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Show ft.. . Volume Eighty-Three f nit rtamiMiil OwM SPRING VI LLE, UTAH S-m - September 2S. 1978 riee'iO' Number Thirty Nine Utah Senators Jake Gam and Orrin Hatch announced this week that the Jacob Houtz House in Springville has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. The home has been owned by Mrs. Raymond Gull for the past 30 years, but was sold just last week to Edward T. Murdock of Springville. Mrs. Gull said when she purchased the home, she rented it out for awhile, but renters were so hard on the building that it later was used for storage purposes. Vandals now have literally "wrecked the place." Mr. Murdock said he does not have immediate plans for the property, but purchased it as commercial property. He added that the home itself is in "absolute ruin," that there are cracks through the walls, that it is structurally unsound and that it "would cost a small fortune to fix it up." "Nowadays it wouldn't pass building inspection," Mr. Murdock, a builder himself, added. Everywhere, he said, we are having to tear down old school Cemeteries booklet available A new 12-page pamphlet on the rules and regulations governing Springville City and Evergreen Cemeteries has been recently issued by the Cemeteries Department, under the direction of Richard Fox, superintendent. The pamphlet outlines in eight sections, sec-tions, regulations set up by the Cemeteries Department and Springville City. It also contains maps, of the two cemeteries, along with an introduction explaining the reasons for the rules. Copies of the pamphlet may be obtained ob-tained at the Cemeteries office at 444 South 200 West or at the city offices at 50 South Main Street. The pamphlet explains lot ownership and privileges, along with nature and extent of rights aquired, purchase contracts and descent and inheritance of burial rights. Under the BURIALS section, it explains ex-plains notice required, burial fees, duties of funeral director and excavation ex-cavation crews, burials per grave, etc. A DECORATIONS section explains about floral pieces, containers, artificial ar-tificial flowers, holiday decorations, fresh cut flowers, and planting or excavation ex-cavation around the individual graves. MARKERS and MONUMENTS explains the type required by the cemeteries for perpetual care, etc. GENERAL PLATTING and LANDSCAPING LAND-SCAPING explains the boundaries, roads, water lines and filing of plats, etc. PERPETUAL CARE is also in one section, as are REGULATIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND CONDUCT. CON-DUCT. This section spells out entrance regulations, loss or damage, speed limit, horses and dogs, motorcycles and bycycles, etc. Art City sets back-to-school program tonight Brookside Elementary will hold its Back-to-School Night September 28, 1978 at 7 p.m. The new Principal, staff members, teachers, and PTA officers will be introduced. The PTA will discuss the membership mem-bership drive, budget, and projects for the coming year. Parents will have the opportunity to meet with the teachers to discuss how and what their children will be taught this school year. Brookside PTA meets tonight The new Art City Elementary School will hold its Back-to-School night tonight at 7 o'clock. All parents are urged to attend. PTA president Melissa Clark will conduct the meeting. Introduction of staff and PTA officers will take place, to be followed by the parents' visiting the classrooms for a general orientation orien-tation of the school program. MM buildings and there is "no way" the Houtz home could be opened up to the public, unless it was rebuilt from foundation up. Neither plumbing nor electrical work inside would pass building codes today, he said. It's an old "worn out place," he continued, saying that he has no plans at present for resotration of the home. No one seems to know just how the home earned its place on the National Register. Mrs. Gull said she had not applied to have the home placed on the register, and Senator Garn's Provo office was looking into the matter at press time. According to a statement written by Josie Houtz Alleman, in Heart Throbs of the West. Vol. 3, compiled by Kate B. Carter and published by Daughters of Utah Pioneers, the large, two story brick house, standing on Spring Creek, north of Springville, was built by Jacob Houtz in 1863. The bricks used were moulded and burned in a brick kiln not far from where the house stands. The adobe used for the lining was also made on the Houtz farm, and the lime used for mixing the mortar was kilned in the Jacob Houtz home on North Main Street in Springville has just been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of Interior 1 N fM Jacob Houtz home as it looked a DOfliS o lis old Houtz lime kiln at the mouth of Rock Canyon. The house is built after the style of the old Dutch homes in Pennsylvania where Jacob Houtz was born ( in fact, he said he built it like his boyhood home in Penns Town, Union County, Pennsylvania). Penn-sylvania). It has thick walls, massive doors, large, high windows, and high ceilings. The walls are one and one-half feet thick. The plastering is of such nature that a nail can hardly penetrate it. The door steps, the window sills and lintels are made of sandstone. The doors and window frames are hand made with deep paneling. Originally there were eight large-rooms, large-rooms, one in front of the three, forming for-ming a T, four rooms on the ground floor and four rooms above. The three rooms downstairs were connected by the folding doors which could be folded back, opening them into one large room. At the north and south ends were fireplaces and mantels; this gave a very beautiful and homey effect when fires burned at each end of this long room. In these large rooms, the young people, as well as old people, of pioneer days enjoyed themselves in parties, K' : 1 few years ago while still occupied. o I Mm jl ,-. r dances, and dramatics. It is still used for social gatherings. Solomon Chase contracted for the building, and did all the carpentering, making the beautiful panelings himself. The mason work was done by Thomas Childs, and the painting was done by Hans P. Hansen. Some of the painting still remain and is in splendid state of preservation. The floors are made of a hard wood, and are in good condition today, having been in constant use for a period of seventy-seven years, and never having been repaired. A large cellar, or basement runs the length of two rooms. In it were shelves, cupboards cup-boards and tables for storing of all kinds of foods. Across the west end were three rows of apple bins, one above the other. On the north side were vegetable bins. In the kitchen was a large stove, which always shone as if freshly polished, a table which could be extended ex-tended the length of the room when the family were all home, a large cupboard with glass doors at the top, and a wide, open shelf that divided the top from the bottom and extended out to make the .Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. This is how the home looks ' today. It has not been occupied for a number of years. i: V. i i ' I ft 1 '' "y Kit xJLrz Jacob Houtz home as it looked bottom much deeper. The top of the cupboard was filled with beautiful dishes which grandmother Houtz prized very much, most of them were brought across the plains from Nauvoo and Pennsylvania. Many of them were wedding presents. A set of silver which was given her by her mother when she was married, with pearl handle knives, were among these. Many of these relics are still owned by members of the family. A large work table was set under the window near the cupboard where grandmother prepared food and did many household tasks. The living room or parlor as it was then called was furnished with a large lounge, with an upholstered cover on top and was of slats, this could be pulled out to make a bed. There were two rocking chairs, and one arm chair, and three straight back chairs, a square table about four feet square standing on a center pedestal or leg. A large chest of drawers also stood in this room. Over the back of the rocking chairs and lounge were thrown large chochet tidies, two that grandmother had made, and one made by her mother, and done Ik . Af, .. . t lt, r - shortly after completion. gflOSlfW in filet stitch. One was of colonial design, one with two horses, and the other was a large peacock. The furniture in grandmother's bedroom was a high posted walnut bedstead with a straw tick and on top of this was a fluffy feather bed. The spread was of blue and white honeycomb. A dresser and commode with a marble top completed the furniture. fur-niture. The living room and bedroom furniture were freighted across the plains. The kitchen chairs, cupboards and table were made in Utah. Lydia Mease Houtz, first wife of Jacob Houtz, moved into this home in 1864 and lived here with her family until she died in 1888. Then Ann Bringhurst Houtz, second wife, occupied it until after Jacob Houtz's death in 1896. When the estate was settled, the house became the property of Frederich Mease Houtz. At his death it fell to his daughter, Lucinda Houtz Binks. There have been some changes made in the old home to modernize it, but much is now as when built by its first owner. It stands a monument to the memory of Jacob Houtz. United Way fund drive set here Springville United Way general chairman Mays W. Anderson this week named four special "Loaned Executives' committee members who will spearhead the United Fund drive here over the next two weeks. Mr. Anderson named Teddy Anderson An-derson of Central Bank & Trust as the Special Contributions 'Key' members Chairman; Martain Reed of W.W. Clyde & Co. as the Prime Accounts Division Chairman; John Livingston of First Security Bank of Springville as the Professionel Accounts Chairman; and Alan Roylance of Springville City as the Retail Accounts Chairman. The four, along with some helpers, will attempt to contact every professional person and business in Springville to solicit funds for the drive. A house to house canvass will not be made, however, Mr. Anderson said. He further explained that United Way eliminates dozens of other smaller drives by funding the many separate agencies. United Way will fund 20 separate agencies in 1979, of which 51 percent of funds go for adult services and 49 percent go towards youth programs. The administrative cost will fall below 10 percent, it is noted. Those programs which will receive funds for 1979 are: Alcoholic Recovery Center, $8,000; Alpine House, $15,000; American Cancer Society, $13,887; American Red Cross, $65,000; Big Brothers and Sisters, $21,000; Boy Scouts, $130,000; Boys Clubs, $20,000. Crisis Line-Information & Referral Service, $12,000; Diabetes Association, $7,700; Family Counseling Center, $20,000; 4-H, $3,000.00; Girl Scouts, $16,000; Help, Inc., $3,400; Mental Health Association, $15,000; Multiple Sclerosis, $7,000; R.S.V.P., $4,000; Utah Heart Association, $10,415; Utah Valley Care & Training Center, $6,000 and Visually Handicapped $2,560. Property tax increased Total property taxes charged for city, county, school, and other purposes in Springville this year increased by 1.52 mills, according to an analysis prepared by Utah Foundation, the private tax research organization. Springville's overall property tax levy in 1978 is 68.64 mills ($68.64 per $1,000 assessed valuation). This compares with a total levy of 67.12 mills last year. Following is a tabulation showing the trend in Svringville's total tax rate for selected years since 1950:-Year 1950:-Year Total Mill Rate 1950 53.87 1960 76.72 1970 89.85 1975 85.60 1977 67.12 1978 68 64 The Foundation report indicates that 20 percent of the property tax collected in Springville will go for municpal purposes, pur-poses, 11 percent for county purposes, and 2 percent for special district purposes. pur-poses. A comparison of the 1977 and 1978 levies in Springville by purpose is as follows: Purpose 1977 1978 Municipal 13.50 13.50 Schools 42.80 ' 45.94 County 8.82 7.60 Special District 2.00 1.60 TOTAL 67.12 68.64 |