Richard Charles Watkins (August 22, 1858 – April 9, 1941), an immigrant from

Bristol, England Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...

, was an American architect throughout the intermountain west in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In his early career, he interned with

Richard K.A. Kletting Richard Karl August Kletting (July 1, 1858 – September 25, 1943) was an influential architect in Utah. He designed many well-known buildings, including the Utah State Capitol, the Enos Wall Mansion (which now houses the Thomas S. Monson Center), ...

Salt Lake City 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 ...

. In 1890, he came to

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

as a construction supervisor, and opened his own firm in 1892. When he left nearly 20 years later he had become the most prominent architect south of

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 ...

. His works include designing over 240 schools in the intermountain west of the United States including ( Peteetneet, Maeser, Winnemucca, Spring City). He served as the architect for Utah State Schools between 1912 and 1920. He also designed businesses ( Knight Block Building, First National Bank of Provo), courthouses ( Piute County Courthouse, Uintah County Courthouse, Carbon County Courthouse), eight Carnegie libraries (Provo, Cedar City, Manti, Garland, Richmond, Ephraim, Eureka, Richfield), churches ( Provo Third Ward Chapel and Amusement Hall, Spring City Chapel, Mt. Pleasant South Ward) and homes ( Knight-Allen House, Thomas N. Taylor House). A number of his buildings survive and are listed on the U.S.

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 ...

Personal life

Richard Charles Watkins was born to Charles and Elizabeth Watkins in Bristol, England. He immigrated with his parents to

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

in 1872. In 1881, he married Lucy Greenwell of Ogden, formerly from

Dunton Bassett Dunton Bassett is a small village in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It lies between Leicester and Lutterworth, and close to Broughton Astley, Ashby Magna & Leire. It had a population of 795 at the 2001 UK census, falling to ...

. They had three children prior to her untimely death in 1887. Subsequently, Richard married Emma Wold in 1889 in Ogden and together they had 9 children. Richard died April 9, 1941, and is buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery.

Architectural works

Images of listings on National Register of Historic Places

File:Hines Mansion.jpg, Hines Mansion (1895) File:Maeser Elementary School.jpg, Maeser Elementary (1898) File:Spring City Utah School.jpg, Old Spring City School (1899) File:Knight Allen House.jpg, Knight-Allen House (1899) File:Old Fairfield (Utah) Schoolhouse.jpg, Fairfield District School (1898) File:Knight Block.jpg, Knight Block (1900) File:Peteetneet School.jpg, Peteetneet School (1901) File:Piute County Courthouse Junction Utah.jpeg, Piute County Courthouse (1903) File:Provo 3rd Ward Chapel.jpg, Provo Third Ward Chapel and Amusement Hall (1903) File:Snow College Admin Bldg.jpeg, Snow Academy Building (1908) File:Spring City 1.jpg, Spring City Chapel (1911) File:Ephraim Utah Carnegie Library.jpeg, Ephraim Carnegie Library (1915)

Other existing buildings on National Register of Historic Places

* Eureka LDS Ward meetinghouse (1902) ( Eureka Historic District) * Harrington Elementary School (1903 section) * First National Bank of Provo (1904) ( Provo Historic District) * Thomas N. Taylor House (1904) * B.P.O.E. Block (1910) (Eureka Historic District) * Manti Carnegie Library (1912), co-designed with John F. Birch * Garland Carnegie Library (1914) *

Richmond Carnegie Library The Richmond Carnegie Library is a historic one-story building in Richmond, Utah. It was built as a Carnegie library in 1913-1914 by August S. Schow, and designed in the Classical Revival style by Watkins & Birch, an architectural firm based in ...

(1914) * Winnemucca Grammar School (1928)

Demolished buildings

*Uintah County Courthouse (1900) *Franklin Elementary School (1901) *Brigham Young Academy: Training School (1902) *Brigham Young Academy: Missionary Preparatory/Arts Building (1904) *Price Commercial and Savings Bank (1910) *Cedar City Carnegie Library (1914) *Provo Carnegie Library (1914-1939; completely enclosed in 1939 addition) *Roosevelt High School (1914) *Midvale State Bank (1929)

Buildings where Watkins was possibly architect or contributor

* Reed Smoot House (1892) * John Dixon House (1894) * Hines Mansion (1895) * Ira Hatch House * John H. Seely House (1899) * Washington School (1906)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Richard C. 1858 births 1941 deaths 19th-century American architects English emigrants to the United States English Latter Day Saints Architects of Latter Day Saint religious buildings and structures Architects from Bristol Architects from Utah Artists from Provo, Utah 20th-century American architects