Sidewalks
Highland Park has some of Salt Lake City's oldest sidewalks.
From 1910 to 1914 most of the sidewalks and street paving that occurred in Salt Lake City was happening in the Highland Park neighborhood. The neighborhood was being developed by Kimball & Richards. One of the contractors who was laying the sidewalk was L. H. Sims. Their names can be seen on some sections of sidewalk which are nearly 110 years old! There are a few of these still visible throughout the neighborhood.
Kimball & Richards
Land Merchants
Don Carlos Kimball & Claude Richards organized a firm in 1907 which by 1908 was split into 3 companies: Kimball & Richards Land Merchants, Kimball & Richards Building Company, and Kimball & Richards Securities Company. They sold and developed the land, built homes, and financed for the buyers. They wanted to build a modern neighborhood in Salt Lake City which drew upon many growing ideals at the time.
https://www.livingplaces.com/UT/Salt_Lake_County/Salt_Lake_City/Highland_Park_Historic_District.html
Kimball was one of the leaders in pushing racist redlining laws in Salt Lake City
"S.L. Realtors Restrict Housing of Nonwhites in Urban Areas,” Salt Lake Tribune, 5/7/1944:
“Pledges to restrict nonwhites from white communities have been signed by most Salt Lake real estate dealers in accordance with the National Association of Real Estate Boards’ code of ethics which forbids the sale of property to anyone who might ‘lower community standards,'” D. Carlos Kimball, chairman, nonwhite housing control committee, Salt Lake real estate board, disclosed Saturday.
“‘Nonwhites have a tendency to congregate. When a few filter into a white community, more usually follow. Then the whites leave, and the land value goes down,’ he declared….”
“He referred to the recent influx of Negroes, pointing out laconically that ‘we are not encouraging their growth.'”
Louis Henry Sims was a contractor in the SLC area until his death 10/18/1948. Below is his obituary.
