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Startup Candy Factory
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Startup Candy Factory
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| Location: | 534 South 100 West Provo, Utah |
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| Area: | less than one acre |
| Built: | 1900 |
| Built by: | William Startup |
| NRHP Reference#: | 83003973 |
| Added to NRHP: | 1983 |
The Startup Candy Factory is a historic building located in Provo, Utah. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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The Startup Candy Factory was named after William Startup, the man who founded the store. The building located at 534 South 100 West was built in 1900 to help expand the family business. One of the first candy factories in the state, the Startup Candy Company thrived in Utah’s dry climate. The Startup Candy Factory actually produced the first candy bar in the U.S., as well as being the first to produce and sell ice cream. This store helped Utah produce more candy than the rest of the intermountain states combined. Along with their other amazing first time notions, the Startup Candy Factory was the first factory in the state to give employees a share of the profit they made. The Startup Candy Factory was designated to the Provo City Historic Landmarks registry on March 21, 1996.
A mix between a warehouse style, and a light commercial style, this building has two stories and a basement. The southern portion of the structure is fairly plain with no decorative elements adorning the outside, it displays an asymmetrical facade. The middle section is more decorative, with a Roman arched door bay and a stone belt course, as well as recessed brick panels encasing window and door bays. The northern section has a corbled brick course along the second level.
The history of candy begins with medicine. Sweets were produced for the first time in order to placate the taste of medicine. In England, during the early half of the nineteenth century, candy officially originated. In 1851 in the city of London, an international confectionery exhibition was held, which attracted both Germany and France to the industry.
During the intermittent years and on a different continent, Americans had already become involved in the art. By the year 1816 there were already approximately twenty candy factories in both Philadelphia and New York. The first candies made here were primarily made by hand, and were mainly limited to stick and molasses candies. Machines began to be invented during the 1840s that allowed the industry to progress further. A revolving steam pan was developed in Philadelphia in the year 1843. The following year a lozenge making machine was invented in Boston. The industry in the U.S. expanded from 383 factories with 1,733 workers in 1850, to 4,297 factories with 33,000 workers producing $80,000,000.00 worth of materials in the year 1900. Nine years later they were producing $135,000,000.00, and in 1924 the U.S. led the world in candy production and consumption.
Born to William Startup and Selina Morris in Widcombe, England on September 8, 1846, William helped his father make candy as a child, beneath their retail store in the basement. After William converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he alone out of his family immigrated to the United States. On November 14, 1869 William wed Hagar in Salt Lake City’s Endowment House. Once married, William and Hagar settled in Salt Lake, hoping that William would be able to make a living as a teacher. In the year 1874 they moved to Provo, and in 1875 they began making candy in a factory they constructed next to their home. William was hit by a limestone cooling slab, which caused his untimely death in the year 1878.
Hagar, his wife, had four children by that time, and endeavored to carry on the candy making business in their support. By 1892 the store was booming with success, and became the third wholesale manufacturing company in the state of Utah. Three years later, Hagar’s sons Walter, George, and William became the owners. In 1896 the first candy bar in the United States, the opera bar, was sold for ten cents from this factory. When the depression hit and economic difficulties ensued, Walter Startup purchased his brothers’ interests, but soon lost them to the bank. Eventually additional funds were procured, and Walter was able to buy back the northern half of the factory, where the company continued to operate.
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