Garfield Beach, Great Salt Lake

English born Walter Paris trained at the Royal Academy in London and began his career as an architect for the English government. He came to the United States in 1872 and settled in Washington D.C. where he turned to painting delicate watercolors. Garfield Beach - Great Salt Lake, is a rare, early view of this grand body of water. Originally grasslands and ranches, Garfield was a small town on the Northwest region of the lake, named for President James A. Garfield. The surrounding property was sold in 1905 to the Utah Copper Company, a mining firm, for smelter construction. Garfield quickly became a 'company town', with the company owning most of the property and leased the housing back to its employees. By 1950, the company began an expansion and removed several of the town's buildings. By 1955, the company had completely taken the surrounding property, and dismantled the entire town.