also part of the Town Square complex. 3. Landscaping and walks, enclosures: A straight concrete walk leads "between large Spruce trees to Main Street.

The entire Square was first surrounded with a wooden picket fence, later replaced hy an ornamental iron fence which no longer exists. Prepared hy Paul Goeldner, AIA Supervisory Architect Utah Project June 27 & 30, PART III. PROJECT INFORMATION This record is part of a Utah Survey conducted in the summers of I967 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 hy Project Historian John L. Giusti, AIA (University of Utah). Photographs were made hy 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).