510 East 8800 South
Sandy, UT, USA

National Register of Historic Places - John A. Anderson House

Statement of Significant:

Built in 1907, the John A. Anderson House is significant under Criterion C as a distinct and important example of the cross wing, a house type common to Sandy, the surrounding area, and throughout Utah from 1880 to 1910. Among the best-preserved examples of this version of the cross wing in Sandy, this structure retains a vast majority of its Queen Anne and Victorian eclectic detailing. I t is also expressive of the level of craftsmanship attained locally on the construction of such structures, including the use of native materials, such as the granite employed on the foundation. Under Criterion A, this house type is significant for its association with an important period of development in Sandy's history. The house provides an example of one type of dwelling which was commonly built in Sandy by and for its residents during the Mining, Smelting, and Small Farm Era, 1871-c,1910.

Located 12 miles south of Salt Lake City, Sandy is at the crossroads of what was once a busy series of mining districts. Paralleling to a large extent the history of mining in surrounding canyons, Sandy's early history and development either boomed or declined based on these mining operations.

Sandy's firs t major period of development, known as the "Mining, Smelting, and Small Farm Era, 1871-c.1910", closely coincided with the discovery and mining of precious metals in nearby canyons beginning in 1863, and with the arrival of the transcontinental railroad to Utah in 1869. Extending south from Salt Lake City, the Utah Southern Railroad reached the Sandy area in 1871, placing Sandy at a crossroads between Salt Lake City, Bingham Canyon, and Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. Railroad spurs were subsequently extended to the mouths of these canyons, allowing materials to be shipped to and from the mining operations. Since Sandy was a strategic shipping point, it is only logical that needed sampling mills and smelters were built in the area. Also in 1871, a 160 acre townsite was platted, and the construction of a "boom town" shortly followed. The boom period of the 1870s was short lived with the failure of several mining concerns which fed Sandy's economy, leading to the closure of several smelting and sampling concerns beginning in 1876. Mining, however, continued to have a large impact on the town in the years following this initial slow down.

While the dominant force in the economy of Sandy during the 1870s, '80s, and '90s was undoubtedly that of mining, the local agricultural community continued to develop. A series of wells and ditches were dug beginning as early as 1869 to supply the city, smelters, and farms with water. Early agricultural pioneers, which generally established small, family type farms, were but forerunners of a later agriculturally oriented lifestyle which was to dominate Sandy's economy. During the 1890s, despite a downturn in the mining industry, Sandy continued to establish itself as a permanent community in the Salt Lake Valley. New business enterprises came into being to support the local agricultural economy, new schools were built, and the city was incorporated in 1893. With the relocation of sampling and smelting concerns to other locations, Sandy's impact as a mining town diminished. Many of the mines that once supported Sandy's mining industry either played out, or their refining operations were relocated. By soon after the turn of the century, Sandy had lost much of the mining component of its economy, marking an end to its initial phase of development. The agricultural component also shifted at this time away from small family farms toward larger, more specialized farming operations, inaugurating a new phase of development in the city.

The property on which the John A. Anderson House is located was acquired from John Lundgren in January 1907. Lundgren, born in 1830 in Sweden, immigrated to the United States in 1872. John Alfred & Johanna Nelson Anderson, also Swedish immigrants in 1887 & 1891 respectively, were the parents of four children, all of whom appear to have been born in Sandy, beginning in 1897. According to the 1910 census , Anderson, who worked as a laborer, lived in the home with his wife, three children, and John Lundgren, the previous owner of the property, who is listed as a "boarder" in the home. The relationship of Lundgren to the Andersons is unknown. The Andersons continued to live in the home until the death of John A. Anderson in 1945 at which time the property was deeded to his son, Arthur R. Anderson, who was born in 1908. Arthur and his wife Hazel resided in the home until 1975 when the property was acquired by Lynn A. Anderson.