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William H. Neff architectural papers, 1929-2001

Overview of the Collection

Title
William H. Neff architectural papers
Dates
1929-2001 (inclusive)
Quantity
25 boxes and 121 tubes, (39 linear feet)
Collection Number
UUS_COLL MSS 311
Summary
This collection contains the papers of landscape architect William H. Neff spanning the period 1929 to 2001.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

William Henrichsen Neff was born September 22, 1905 in Salt Lake City, Utah the son of William Cyprus and Caroline Henrichsen Neff. During his teenage years, Neff worked at Frank Crocker's nursery. In 1925 Neff established the Mount Olympus Nursery which he operated until 1995 in addition to his landscaping work. In 1926 Neff enrolled at the University of Utah to study landscape architecture, but he majored in art and botany because the university did not offer landscape architecture courses at the time. Neff however took correspondence courses from the American Landscape School in Des Moines, Iowa, where he received his landscaping degree in February 1929. That same year Neff married Elizabeth Leggett and they later had two daughters, Caroline and Diana.

Beginning in 1930, Neff began working as a landscape architect. Although the market for landscape architectural work was small in Utah during the 1930s, Neff still managed to secure a number of residential jobs and received federal support for a few projects, such as his work at Fairmont Park in Salt Lake City. During the 1940s Neff received a contract to landscape the "booming" mining towns of Dragerton and Sunnydale, in Carbon County, Utah. During his work at these locations, Neff invented a turf planting machine (originally costing him $2,000), which improved his profits substantially. Neff was able to obtain several patents for his turf machine in the United States and also in several other countries, including Germany, England, Italy, Canada, and Sweden.

In 1952 Neff was asked to overhaul the Salt Lake Country Club's golf course. This project helped Neff establish a name for himself as a major golf course landscape architect. During this period Neff improved his knowledge of golf course architecture through personal study and also teamed with architect William P. Bell on a number of projects. During this period, Neff went on to supervise work on golf courses at Mountain Dell, Hobble Creek, and the Bonneville Country Club. After W.P. Bell died, Neff worked with his son, William F. Bell, on the Riverside Golf Course as a construction supervisor. Although Neff was primarily a golf course landscape architect, occasionally he also took residential and commercial jobs, as well as projects for the US National Parks Service. During the mid-1950s Neff oversaw the landscaping done at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Los Angeles Temple.

In 1967 landscape architect William Howard Neff (no relation) moved to Salt Lake and joined with Neff to design several golf courses. They worked on numerous projects in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and other western states. Neff worked with William Howard Neff until 1981 when the latter started his own landscaping business. Neff continued on his own to design golf courses and country clubs until his death in 2001.

Over the course of Neff's career, he was also actively involved in local and civic affairs. Neff was the first president of the Holliday Lions Club, served as president of the Utah-Idaho Nurseryman's Association, was a member of the Sugarhouse Rotary Club, a member of the Surety Life Organization, and a member of the Red Butte Garden & Arboretum. Neff was also one of the early members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and helped to write the organization's founding bylaws and constitution. Neff was also an avid golfer in his spare time.

Neff died at his home in Holliday, Utah on March 24, 2001. In 2002 William Henrichsen Neff was posthumously inducted into the Utah Golf Association Hall of Fame.

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Content Description

This collection contains the papers of landscape architect William H. Neff and spans the period of 1929 to 2001. This collection consists of Neff's working files, project drawings, correspondence, financial papers, personal family papers, Mount Olympus Nursery papers, American Society of Golf Course Architects papers, and other papers. The organization of the material in this collection is based on Neff's personal filing system.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the William H. Neff architectural papers must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives manuscript curator and/or the Special Collections and Archives department head.

Preferred Citation

Initial Citation: William H. Neff architectural papers USU_COLL MSS 311, Box [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library. Logan, Utah.

Following Citations: USU_COLL MSS 311, USUSCA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically.

Processing Note

Processed in October of 2006.

Acquisition Information

The material in this collection was donated to USU Special Collections and Archives in 2001 by Carolyn Neff Dunn, the daughter of William H. Neff.

Separated Materials

Photographs originally contained in this collection were separated and transferred to USU Special Collections and Archives Photograph Division. Those interested in viewing Neff's photographs should see P0334: The William H. Neff Photograph Collection. A large number of books were also donated with this collection and were transferred to USU Special Collections and Archives' Rare Books Division. Those interested in viewing these publications should contact USU Special Collections and Archives' Book Curator.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Golf courses--Design.
  • Landscape architects--Utah.
  • Turf management--History.

Finding aid/Register created by Zachary R. Jones & Clint Pumphrey
2011

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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