Leslie S. Hodgson, Architect [1870-1947]
Leslie S. Hodgson [†] was born in Utah in 1870 to Oliver Hodgson. His father was a leading builder and contractor. Leslie studied architecture as a draftsman under two prominent Utah architects, Samuel C. Dallas and Richard K. A. Kletting. He served as a chief draftsman with the firm of Hebbard and Gill in San Diego, California. Irving Gill had worked at the Chicago office of Adler and Sullivan. Within this environment, Hodgson gained exposure to modern, residential trends and contemporary American styles. In 1905 he returned to Ogden and established his own business.
Leslie Hodgson designed many buildings for the Eccles family, including a number of residences in the David Eccles Subdivision (Eccles Avenue Historic District). A report on Hodgson stated the following:
Leslie S. Hodgson was a versatile architect and designed comfortable in several styles. He worked with Neo-Classical Revival, Western Stick Style, Bungaloid and Modernistic (Art Deco) designs. He was the leader in introducing Art Deco to the Intermountain region. His Ogden City and County Building, Ogden High School, Regional Forest Service Administration Building, and Tribune Building remain the most significant monuments of the Modernistic Style in Utah. The Healy House on Eccles Avenue was a sensitive "Old English Cottage" design.
Hodgson also employed the Prairie Style in religious and commercial buildings. He was the official architect for the Ogden School Board and architect for various federal agencies during World War II, as well as for the Eccles and Scowcroft families and their vast financial empires. Hodgson obtained the largest and most prestigious commissions of his day.
Hodgson served as President of the Utah Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He died in Ogden in 1947.
† Philip F. Notarianni, Historian and Karl Haglund, Architectural Historian, Utah State Historical Society, Eccles Building, Ogden, Weber County, Utah, nomination document, 1981, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.