John Watkins (April 13, 1834 – December 23, 1902) was a practical architect and builder in London and Utah. He was born in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. While living in London, he converted to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

in 1852, and four years later he and his family emigrated to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, settling in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

. While in Provo, Watkins worked on the Old Provo Tabernacle. In 1865, after marrying twice more, he moved to Midway, Utah, where he designed some of his best-known works. He also served for 17 years as an LDS Bishop until his death Christmas of 1902. A number of his works are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Watkins designed some LDS meetinghouses in Provo and Springville. Works include: * George Bonner Jr. House, 90 E. Main, Midway, Utah, NRHP-listed * George Bonner Sr. House, 103 E. Main, Midway, Utah, NRHP-listed * William Bonner House, 110 E. Main, Midway, Utah, NRHP-listed * William Coleman House, 180 N. Center, Midway, Utah, NRHP-listed * John and Margaret Watkins House, 22 W. Hundred S, Midway, Utah, NRHP-listed * Watkins–Coleman House, 5 E. Main St., Midway, Utah, NRHP-listed

References

1834 births 1902 deaths 19th-century American architects Architects from Kent Artists from Provo, Utah Architects from Utah Architects of Latter Day Saint religious buildings and structures Converts to Mormonism English emigrants to the United States English Latter Day Saints English leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Latter Day Saints from Utah People from Maidstone People from Midway, Utah {{US-architect-19C-stub