Historic Salt Lake Metropolis Black Landmark Now Completely Protected

[ad_1] by Mary Spiller November 22, 2025

Salt Lake Metropolis historical past advocates have been pushing to make sure the Paul Cephus Howell Home is culturally preserved.

A landmark tied to certainly one of Utah’s most influential Black residents has formally been assured long-term safety. This week, the Paul Cephus Howell Home turned the primary property within the state with important African American historical past to obtain a everlasting preservation easement — a transfer that ensures the house will stand for generations to come back.

As reported by Fox 13, Tiffany Taylor, who owns the Central Metropolis dwelling, stated she has at all times been drawn to outdated areas and the tales they maintain. However she didn’t notice the magnitude of the historical past inside her personal partitions till after she bought the property.

“A pal of mine, he was a realtor, stated, ‘You’ve received to see this home.’ I got here in to have a look at it, and I fell in love with it,” she recalled. “I at all times questioned concerning the historical past, and Rachel Quist… did a weblog on my home. So, I received in contact together with her, and that’s how I came upon about Paul Cephus Howell.”

Howell, whose household made a long-lasting impression on the town, lived within the dwelling for roughly 15 years. In line with Robert Burch — founding father of the Sema Hadithi African American Heritage & Tradition Basis — Howell earned a groundbreaking place in native historical past.

“He lived on this home for about 15 years. He was the primary African-American detective on the Salt Lake Metropolis Police Division,” Burch defined.

Burch famous that Howell’s story hardly ever receives the popularity it deserves, despite the fact that he performed a central position in Salt Lake Metropolis’s Black neighborhood. Preserving properties like this, he stated, is crucial to creating forgotten tales seen once more.

“What occurs quite a lot of the time is that the previous is forgotten,” he stated. “We bear in mind the previous quite a lot of the time by the buildings that we sit in. And that’s why this constructing is critical to this neighborhood. As a result of we are able to bear in mind what Central Metropolis seemed like.”

The newly signed preservation easement — a binding settlement between the home-owner and a historic group — ensures that the construction can't be demolished or considerably altered, even when possession adjustments arms.

“I simply signed a pair days in the past for the easement, so this home won't ever be torn down,” Taylor stated. “And even when I promote it, no matter, once I’m gone, it nonetheless can’t be torn down as a result of it's an incredible piece of Black historical past. And Utah has quite a lot of Black historical past that must be introduced out.”

For Taylor and preservation advocates, the Howell Home is greater than an architectural gem. It's a bodily reminder of a wealthy legacy lengthy missed — and now, completely secured.