Charleston Apartments Salt Lake City, Utah

What Connection do the Charleston Apartments in Salt Lake City have to Mt. Pleasant?

Elvena Olsen was born in Mt. Pleasant, Utah July 3, 1890.  She was the daughter of Hans Peder Olsen and Ana Kjerstina Madsen Olsen who were converts to the L.D.S. Church from Denmark.  

Elvena was raised in Mt. Pleasant and attended school here. 

She married Charles Andreas Peterson June 15, 1914.  Charles become a very well-known contractor in Salt Lake City.  In the 1930s the Charleston Apartments were built and named "Charleston" after Charles Peterson.  The Charleston Apartments were known to be the finest apartments west of the Mississippi at the time of its opening. A Mr. Eliason was the General Manager and Secretary and Treasurer. Elvena and Charles Peterson became very prominent Salt Lake City residents and built and managed several other properties, including a dry cleaning business.  They also were early investors in Las Vegas hotels and casinos..

They had a beautiful home at 1330 South 1300 East where I used to visit as a child.  I was very impressed because it had an elevator, and a baby grand piano.  The grounds were meticulously cared for by hired gardeners.  I especially remember the climbing clematis which reached the second floor and could be seen from their dining room.  Elvena was my great aunt.  Kathy  

comments:Hello! I posted a comment to the blog post titled Charleston Apartments Salt Lake City, Utah (link below) and my comment has not been added. The comment tells the true and accurate story/history of this landmark building and I would appreciate it either the blog post was updated with the true history or if at least my comment was added for a number of reasons. 1. This is history and when inaccurate information such as this is broadcast to the world, it is "misinformation", it confuses and distorts each of our history to the point we don't even know where we came from. 2. This is my heritage and my family's heritage, it distorts my very own credibility when business partners, investors, etc. conduct due diligence on me and it confuses and distorts our identity because the Charleston Apartments Inc. was the cornerstone of our lives and an enormous part of our very existence. I could list numerous other reasons why it should be a crime to post information that is untrue or inaccurate, but I hope you get the point. I'm sure that this was not published with any ill intentions, but it has very real, very negative implications for myself and my family. So, please update it with the true information, which I have already provided in my comment or post my comment.

My great grandfather, Sid Eliason Sr., built the Charleston Apartments with Charlie Peterson, who conceived of the idea, did all of the planning and architecture and later asked my great grandfather to finance the building, which is when my great grandfather become a 50%/50% partner with Charlie. But Charlie ran well beyond his budget and in order to finish the building my great grandfather had to buyout all of Charlie's interests and he was then removed from the equation. The Charleston Apartments stayed in my family for many decades, passing from my great grandfather to my grandfather and finally to my father and my uncle who sold the building just about a decade ago. That building defined the remnants of a lost legacy, the last great heritage of the once prominent Eliason name. See the following YouTube video originally produced by Jackit Productions out of Hollywood California, broadcast across the nation multiple times (https://youtu.be/tqnUsuJJD5U) To you, the inaccuracy may seem trivial but to us, those of us whose lives were defined by the building, it is a very big deal. The Charleston Apartments Inc. defined who we are, it consumed every waking moment of our lives, ripped us apart and pulled us back together until finally it came time to sell, something that I will regret for the rest of my life. So, for those of us who actually did own the building, who owe our heritage to the dividends it kicked off, to read something made available in public domain that is untrue, it is incredibly offensive and I hope that you feel an obligation to society to correct it.

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