530 East 8800 South
Sandy, UT, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Benjamin Farrer and Jane Cook House

Statement of Significant:

Built in 1900, the Benjamin Farrer House is significant under Criterion C as a distinct and important example of the crosswing, 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 crosswing 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 period of 1871-1905.

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 first 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, who 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.

Benjamin Farrer, born on January 17, 1841, in Lancashire, England, emigrated to the United States with his widowed mother and three siblings upon their conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The family migrated with the Saints from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City in 1846-7. On Oct. 17, 1868, Farrer married Jane Cook who had immigrated from England in 1863. According to family histories and genealogical information, the Farrer family lived in a variety of locations prior to the erection of this, their last home in Sandy in 1900. The locations include Salt Lake City, Alta, West Jordan, and land south and east of the original Sandy City Plat. Farrer worked as a candy maker in Salt Lake City prior to his marriage, an ox team driver (crossing the plains three times) during the 1860s, and a carpenter from 1868 to 1872. He then worked as a miner at Alta in 1872 followed by a stint at a smelter in Murray in 1875. Farrer then homesteaded a 160-acre farm in 1880 south east of Sandy City where he worked as a farmer until the Farrer home in Sandy City was built. John W. Farrer, a son of Benjamin and Jane Farrer and a local builder, was responsible for the construction of the house. Although the house was built late in the historic context under discussion, it is a product of the work of a man and family which experienced nearly all facets of the economy and life in the area including mining, smelting, and farming. Upon completion of the house, Benjamin and his wife Jane separated. Benjamin relocated to Salt Lake City where he lived in a boarding house until his death in 1909. Jane continued to occupy the home until approximately 1910 when the home was sold to Alva J. Butler. Jane Farrer died on Oct. 16, 1925.

Alva John Butler worked as a teacher and salesman and served as a member of the Jordan Stake High Council. He was working as a travel agent and salesman for Studebaker Bros, at the time that he purchased the Farrer home. He also functioned as a justice of the peace, school trustee, and member of the Sandy City Council. Bulter became president and manager of the Farmer's Implement Company (1915-1920). In 1921 he became an insurance agent and appears to have moved from Sandy the following year. The property was subsequently sold to Louis Van Dam in 1929. Van Dam was a son-in-law of James Jensen, a prominent Sandy City businessman, and worked as a bookkeeper for his lumber and hardware business (Jensen and Kuhre). Louis also served as Sandy City Recorder for various terms after 1930.