Feb 26, 1970
National Register of Historic Places - Thomas Kearns Mansion and Carriage House
Statement of Significant: The Kearns Mansion was designed by Architect Carl M. Nauhausen for millionaire mining magnate Thomas Kearns. It is a part of the national culture that shows up in that area. The foundation was laid in the spring of 1900 and the building completed in 1902. Thomas Kearns came to Utah in 1883 as a young man working on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. He gravitated to the mines in Park City where he soon became part owner of the Silver King Coalition Silver Mines. His partner was David Keith. With his newly acquired wealth, Kearns built his lovely mansion on Brigham Street (later South Temple Street) in 1902. The building itself is a work of art, made of oolite marble, and richly furnished interiors of wood, tile and marble. It reflects the quality that affluence could demand in the new twentieth century. Thomas Kearns became a millionaire before he was 28 years old and a United States Senator from Utah by the age of 40 (1901-1905).. He also was a noted philanthropist, erecting the Kearns St. Ann's Orphanage, now St. Ann's School. He became the publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune. Today the Kearns Building, Kearns Corporation, and Kearns, Utah, perpetuate his name. The Kearns family lived in the mansion for over thirty-five years. In it many distinguished guests were entertained, including two presidents: Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. President Roosevelt watched a parade on South Temple from the marble loggia on the second floor. Thomas Kearns died in 1918, but-the home remained in the possession of the family until 1937, when Mrs. Jennie Kearns donated it to the state to be used as a governor's mansion. Three Utah governors lived in the mansion; Henry H. Blood, Herbert B. Maw, and J. Bracken Lee. In 1957 the mansion became the home of the Utah State Historical Society. It is the intention of the Society that this lovely building be preserved and kept open to the public to provide a show place depicting the genteel life that Utah's mineral resources produced for one of the state's foremost families.
National Register of Historic Places - Thomas Kearns Mansion and Carriage House
Statement of Significant: The Kearns Mansion was designed by Architect Carl M. Nauhausen for millionaire mining magnate Thomas Kearns. It is a part of the national culture that shows up in that area. The foundation was laid in the spring of 1900 and the building completed in 1902. Thomas Kearns came to Utah in 1883 as a young man working on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. He gravitated to the mines in Park City where he soon became part owner of the Silver King Coalition Silver Mines. His partner was David Keith. With his newly acquired wealth, Kearns built his lovely mansion on Brigham Street (later South Temple Street) in 1902. The building itself is a work of art, made of oolite marble, and richly furnished interiors of wood, tile and marble. It reflects the quality that affluence could demand in the new twentieth century. Thomas Kearns became a millionaire before he was 28 years old and a United States Senator from Utah by the age of 40 (1901-1905).. He also was a noted philanthropist, erecting the Kearns St. Ann's Orphanage, now St. Ann's School. He became the publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune. Today the Kearns Building, Kearns Corporation, and Kearns, Utah, perpetuate his name. The Kearns family lived in the mansion for over thirty-five years. In it many distinguished guests were entertained, including two presidents: Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. President Roosevelt watched a parade on South Temple from the marble loggia on the second floor. Thomas Kearns died in 1918, but-the home remained in the possession of the family until 1937, when Mrs. Jennie Kearns donated it to the state to be used as a governor's mansion. Three Utah governors lived in the mansion; Henry H. Blood, Herbert B. Maw, and J. Bracken Lee. In 1957 the mansion became the home of the Utah State Historical Society. It is the intention of the Society that this lovely building be preserved and kept open to the public to provide a show place depicting the genteel life that Utah's mineral resources produced for one of the state's foremost families.
Feb 26, 1970
Posted Date
Jun 26, 2023
Historical Record Date
Feb 26, 1970
Source Name
National Register of Historic Places
