An excavator arrived at one of Alpine’s last remaining pioneer dwellings, the Carlisle House, in mid-May. Most of the historic home’s 169-year-old adobe bricks and other artifacts had already been removed at the request of nonprofit The Friends of the Alpine City Library ; its original mantle, doors, doorknobs, and antique newel posts stored away for potential display in the future. Stripped to its bare beams, what remained of the Carlisle House splintered like dry twigs under the excavator’s might, collapsing into a heap of shingles and cladding at the order of local charter school Mountainville Academy.
“Literally, there is a dumpster full of history somewhere in Utah County now,” said Jennifer Wadsworth, founder of Friends of the Alpine City Library, on May 28. The nonprofit, along with Alpine City officials, concerned residents and Utah sculptor Dennis Smith, made multiple attempts to save the home — and almost succeeded. Almost.
How the Carlisle House ended up in a charter’s hands (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Carlisle House, off Main Street in Alpine, before it was demolished on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. The house’s fate, perhaps unintentionally, was sealed two years ago when the adjacent charter school purchased it for just under $1 million from a photographer who now sits on Mountainville Academy’s board. The Carlisle House, as it’s informally known, was built in 1855 by Thomas and Fanny Carlisle on what is now Main Street.
It was the firs.
