The Provo East Central Historic District (Additional Documentation and Boundary Increase/ADBI) is significant at the local level under Criteria A and C in the areas of Community Planning & Development and Architecture. The Provo East Central Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 24, 1998 (NRIS #98000281). This amendment provides additional documentation to: 1) extend the period of significance to 1973; 2) enlarge the boundaries to include adjacent blocks with historic and architectural ties to the district; and 3) evaluate the current NRHP eligibility of each property within the amended historic district.
The Provo East Central Historic District ADBI is significant under Criterion A in the area of Community Planning & Development because it represents the transition of Provo’s residential east side neighborhood as the city emerged from its agricultural beginnings to become a regional center of commerce, government, education, and industry. The boundary increase includes adjacent areas where some of the above non-residential activities occurred. Vestiges of early residential patterns remain in the form of original square blocks, houses located on corner lots, and agricultural outbuildings. More dominant, however, is the overlay of early twentieth-century residential construction. Later in-fill on narrower lots created rows of houses fronted by concrete sidewalks and street trees. The boundary increase includes additional square blocks to the north, south, and west. To the east of the historic district, the boundary increase also includes early subdivision development that reinforced the area’s identity as a typical early twentieth-century neighborhood with urban streetscapes. In this amended nomination, the period of significance has been extended to 1972, to include the significance of mid-century houses and apartment buildings as infill and development within the historic neighborhood. The impact of the nearby Brigham Young University campus cannot be understated. BYU was partially responsible for the dramatic rise in Provo’s population in the mid-twentieth century, and the corresponding rise in enrollment directly impacted the adjacent neighborhoods, both the original historic district and the boundary increase. The symbiotic relationship between the university’s growth and the private property owners providing off-campus student housing can be seen throughout the district and the boundary increase, from the trend of residence-to-apartment conversions starting in the 1920s to the construction of multi-building apartment complexes in the 1970s.
The Provo East Central Historic District ADBI is also significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. Architecturally, the houses in the district include many of the best local examples of historic styles and types that were popular both in Provo and throughout Utah. The resources represent a pattern of architectural evolution of the popular types and styles of their era. Examples range from early vernacular adobe houses to high-style Victorian Eclectic architecture to more modest bungalow and period revival styles. With the expansion of the period of significance to 1973, the architectural significance is not limited to the styles described in the original nomination. In particular, the boundary increase include numerous excellent examples of World War II-era, postwar, and mid-century Modern domestic architecture. A short walk from the center of the district to the north end provides the observer with an architectural guide to the evolution of the Modern apartment block. Although rare in the mostly residential neighborhood, the boundary increase also includes excellent examples of commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings.
