92 Pioneer Ave
Sandy, UT, USA

National Register of Historic Places - William T. and Amorillis Gammet Vincent House

Statement of Significance:

Built-in 1893, the William T. and Amorillis Gammet Vincent house is significant under Criterion A for its association with an important period of development in Sandy's history. William Vincent was a railroad conductor and a foreman at the Pioneer Ore Sampling Mill during this period. The house is one of a few examples of large and elaborate homes built by prosperous Sandy residents during the Mining, Smelting, and Small Farm period of 1871-1910. The Vincent house has been altered but retains much of its historic integrity and is being nominated as part of the multiple property submission, Historic Resources of Sandy City.

HISTORY OF SANDY:

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 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". This period 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 Ogden, the Utah Central Railroad reached Salt Lake City in 1870. From there the Utah Southern Railroad extended south from Salt Lake City reaching the Sandy area in 1871.4 This placed Sandy at a crossroads between Salt Lake City, Bingham Canyon, and Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. Soon after the arrival of the railroad to Sandy, spurs were constructed to Bingham and to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, allowing materials to be shipped to and from the mining operations.

Since Sandy was a strategic shipping point, it was only logical that sampling mills and smelters were built in the area. Three smelters were built in Sandy between 1872 and 1873. These smelters treated those ores which generally came from Little Cottonwood and Bingham, though small lots came from the Big Cottonwood, Tintic, and other districts.5 The existence of this operation, as well as several sampling mills in Sandy was directly linked to the successes of the mining operations.

With the increase in population due to the coming of the railroad and the expanded mining operations, a 160-acre townsite was platted in 1871.6 The construction of a "boom town" followed with the associated hotels, stores, saloons, and brothels. The population of Sandy likely peaked during the mid-1870s with hundreds of miners, smelter workers, teamsters, and railroad men working or passing through Sandy.

The boom period of the 1870s was short lived with the failure of several mining concerns which fed Sandy's economy. With the failure of the Big Emma Mine at Alta and the demise of the city of Alta, as well as the failure of other mining operations, the smelting and sampling concerns of Sandy began to close, first the "Saturn" in 1876 and then the "Flagstaff" in 1877.7 With this came a drop in the population which in 1880 fell to 488. Mining, however, continued to have a large impact on Sandy in the years following this initial slowdown.

While the dominant force in the economy of Sandy during the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s 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 and smelters, as well as farms, with water. In 1880 the Salt Lake City Canal was dug through the area and in 1883 the East Jordan Canal reached Sandy. These and other sources of water aided greatly in the establishment of the local agricultural economy which saw Sandy through the mining boom and subsequent depression. 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.

By 1882, after the mining boom had passed and many of the "gentile" population had been removed from the region, there was a sufficient number of Saints who had located in the area to organize the Sandy Ward, which had heretofore been a branch of the Union Ward. These early agricultural pioneers, generally established small, family types. farms, were by forerunners of a later, agriculturally-oriented lifestyle that 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 1893.10 With the relocation of sampling and smelting concerns to other sites, Sandy's impact as a mining town diminished. Soon after the turn of the century, Sandy 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.

ARCHITECTURE:

Built-in 1893, towards the end of the Sandy mining boom, the Vincent house is an example of only a handful of elaborate homes built by prosperous Sandy citizens during the mining period. This brick house foreshadows the shift the Sandy's residential architecture at the turn of the century when homes became more permanent, substantial structures. The large size and unusual design indicate there were trained craftsmen in Sandy during this period.
The Victorian style was popular in Utah between 1885-1905. The style represents the end of the 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 and the quality of design and workmanship were also affected during the Victorian era.

However, as a rural community, Sandy was still isolated enough for a Victorian house of this size and detail to be unique. The Vincent home was so unique in the community that it was called the "castle house" by the local children. 12
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 modest footprints. Third, the earliest buildings 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 provides a distinctive quality to Sandy's historic core.

HISTORY OF THE VINCENT HOUSE:

The property at 92 East Pioneer Avenue was purchased by William T. Vincent in 1888. He bought the property from two couples, Isaac & Catherine Harrison and Charles & Ellen Cushing, who also owned the property directly across the street. In 1893, at about the time the house was being built, Vincent 

purchased another portion of the property from L.E. Anderson. 13
William Tyler Vincent (1864-1921) was born in England and immigrated to Utah at the age of seven. He met Amorillis Gammet (1857-1931) in Salt Lake City. They moved to Sandy shortly after their marriage on November 1, 1875. William Vincent was a railroad conductor at the time. The couple's first home in Sandy was a small adobe house across from the Pioneer Ore Sampling Mill. Vincent becomes a foreman at the mill. He later also owned a saloon in town.14
The Vincents lived in several homes in Sandy before building the large home on Pioneer Avenue. They had seven children. As prominent citizens of the community, the couple hosted many social events, such as dances held on the floor of the sampling mill. They also hosted events at their home which was considered a "showcase with its beautiful hall entry, polished stairway and light-struck rooms with extensive views". 15 Amorillis Gammet Vincent was an avid gardener and the flower gardens which surrounded the house were especially elaborate.

William Vincent died in 1921, leaving the property to his widow. In 1934, three years after the death of Amorillis Gammet Vincent, the property was deeded to a daughter of William and Amorillis, Mildred Vincent O'Brien, and her husband William W. O'Brien. The O'Briens sold the property to John and Elva Turner in 1954. According to the tax card, the house was being used as a rental property by 1958. Since the 1950s, the property has changed hands nine times. It is not clear which owner converted the house into a duplex. The current owner is Boyd Johnson, a contractor, who purchased the property in 1986.