Coal Storage Shed

The coal shed near the back door of the house stored coal for cooking and heating. Each room on the ground floor had a small one- or two-hole “monkey” stove that burned crushed coal, sitting on a porcelain or iron plate and removed during the summer months. The house also had a cook stove with an attached water heater tank in the center kitchen. Before bed, someone, usually one of the children, placed small pieces of kindling wood on coal in a bucket near the stove so the fire could be started for the morning meal. Coal arrived by wagon or truck and was poured through the window on the south side of the shed into a bin that filled the entire width of the shed. Its paneled door and boxed eaves reflected the shed’s importance as an extension of the house.

South Jordan, Utah · United States