{"id":148,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:32:01","latitude":40.25101200000000289946910925209522247314453125,"longitude":-111.643579499999987092451192438602447509765625,"title":"Heritage Halls","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/631926984b83a393342484d638ee30f5.jpg","address":"","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Josh Franzen, Brigham Young University"],"description":"By the early 1950’s, many of the early BYU student housing was old or soon to be turned over to the Language Training Mission, the predecessor to the MTC. To help provide space for single students, BYU President Ernest Wilkinson announced the construction of a new group of housing units. They were expected to house just under 1,000 students and would be an all-female dorm. This set of apartments would be a sort of experiment. Instead of being a traditional dorm, consisting of rooms and restrooms, these apartments were made to replicate home living. They were to have three bedrooms each, to house 6 women, a living room, and a kitchen. The women were supposed to share the household responsibilities, like cooking, cleaning, shopping, and other household duties. Originally, women would earn class credit through the College of Family Living as a sort of “lab for living,” but this never materialized. Regardless, Dr. Virginia Cutler, the Dean of the College of Family Living, was key to the development of this experiment, and shared the results with many other interested colleges.
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\r\nThe first 16 buildings were completed in the fall of 1953, though some residents were allowed to move in during the summer. They were dedicated by David O. McKay on May 26, 1954. Each of the sixteen buildings was named after influential women in the history of the LDS church and the area, such as Eliza R. Snow, Emmeline B. Wells, Mary Fielding Smith, and Emma Lucy Gates Bowen. The naming of the complex of buildings was given to a contest, where Kathy Bassett and Glenna Mitchell won with the name “Heritage Halls.” Soon after students filled the complex, it was deemed a success. It was incredibly popular, as many students enjoyed the extra freedom over their meals and housing options.
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\r\nA few years later, BYU administration decided to build 8 more buildings to extend the Heritage complex. They were finished in 1956 and added 96 more apartments and added more than 500 students to the complex. The basements in each building had a recreation center, laundry facilities, and storage space for students. By 1982, school administrators decided that male students would benefit from the skills taught in Heritage Halls and opened two buildings up to men. Also in 1982, they began to build a central building, to handle management offices and some activity management. It had a kitchen, rooms with partitions to allow students to share space, and a rental service for things like silverware and table settings for hosting gatherings and parties. There was also a Consultant Service Project located in this building, where students could go to ask questions about food preparation, apartment management, sewing, and other questions about home life.
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\r\nIn 2011, BYU began to demolish these over 50-year-old buildings down, and planned to rebuild to meet current student needs. One of the biggest complaints was the lack of electrical outlets, as some rooms had only one outlet. By 2015, all the buildings were torn down, as well as the old Deseret Towers complex, all to make room for the new Heritage buildings. By 2017, the entire complex was finished, with 12 larger buildings and the Morris Center, the new common center. It houses 2,750 students, almost double what the original buildings could hold. These buildings no longer have names, but numerical denominations.
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\r\nStarting as a housing experiment, Heritage Halls is now a popular place for single BYU students to live. They have access to an apartment setting, opposed to a dorm setting, which many find preferable. It holds a special place to thousands of former students who lived here during their BYU experience.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"Intended to be a live-in lab for class credit, the Heritage Halls apartments became incredibly popular among women, who first lived in the rooms. Named after influential women in LDS history, these buildings have housed many men and women and helped to teach students, both men and women, important skills for home living.","website":"","related_resources":["Hatch, Ephraim., Miller, Karl. Brigham Young University: A History of the Campus and the Department of Physical Plant 1875 to 1975. Brigham Young University. 2001.","Barrett, Bruce A., Woodruff, Ginger S. Brigham Young University Housing Through the Years. BAB Publishing. 1994.","Christiansen, Barbara. “Heritage Halls come tumblin’ down,” from The Daily Herald. November 27, 2013.","Fieldsted, Paige. “Heritage Halls Buildings being torn down on BYU campus,” from The Daily Herald. January 18, 2012. Accessed at https://www.heraldextra.com/sports/college/byu/heritage-halls-buildings-being-torn-down-on-byu-campus/article_6c3c7a9a-8f50-5929-9239-2503cd2804ea.html","Miller, Karl A. History of Buildings and Grounds. Brigham Young University. 1989.","Wilkinson, Ernest., Arrington, Leonard. Brigham Young University: The First 100 Years, Vol. 3. Brigham Young University. 1975. Accessed at https://archive.org/details/brighamyounguniv03wilk"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/631926984b83a393342484d638ee30f5.jpg":{"id":622,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Heritage Halls, 1954","description":"A view of the then-new Heritage Halls, apartments for single BYU women who would be able to do all their own cooking and cleaning. They were all named for prominent LDS women. | http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/BYUPhotos/id/605/rec/6","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/631926984b83a393342484d638ee30f5.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/84f163d96715bbad6c4a156c05b460a2.jpg":{"id":623,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"New Heritage Buildings, 1967","description":"A photo of the new buildings, added a few years after the completion of the first 16 Heritage buildings. | http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/BYUPhotos/id/610/rec/1","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/84f163d96715bbad6c4a156c05b460a2.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/544a20e4963dea832aeecd92eea9bf1e.jpg":{"id":624,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Aerial View of Heritage, 1960","description":"An aerial photograph of the old Wymount Village and Heritage halls before the reconstruction. The Heritage Halls are the southern group of buildings. | http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/BYUPhotos/id/608/rec/2","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/544a20e4963dea832aeecd92eea9bf1e.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/086988bb91f7de6cdcd9b9edd8b482e3.jpg":{"id":625,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Heritage Halls and Deseret Towers from the Wilkinson Building","description":"This photograph shows how close the Wilkinson Student Center was from the new housing buildings. From the closest building, it was merely across the street. | http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/BYUPhotos/id/699/rec/7","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/086988bb91f7de6cdcd9b9edd8b482e3.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/a111ec49b53ebdf1a47c2f0feebbab74.jpg":{"id":626,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"HR02","description":"A view of the old Heritage 2 building, also called Broadbent Hall after Mima Broadbent. She was a prominent teacher in Utah and won the “Teacher of the Year” award by the State of Utah. | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BYU_HR02.jpg","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/a111ec49b53ebdf1a47c2f0feebbab74.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/f4df44928b82b433a5cb2fad77afea7c.jpg":{"id":627,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"HR04","description":"A view of the old Heritage 4 building, also called Fox Hall after Ruth May Fox, a women’s right activist and youth leader for the LDS church. | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BYU_HR04.jpg","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/f4df44928b82b433a5cb2fad77afea7c.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/1a48d9f139e09f6159b1927ff4649d3c.jpg":{"id":628,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"HR17","description":"A view of the old Heritage 17 building, also called Carroll Hall after Elsie C. Carroll. She was an English teacher at BYU for over 20 years and wrote many articles, stories, and lessons for the school. | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BYU_HR17.jpg","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/1a48d9f139e09f6159b1927ff4649d3c.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/fbb7ac448184fb95776b819781ea6bab.jpg":{"id":629,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"HR29","description":"A view of the new Heritage 29 building, taken in 2015. | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heritage_Halls_Building_29.jpg","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/fbb7ac448184fb95776b819781ea6bab.jpg"}}}