60 Pioneer Avenue
Sandy, UT, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Ernest and Sadie Cushing House

Statement of Significant:

Built c.1894, the Ernest and Sadie Cushing home is significant under Criterion A for its association with an important period of development in Sandy's history. The house provides a good 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 1871-1910. Under criterion C it is a distinct and important house type common to Sandy, the surrounding area, and throughout Utah between 1880-1910. Among the best preserved examples of the cross wing house type constructed during this period in Sandy, its Victorian Eclectic detailing is expressive of the level of craftsmanship attained locally. The Cushing house retains its historic integrity and is being nominated as part of the multiple property submission, Historic Resources of Sandy.

Located twelve 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 logical that 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-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 residents, smelters, and farms with water. Early agricultural pioneers, who generally established small, family-type farms, were 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. 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 center of Sandy's initial settlement possesses a unique character due to several components. First, the width of the residential streets remains consistently smaller than many towns in Utah that were laid out with wide streets and ten-acre blocks. Although Sandy employed the grid pattern of development, the streets, other than the major thoroughfares such as Main, are relatively narrow. Secondly, the scale of the residences is consistent. The buildings are primarily one-story residences with modest footprints. Third, the earliest buildings, such as the subject nomination, are sporadically placed within the city's core. The buildings built prior to 1910 provide the streetscape with a strong sense of historic association as they are located among homes that date from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. The blending of pre-1910 buildings within the narrow streets of smaller-scale residential structures provide a distinctive quality to Sandy's historic core

This house is located in the original historic square mile of old Sandy, an area first developed between 1860-1893 as a mining boom town, and further developed during a second phase of Sandy's growth (1893-1910). The Ernest and Sadie Cushing home represents the architectural and economic development of Sandy beyond its original mining/pioneer character, during the agri-business phase between 1893-1910, in the heart of old historic Sandy. The style and situation of these early Sandy homes reflect the Mormon ethics of self-reliance and community cooperation. Homesteads accompanied by property and outbuildings also reflected the diversity of skills and occupations mastered by early Sandy residents who functioned simultaneously as businessmen, farmers and laborers in order to survive economically.