Avon Apartments

In the early 20th century, Ogden, Utah was home to more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the United States. This was largely due to its status as “Junction City,” or the transfer point between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads. At one time, over 100 trains stopped in Ogden per day, attracting businessmen, celebrities, and politicians. The presence of the railroad, combined with the construction of new manufacturing plants, created rapid blue-collar population growth within the area, ultimately causing a housing crisis. 

Several three-story apartment buildings were constructed between 1908-1928 in order to address the issue; The Avon Apartments were the first of these, constructed in 1908. Originally designed in the Romanesque Revival architectural style by investor Ella Ella Georgeanna Lewis Van Why, it was then purchased by Dr. Edward I. Rich in 1914, who added the Prairie School style porches. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and continues to serve as an apartment complex today.

Avon Apartments, History Pointer. Accessed October 28th 2020. https://www.historypointer.com/nris/resource/87002158/#14/41.2203/-111.9539.

Avon Apartments, Wander. Accessed October 28th 2020. https://www.wander.am/travel/ogden-90621/places/avon-apartments-189788.

Utah MPS Avon Apartments, National Archives Catalog. Accessed October 28th 2020. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/72000687.