Samuel Newhouse
Samuel Newhouse
Values Codes I – E – L – P
Samuel Newhouse was born in New York City, in 1854.
He was one of nine children of European immigrants.
He attended public school and was “reading for the law” when he became interested in mining and headed West.
Colorado
Samuel Newhouse arrived in Leadville, Colorado in the late 1870s. He established a small freighting company business, which prospered enough to give him the capital to invest in mining properties.
He purchased three mines in Ouray, Colorado, which were good producers and his fortune grew.
Back in Leadville, he purchased a hotel and ran it with his new bride.
After his success in the hotel business, Samuel Newhouse invested heavily in developing mines at Idaho Springs and Central City, Colorado.
Newhouse rapidly became a millionaire.
Utah
In 1896, Samuel Newhouse went to Utah, and for the next ten years developed mining property in the Bingham District, valued at ten million dollars.
At first he was after gold and silver, but copper finds took over. One of his copper developments is now operated by the Kennecott Copper Company.
In 1899, Newhouse partnered with Thomas Weir. Together they created the first copper smelter, eventually selling it to Standard Oil Company for twelve million dollars.
Newhouse purchased a townsite 230 miles south of Salt Lake City and named it Newhouse.
By 1905, the town had numerous homes, stores, a library, a hospital, and an opera house. He sold the town in 1910.
Abandoned building in Modena, Utah, now a ghost town
By this time, Samuel Newhouse was heavily involved in erecting buildings in Salt Lake City. He built over 30 buildings in Utah’s capital city.
The city’s first skyscrapers were the Boston & Newhouse Buildings, which cost almost a million dollars each and were in the center of the city.
The Boston and Newhouse Buildings, Salt Lake City, vintage postcard
The Newhouse Hotel were built at Fourth South and Main Streets. Construction began in 1909 and finished in 1915.
However, just as the Newhouse Hotel was being completed, Newhouse went broke, mostly due to his extravagant style of living and the Panic of 1907.
He had four chauffeur-driven automobiles, expensive homes in London and Salt Lake City, and a private railroad car in which he gave lavish parties.
The Newhouse Hotel, vintage postcard
Community
Newhouse gave a great deal of financial aid to an ill-fated socialist Jewish farm colony at Clarion, Utah.
Family
Samuel Newhouse married Ida Stingley.
In 1920, after he had lost his fortune, Newhouse moved with a sister who had a chateau near Paris.
In 1923, though broke, he visited Salt Lake City to be honored by the Chamber of Commerce.
Samuel Newhouse died in France in 1930.
Source
- Norton B. Stern, “Samuel Newhouse: Mining Magnate of Colorado and Utah, 1854 – 1930,” Western States Jewish History 47/1.
David Epstein is curator of this Samuel Newhouse exhibit.
Thanks to Larry Whittaker for locating the photo of Lund & Co. for us.