Continued from Part 1 of the History of the Dimond House
In 1950, the 20 acre old Dimond farm was purchased by Dr. LeRoy A Wirthlin, a native of Salt Lake City who had been operating a successful medical practice for the previous 15 years in New York City. Although he had a successful medical practice in New York City, he and his family also operated a 135 acre farm with no plumbing or running water in the Catskill Mountains of New York State; so the family’s transition to rural Bennion (now Taylorsville) was not so surprising.
Dr. LeRoy A. Wirthlin continued his medical practice in Salt Lake City while he and his family operated their new farm along Redwood Road. The family raised chickens, ducks, rabbits, a milk cow, and a white faced steer.
A new interstate belt route was proposed in 1955 as part of the Interstate Highway System which later became known as the Interstate-215 Belt Route around Salt Lake City. The Utah Highway Department (now UDOT) began holding hearings about the construction of the proposed pathways in 1958.
Many areas of the proposed route were controversial and Dr. Leroy A. Wirthlin became the leader of the Bennion Community opposition. In March 1959, he presented a petition to the Highway Department that showed more than 80% of Bennion community residents wanted the crossing of the proposed Belt Route over Redwood Road to be located south of 6400 South to avoid a number of houses, including his own farmhouse. He continued to advocate for different routes of the interstate until his death in 1971.
The I-215 Belt Route was eventually built and opened in November 1976, with the Crossing of Redwood Road at about 5800 South, just north of Dr. Leroy A. Wirthlin’s home.
By 1983, the home was boarded up and abandoned, although the Wirthlin children still held title to the home. It was eventually purchased by Fieldstone Homes and demolished in 1997.
Sources:
- Biographical Record of Salt Lake City and Vicinity: Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present (Google eBook). By National Historical Record Company, 1902. Salt Lake City (Utah) pgs 635-636
- Utah Since Statehood, Historical and Biographical (Google eBook) by Noble Warrum. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1920 – Utah. Pgs 449-450
- Pro, Con Views Key Belt Route Hearing by Bob Said. Salt Lake Tribune March 1 1959
- Century-old haunt bites the dust in Taylorsville by Jason Swensen. Deseret News. April 3 1997
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