782 Pioneer Road
Draper, UT, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Joseph E. and Mina W. Mickelsen House

Statement of Significance:


The Joseph E. and Mina W. Mickelsen House, built in 1929, is significant under Criterion A, for its association with the development of Draper in the first half of the twentieth century. For much of the twentieth century, the poultry business was the single most important economic force in Draper. Sources estimate that nearly one-third of Draper's workforce was associated with the poultry industry during the peak years between the 1930s and the 1950s. Joseph E. Mickelsen was the Secretary, Treasurer, and Manager of the Draper Egg Producers' Association Inc., for over forty years. Just across the road from the poultry feed mill and egg producers' plant, the house he shared with his wife Mina Wadley Mickelsen was a community showplace and gathering spot for leaders in the poultry business and other community members. The house was moved from its original location at 1020 E. Pioneer Road to 782 E. Pioneer Road in 2002 and was rehabilitated in 2002-2003 as a federal tax credit project for use as an office. Despite the move, the house retains its historic integrity and is eligible under the Multiple Property Submission, Historic and Architectural Resources of Draper, primarily within the historic context, "Twentieth-Century Community Development and Poultry Industry Period, 1918-1954." The house contributes to the historic resources of Draper, Utah.

History of the Joseph E. and Mina W. Mickelsen House:
The community of Draper was established in 1849 just two years after the arrival of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church) to the Salt Lake Valley. The Draper settlement was originally known as South Willow Creek but was sometimes called Sivogah, the native name for the area. Five families were the first settlers but were soon joined by relatives and friends. The early settlers raised cattle to sell to emigrants en route to the California gold mines. Between 1855 and 1856, a fort was constructed and most of the settlers lived there. By the time the Utah Southern Railway reached the South Willow Creek area in 1871, the community was a thriving though somewhat scattered collection of farmsteads with a population of around 480. In 1876, a town site was surveyed for the community, then known as Draperville. The name was later shortened to Draper. The farming (grains and fruits) and ranching (sheep and cattle) community grew steadily. After the arrival of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway 1881, several industries had been established near the rail corridor and a thriving mercantile industry was established.
Niels Mikkelsen acquired the property in 1882 along with other properties for $500 from Peter Sorensen. Niels was born in Denmark, on March 19, 1841. He married Birthe Sophie Rasmusdatter (Rasmussen) who was born in Denmark in 1846. The couple came to Draper in 1881 with three children born in Agri, Denmark, Soren, Dorothea, and Mary. Their last six children were born in Draper. After Niel's death in 1906, the title to the property passed by a degree in 1908 to Sophia R. Mikkelsen, his wife. A few weeks before she died in 1914 she sold all of the property to J. E. Mikkelsen, her son, for $2450.