Richard Charles Watkins (August 22, 1858 – April 9, 1941), an immigrant from Bristol, England, was an American architect throughout the intermountain west in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In his early career, he interned with Richard K.A. Kletting in Salt Lake City.[1] In 1890, he came to Provo, Utah as a construction supervisor, and opened his own firm in 1892. When he left nearly 20 years later he had become the most prominent architect south of Salt Lake City, Utah.[2] His works include designing over 240 schools in the intermountain west of the United States including (Peteetneet, Maeser, Winnemucca, Spring City).[3] He served as the architect for Utah State Schools between 1912 and 1920. He also designed businesses (Knight Block Building, First National Bank of Provo), courthouses (Piute County Courthouse, Uintah County Courthouse,[4] Carbon County Courthouse[5]), eight Carnegie libraries (Provo, Cedar City, Manti, Garland, Richmond, Ephraim, Eureka,[6] Richfield[7]), churches (Provo Third Ward Chapel and Amusement Hall, Spring City Chapel, Mt. Pleasant South Ward) and homes (Knight-Allen House, Thomas N. Taylor House).[8] A number of his buildings survive and are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Richard Charles Watkins was born to Charles and Elizabeth Watkins in Bristol, England. He immigrated with his parents to Ogden, Utah in 1872. In 1881, he married Lucy Greenwell of Ogden, formerly from Dunton Bassett. They had three children prior to her untimely death in 1887.[9] Subsequently, Richard married Emma Wold in 1889 in Ogden and together they had 9 children.[3] Richard died April 9, 1941, and is buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery.[10]