The Knutsford Hotel was an upscale hotel on the northeast corner of State Street and Third South (Broadway) in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Historically, the site had been the location of the camp where the

Mormons Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

had planted their first crops. The Knutsford Hotel was built in

downtown Salt Lake City Downtown (also called City Center) is the oldest district in Salt Lake City, Utah. The grid from which the entire city is laid out originates at Temple Square, the location of the Salt Lake Temple. Location Downtown Salt Lake City is usually def ...

in 1891. The architects were the Omaha-based firm of

Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie was a significant architecture firm in early Omaha, Nebraska. Fisher & Lawrie continued. A number of their works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History Louis Mendelssohn was born in Berlin ...

. The general contractors, also from Omaha, were

Rocheford & Gould Rocheford & Gould were brick manufacturers and construction contractors in early Omaha, Nebraska. The firm built numerous brick structures during Omaha's transition from the wooden buildings of Nebraska's territorial days to more permanent str ...

. The hotel was a 132-foot-by-132-foot Victorian-influenced structure built primarily of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

at a cost of $750,000. The hotel had 250 rooms and was advertised as being completely

fireproof Fireproofing is rendering something (structures, materials, etc.) resistant to fire, or incombustible; or material for use in making anything fire-proof. It is a passive fire protection measure. "Fireproof" or "fireproofing" can be used as a n ...

. The hotel's unique name was in honor of the owner's birthplace in

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census wa ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Gustavus S. Holmes was a one-time owner and operator of The Knutsford. Holmes also owned The Angelus in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and would often advertise the hotels together. In 1912, The Knutsford was remodeled and converted into The Auerbach

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

. The building housed the Sears Roebuck company's department store from 1928 to 1933. The building was demolished in 1935 and replaced by new commercial buildings and a theatre.

References

External links

Knutsford Hotel PhotoAuerbach Department Store Postcard
Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Hotels established in 1891 1891 establishments in Utah Territory Demolished buildings and structures in Utah Buildings and structures demolished in 1935 1935 disestablishments in Utah {{Utah-struct-stub

See also

References

External links