Museums and History

The Whitaker House

This historic building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home is one of only eleven stone houses built in the 1860’s.  The original stone house shows the first firmly rooted, permanent phase of Centerville’s beginnings.  The significance of the Whitaker house lies in its architecture as a good example of classically inspired stone structures built by locally renowned skilled masons of locally gathered rock.  The home is situated on Main Street directly south of City Hall where it has been a well-loved landmark for 160 years.  The home was purchased by Centerville City December 1, 1994 to create a museum/gathering place for the benefit of the community.  It houses volumes of documents, histories, and artifacts deemed significant to Centerville’s heritage.  Centerville is located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains approximately twelve miles north of Salt Lake City and consists of a small strip of land two miles wide and three and three-tenths miles long. Museum visitors enjoy learning stories about the significance of artifacts on display, viewing any number of historic videos that have been compiled and going back in time to experience the lifestyle of the 1800’s.  

Thomas Whitaker,The Settler

Thomas Whitaker, was born in Rotherhithe, Surrey, England, in 1816.  He was a sailor, artisan, nurseryman and master carpenter.  Upon arrival in Utah, Charles C. Rich asked Thomas to make his home in Centerville, Utah so that Thomas could help Charles get his finances in order.  In 1858 Thomas and Elizabeth Whitaker were married and settled in Centerville.  Around 1862 Thomas commissioned Charles Duncan to construct a solid one and a half story field stone home using material from his property. Thomas did all of the carpentry work.  At the time of completion, this was one of only a handful of field stone homes in Davis County.  Thomas had brought mulberry clippings from California to Utah in 1856 and reportedly sent to England for silkworm eggs. The Whitakers are believed to have been the first family in Utah to raise silkworms and spin into silk.  In 1862 Elizabeth make a scarf necktie for Brigham Young.  Brigham was so enthusiastic that he encouraged silk production through the Relief Society organization of the LDS church and by 1875 the Deseret Silk Association was established. Three generations of the Whitaker family lived in this home and farmed the property until 1930.