A LOOK BACK

The History of First Homes in Roy and What They Cost Today

BY JENNY GOLDSBERRY This article is part of a series we’re doing on how much homes used to cost back in the day. We’ve covered the cost of land on Cousin’s Row and the cost of floors. This article will go into depth on one of the houses on that same historic parcel of land.

Henry Field and Sarah Ann Baker were the second couple in Roy to build a home on Cousin’s Row. They’d come from Stratfordshire, England to the United States in 1872. Henry was 55 years old at the time. Then, Roy was known as Hooper Flats, and the Fields settled on Cousin’s Row to live on the same street as Sarah’s brother, William Evans Baker, who was the first settler there. The Field House became 5987 South and 2700 West. It was about 1600 square feet as a stand-alone house.

Before they moved, the two had four children. One daughter died as an infant, and their other daughter and two sons died of smallpox on the Minnesota Steamship that brought them over the Atlantic Ocean. Sarah gave birth to their fourth son Henry in 1873, making the baby among the first to be born in a permanent residence. Luckily, the baby had an older brother, Orson, who’d survived the trip to America. After the home was built, they didn’t immediately have running water, so they had to haul water from Muskrat Springs. Henry went on to plant wheat by tilling the arid land with a single hand plow. Twenty years later, Orson Field became the man of the house, continuing to live in the house. In 1894, Orson became Roy’s very first Postmaster. We’ve previously written about this first post office that started out of this historic Field home. Utah was still just a territory at the time, but the home happened to be near the train tracks, which made it in an excellent position for receiving mail.

Old Field House in the 1950s

Orson also went on to be the owner of the first blacksmith shop in Roy and, subsequently, the first man there to own an automobile. His home still stands today, and there is a monument nearby to mark it as the town’s first post office. The home was valued at over $35,00 in 1990, and, by 2021, valued at nearly $300,000. Some would argue that the old Field home ought to be enshrined and preserved as a local historic landmark.

Little brother, Henry Fields Jr., moved out but remained close, living at 6000 South and 2874 West until he died. By the time his home was built, it was a little larger and more intricate than the home his parents raised him in. In 1990, his home at nearly 2000 square feet was valued over $46,000, and now it sits at over $280,000.

The Minnesota Steamship that brought them over the Atlantic.

Henry Field and wife Sarah Ann Baker. Henry Field Jr. and his wife Margaret Are you a descendant of the Field family? Did your ancestors also live on Cousin’s Row? We want to hear from you! Email jenny@connectionpub.com with your stories, and we might feature them in the magazine.