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In October 1872, Ralph Ramsay with his family moved to Richfield, Sevier County, Utah, where he had been called by Brigham Young to colonize. And he built houses and furniture for the saints. His own house, a large ten-room house, was built at 57 East 2nd North, just east of the Sevier County court house. On January 14th, 2008 Sevier County demolished the Ramsay home. Leaving no trace of the Historic residence. I emailed the Governor and asked why it was demolished and why no marker was left at the site.

ramsayhouse

Here is the response.

I was forwarded the request you sent to the Governor's office regarding the demolition of the Ralph Ramsay House in Richfield, Utah. We are aware of the importance of Mr. Ramsay in the state and for his contributions in carving and furniture making, which is why his house was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. Sevier County owned the Ramsay House for more than a decade and used it as a rental property. For the past several years it was vacant and the county chose to demolish rather than rehabilitate the building.

Buildings that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places are eligible for receiving commemorative markers. However, these are not provided by the Utah Division of State History, but rather must be requested and paid for by the building owner. Sevier County, to our knowledge, never ordered a marker for the Ramsay House, and we do not know of their intentions for commemoration or future use of the site.

As you noted the demolition occurred only recently and our office was informed that the demolition would take place. However, the National Register places no restrictions on private property owners on how they may use their property. The only penalty for demolition of a listed building is to have it removed from the Register (since there is no longer a building remaining).

If you would like to contact Sevier County directly regarding your concerns over the demolition and future use of the site and possibly commemorating Ramsay and his accomplishments, you should contact Steve Wall, the Sevier County Clerk, at (435)893-0401 or scwall@sevier.state.ut.us .

Please contact me directly if you have any other questions regarding the National Register listing of the property.

Sincerely,
J. Cory Jensen
Architectural Historian/
National Register &
Architectural Survey Coordinator
Utah Division of State History
Utah State Historic Preservation Office
300 Rio Grande
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

coryjensen@utah.gov
801/533-3559
FAX 801/533-3503

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