The Knight Block is a historic building located on South University Avenue (

U.S. Route 189 U.S. Route 189 is a spur of U.S. Route 89. It currently runs for 322 miles (518 km) from Provo, Utah at Interstate 15 to Jackson, Wyoming. The highway was not part of the original 1926 U.S. Highway system. The highway was created in the ...

) in downtown Provo,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Description

The Knight Block was constructed in 1900, and served as

Jesse Knight Jesse Knight (6 September 1845 — 14 March 1921) was an American mining magnate, one of relatively few Latter-day Saints in 19th century Western America to find major success in the field. After the death of his father Newel Knight, Jesse's f ...

's financial headquarters. It was designated to the National Register of Historic Places in May 1977.

Structure

A three-story building, the Knight Block is a rectangular structure containing a ground floor for retail, a basement, and two upper floors used for offices. The structure is made of red brick with gray limestone lintels. On the southwest of the building is a clock tower which rises over the roof line of the building. Several additions have been made to the building, such as three bays built on the north end of the western face of the building and the inside of the main floor.

Jessie Knight

Perhaps the wealthiest man in Provo at the time, Jesse Knight was born in 1845 in

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...

. Knight's family migrated west, and reached Utah Territory in 1857. Twelve years later, Knight married Amanda McEwan and began a ranch in

Payson, Utah Payson is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 21,101 at the 2020 census. History Pioneers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints led by Jam ...

. Following an impression that he had, Knight began a mining operation in the

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

area and became rich. He subsequently bought other mines, founded a bank, purchased real estate in Provo, bought the Provo Woolen Mills, and started farming and cattle interests in Canada. Throughout all of these efforts, Knight remained an active supporter of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church), and his mines were called the "cleanest mining camps in the west" (Utah State Historical Society p. 2). Knight died in 1921, designating much of his amassed fortune to

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

and various other institutions.

Jesse Knight and the Tintic Mining Industry

The successful commercial mining of precious metals and minerals transformed Utah's economy from basically an agrarian base to a more industrialized state. Within this development the Tintic Mining District, located approximately thirty miles southwest of Provo, was founded in 1869 and by 1899 became the leading mining center in Utah with a value of output placed at five million dollars. A central figure in Tintic success was Jesse Knight and the Knight family who resided in Provo. Knight attained wealth with his Humbug mine in the mid-1890s. The large silver producer allowed Knight to develop other mines in the East Tintic area. Knightsville grew around the workings and became touted as the only saloon-free, prostitute-free, privately owned mining camp in the U.S. His strict adherence to doctrines of the LDS Church made the town one inhabited primarily by Mormons. Knight was able to expand farther than the tintic mines, reaching to the power plant in Santaquin, the Knight Dry Farm, and the smelters at Silver City. The Bonneville Mining Company, the Knight Woolen Mills, Ellison Ranching Company, the American-Columbian Corporation, the Springville-Mapleton Sugar Company, the Spring Canyon Coal Company, Utah Savings Bank, the Layton Sugar Company, and the Tintic Drain Tunnel Company all represent facets of the Knight Investment Company. The fortune Knight earned from these investments allowed the construction of not only the Knight Block, but also the Knight-Mangum House, the Knight-Allen House, and the Jesse Knight House. and

References

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