Knight Block, Center Street and University Avenue, Provo, Utah
The Knight Block is a three-story commercial building in downtown Provo located at the northeast corner of Center and University Avenue. Built with red brick and limestone details, it features shops with large windows on the ground floor and offices above, while a prominent clock tower on the southwest corner extends above the roofline.
Built in 1900 by mining entrepreneur Jesse Knight, the building replaced the earlier Provo Cooperative Institution on the same site. Knight designed it as headquarters for his business operations, which helped transform Utah from an agricultural region into an industrial center.
The Knight Block takes its name from businessman Jesse Knight, whose mining success shaped local identity. The building shows how one person's values influenced the community, creating a place of respectable business rather than the entertainment venues that were common in other boom towns of that era.
The Knight Block is located downtown at a central location near the courthouse, tabernacle, and bank, making it easy to visit on foot. The prominent clock tower serves as a useful landmark for orientation when exploring the historic district of Provo.
The clock tower on the roof still functions and displays the correct time with faces on the south and west sides more than a hundred years after the building was completed. The mechanism has been updated but the tower's original decorative metalwork trim remains intact and visible from the street.
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