8850 South 60 East
Sandy, UT, USA

8850 South 60 East, Sandy, UT, USA

Statement of Significant:

The Alfred 0. and Annie L. Olsen Anderson house, built c. 1913, is a one-story brick house and significant under Criteria A and C. It is significant under Criterion A for its association with the second period of Sandy City's development, Specialized Agriculture, Small Business, and Community Development Period (1906-1946) of the multiple property submission, Historic Resources of Sandy City. Several members of the Anderson family were influential business owners in Sandy during this period. The house may also be considered significant under Criterion C as an interesting example of Sandy's residential architecture in transition during the early twentieth century. The house is essentially a transitional Victorian cottage, displaying the influence of both the bungalow style and Craftsman movement. It is in excellent condition and contributes to the historic resources of Sandy City

Historical Significance
Located 12 miles south of Salt Lake City, historic 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 Bingham Canyon to the west and Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons to the east, Sandy's history and development either boomed or declined based on these mining operations. Sandy's first major period of development is known as the Mining, Smelting, and Small Farm Era, 1871-c. 1910 During this period Sandy became a strategic shipping point and a number of sampling mills and smelters were built in the area. While the dominant force in the economy of Sandy during the 1870s through the 1890s was undoubtedly that of mining, the local agricultural community continued to develop. The majority of those involved in agriculture were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church) who were encouraged to pursue agriculture instead of mining.

The Specialized Agriculture, Small Business, and Community Development Period (1906-1946) is the second period of development in Sandy. It encompasses the first half of the twentieth century and was a period of transition for the city. The mining, smelting and small farm era (1871-circa 1910) was being replaced by a more diversified economy. In some ways the town still resembled the earlier predominantly agricultural community founded by Mormon settlers in the 1860s, especially as the "boom town" economy created around the mining industry waned. The population of Sandy remained around 1,500 for the four decades between 1900 and 1940." However, the city was defining itself as the political, economic, civic and social center for a major portion of the southeast Salt Lake Valley.

This period of Sandy's history laid the groundwork for city's eventual transformation from small town to suburb. One of the earliest signs of community development was the creation of subdivisions from large farming parcels. During the first half of the twentieth century, the majority of Sandy residents continued to live on their farms, however most managed to survive economically by combining subsistence farming with other occupations, primarily cottage industries and mercantilism. Other farmers created large specialized agricultural enterprises such as sugar beets and poultry. Many Sandy residents continued to work in the mining and smelter industries in nearby communities after Sandy's smelters closed down. The history of the Hardcastle family spans these two periods of Sandy's development.

The land on which the Alfred and Annie Anderson home sits was originally owned by LeGrand and Grace Young. The Youngs sold the property to Kanuts Swenson in 1895. It was later sold to Olof Peterson in 1909. Alfred C. Anderson acquired the property on May 15, 1914. The existing house was constructed soon after 1914. The 1937 tax card gives the year of construction as 1916.

Alfred Christian Anderson was born near Oslo, Norway, on February 11, 1878. He was the second child of Karl Ludvik and Maren Christopherson Anderson. The Anderson family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) and immigrated to Utah around 1887. The family first lived in Salt Lake City and later moved to a farm in West Jordan where they stayed until 1897. When Alfred, known as Alf, was about nineteen, he went to Cardston, Canada with his father and younger brother Mart to work on a church-sponsored canal and sugar factory. Alfred Anderson married Annie Louisa Olsen on April 20, 1909, in Salt Lake City. Annie Louisa Olsen was born on November 11, 1881, in Park City, Utah, to Fredrik and Hannah Baltzersen Olsen. Alf and Annie lived for a time in Canada where their son Raymond was born in 1911, they then moved back to Utah in 1913.

The family eventually settled in Sandy where Alf built a meat market in partnership with his brother Mart. The Anderson brothers built a brick shop at 123 East Main Street in 1914. By 1922, the partnership had broken up. Alfred became a grocer and Mart move the meat market and butcher shop to a new location. Alfred continued in the grocery business until the early 1930s. The Andersons sold the house to Newton and Florence Whittenburg in 1939. The Andersons were apparently living in Salt Lake prior to that time. Alfred Anderson died on February 25, 1948. He appears to have been living in Sandy at the time of his death, possibly with a family member. Annie L. Olsen Anderson died in Los Angeles, on November 24, 1956.

Newton Wesley Whittenburg was born March 25, 1894, in Missouri. His wife, Florence Sarah Lancaster was born on April 18, 1904, in West Jordan, Utah. Newton and Florence were named in Salt Lake City on April 11, 1932 and they moved to Sandy around 1934. They are listed at the house at 8850 South 60 East in the 1936 Polk directory, the year their son Raymond Wesley was born. They purchased the home in 1939.

Newton Whittenburg was employed as a boilermaker's helper at the United States Smelting and Refining plant in Midvale since 1927. On December 18,1941, Newton Whittenburg suffered a heart attack at the Midvale smelter and died. Florence Whittenburg remained in the home until just before her death on October 7, 1984. She was known for her service to her church and community. Raymond Whittenburg sold the property in 1993. The house subsequently had four owners before being purchased by the current owner, Robin Mueller, in 1997.

Architectural Significance
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 Street, are relatively narrow. Secondly, the scale of the residences is consistent, mostly one or one-and-a-half story homes with a modest footprint. Third, the earliest buildings are sporadically placed within the city's core. The buildings built prior to 1910 provide the street scape with a strong sense of historic association as they are located among homes that date from the 1920s through the 1940s. 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 representative of a major shift in Sandy community architecture. When the Sandy mining boon ended in 1893 and local commerce turned to agricultural business, construction slowed and the quality of houses improved. The homes built at the turn-of-the-century in Sandy were permanent, substantial structures made of brick, stone, adobe, or frame with drop siding, and adorned with decorative woodwork of trained craftsmen. This house is expressive of the level of craftsmanship attained locally during this turn-of-the-century shift to more substantial and elaborate homes.

The style of the Alfred and Annie Anderson house illustrates the early twentieth century changes that were occurring in Utah. Victorian Eclectic details were important in describing the end of isolation of Utah in the late nineteenth century. Rural areas were less isolated from stylistic developments occurring on both the national and local levels. The pattern book styles and standardized building components were available and easily adapted for use with local materials. The former isolation of rural areas was no longer an obstacle to building well. The Alfred and Annie Anderson house represents the influence of the bungalow-craftsman movements which were very popular in Salt Lake City by 1916. The house is very transitional: it incorporates both Victorian and Craftsman elements. The battered porch column of wood, especially showed the builder's knowledge of the latest popular style. In addition, the use of concrete and rock-faced concrete block on the Anderson house is an early example of new building technologies reaching relatively rural Sandy.

The builder of the Anderson home was possibly August Matts Nelson, a native of Sandy. Nelson was born in Sandy on December 12, 1876. He is credited with building at least forty homes in the area and the Sandy Recreation Hall in the 1930s.® As a young man, he moved several times trying different occupations, but soon acquired a reputation as a carpenter and contractor. He is listed as a contractor in the 1927-1928 Utah State Gazetteer. He also served on the Sandy City Council, and as Vice President of the Sandy City Bank. Nelson retired in 1936, but continued to work for the Jensen & Kuhre Company. He died in November of 1944.

August Nelson favored brick, often buff or yellow, as a material, although he also built frame houses. His homes are all one and one-and-one-half story modest residences. As a group they represent a local builder's transition from Victorian house types to the twentieth century. He built several homes using traditional Victorian house types, such as the cross wing and central block with projecting bays, with a modest amount of Victorian ornamentation. However, at the same time he built homes which resemble the much simpler (and relative modern) twentieth-century bungalows popular in Salt Lake City. These homes exhibit characteristics of both styles, sometimes as a hybrid. The Alfred and Annie Anderson is such a home, and along with its rock-face brick bays and metal hip knobs, is similar to many of Nelson's residential work in the Sandy area. However, this home, if built by Nelson, is unique in its use of concrete block. Though there was a certain amount of experimentation in Nelson's career as a local builder, according to his daughter, he also had a reputation for methodical quality work.