Samuel Newhouse began his south downtown empire by financing the construction of these two buildings. He named the Boston Building, to the north, after his Boston Consolidated Mine. The Newhouse Building, to the south, he named after himself, of course. Newhouse intended to construct a similar pair of buildings at the east end of Exchange Place, but went bankrupt before he could undertake this project.
The Boston and Newhouse Buildings are considered Utah’s first “skyscrapers.” In an attempt to bring some of the sophistication and prestige of the East to Salt Lake City, Newhouse hired famous Chicago/New York architect Henry Ives Cobb to design these towers.
Take a moment to look at the elaborate stone ornamentation on these buildings from the west side of Main Street. Notice how Cobb incorporates similar elements on each building, but varies their location and prevalence to give each building a distinct appearance.
