Univ. OF Utah Historic Buildings Archive.

Overview of the University of Utah's
Historic Buildings
Home Page

Bibliography

Building List

Campus Map

Area I

Area II

Area III

World War II Structures

When most people think of historic buildings on the University of Utah campus, the buildings on Presidents Circle come quickly to mind. This is a very reasonable reaction and an accurate one. The buildings directly on Presidents Circle are in the University Circle National Register District and are in the National Register of Historic Places. However, these are but a fraction of the many buildings that contribute to the historic architectural fabric of the University of Utah. First, there are numerous permanent structures built specifically for the University. Secondly, there are a few permanent structures that have been acquired. And thirdly, there are the many "temporary" buildings that the University of Utah acquired from the Army (most of them at the end of WWII) that contribute to the historic character of the University.

Thumbnail of the Park Building. Thumbnail of Kingsbury Hall. Thumbnail of The Voice and Opera Center Thumbnail of the James Talmage Building Thumbnail of the Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse Thumbnail of Carlson Hall

For the purpose of this survey, we focused on buildings that have a construction date of 1947 or earlier, the traditional 50-year cutoff period used by the National Register. The research for this survey was fairly intensive with nearly every source at the University of Utah utilized including, but not limited to, the Marriott Library Special Collections and Campus Design and Construction drawing files. See the enclosed Bibliography / Reference List for specific documents used. As a result of the limited time frame of the survey it was necessary to give some buildings priority over others with respect to the level of research. In general, the WWII structures received top priority. Although it was possible to determine most of the uses that these buildings served, it was not always possible to determine the exact dates when one use was replaced by another.

Based on this research, we decided that the historic buildings on campus could be divided into three geographic areas. Area I (see map) coincides with the general boundaries of the campus prior to WWII. Area II consists of "The Church Triangle" (owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 'LDS Church') and the South Central portion of campus. Area III is on the east side of campus in the south portion of the Health Sciences Center. While we have divided the University's historic buildings into three geographical areas, the WWII "temporary" structures have a common link to each other and to American architectural history.

Thumbnail of Area I mapArea I Thumbnail of Area II mapArea II Thumbnail of Area III mapAreaIII Thumbnail of World War 2 mapWWII Buildings

About This Site

This Web site contains a portion of the information gathered by Eric Browning, Matt Thomas, and Tania Tully who are students at the University's Graduate School of Architecture . The research was done for the University's Department of Facilities Planning during Summer Quarter 1997. The research contains the following and is located at the Department of Facilities Planning and the State Historic Preservation Office.
  • Context/Background Information.
  • Locator map with brief history of the building.
  • Copies of original and subsequent drawings. (Some files will only have a list of available drawings.)
  • 1997 Photographs.
  • Space Utilization Plans from Campus Design and Construction.
  • Copy of Facilities Planning spreadsheet. The style, type and materials of the building are included on this.
  • Photocopies of historic photographs when available.
  • Photocopies of Chronicle articles when available.
  • Miscellaneous Information.
This Web site was created as a Department of Communication class project by Nathan Gibby with assistance from Professor Michael Holmes and classmates Eric Browning and Don Jensen. Header graphic designed by Natalie Gibby.

Home Page | Bibliography | Building List | Campus Map | Area I | Area II | Area III | WWII