J.M. Wilbur Blacksmith NRHP
Io completed the successful nomination of the J.M. Wilbur Company Blacksmith shop in Eden, Utah to the National Register of Historic Places. The shop, built in 1898 and rehabilitated in 2011-2014, is a one-part block commercial building with a stepped gable parapet and Late Victorian commercial details. The building is both historically and architecturally significant, with a period of significance dating from 1898, when it was built by Jesse Wilbur, to 1951, when Jesse passed away.
Jesse partnered with his son Glenn in 1924, and used this building as a commercial outlet providing primarily blacksmithing and other related services to local farmers and the surrounding communities. Following Jesse’s death, Glenn carried on the business for two more decades.
It is significant under Criterion A in the areas of Exploration/Settlement, Industry, and Commerce because it played a vital role in the development and success of the village of Eden, Utah and the surrounding Ogden Valley. The building was originally designed and constructed to facilitate the needs of the blacksmithing industry, a once common and necessary business in frontier life, and continues to operate as a blacksmith shop today.
February 21, 2015