FIFTY-SEVEN years ago a
few straggling houses and one general store comprised the early Ogden. The fertile valleys
round about that have since become Utah's greatest fruit and vegetable growing region,
were but sparsely settled with struggling farmers fighting for a foothold in the
wilderness. The beautiful canyons nearby, which are now filled with tourist resorts,
beautiful summer homes and magnificent hotels, were then nothing more than the wild haunts
of trappers and the hunting grounds of Indians.
Then, in 1869, the steel bands of the first transcontinental railroad from Omaha on the
East, and from San Francisco on the West, met at Promontory Point, forty miles west of
Ogden. The driving of the golden spike which marked the connection of the two lines has
been heralded in book and film as one of the greatest events in American history.
To Ogden, the driving of that spike was without question the greatest event in its
history. For it marked the beginning of agricultural and industrial development that has
progressed by leaps and bounds eversince, making it the bustling metropolis it is today.
The difference between the Ogden of today and the Ogden of 1869 is written in the many
factory stacks and towering buildings on her skyline. The hustle and go of a prosperous
population that has grown to more than 43,000 during the ensuing years, to say nothing of
the climbing bank clearings that reached nearly $85,000,000 in 1926, also illustrate the
great commercial stride that is rapidly making Ogden one of the leading industrial centers
of the great intermountain West.
Then there are the stockyards where more than 161,000 head of cattle, 250,000 hogs, and
889,000 sheep were received during 1925. The Ogden Union Stockyards is the largest
livestock market west of Denver, with larger receipts and larger sales than any other
market.
The American Packing & Provision Company, located adjacent to the stockyards, is one
of the largest and most up-to-date plants in the West and is a heavy buyer on the Ogden
market.
The Seventh Annual Ogd en Livestock Show, held January 5-9, was larger than any livestock
show ever held here. It was held in the new $100,000 Coliseum, recently erected, which is
175 feet by 320 feet of concrete, brick and steel. Seventy-five thousand people visited
the Coliseum during the week and inspected pure-bred and fat cattle, sheep and hogs from
Missouri, Michigan, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, California, Nevada,
Wyoming and Utah.
UPWARDS of 15,000 cattle are being fed
this year within a radius of 20 miles of Ogden. This figure includes only cattle driven
from the yards to be placed on feed during the fall months. It means that the stockyards
are supplying the farmers in this territory with cattle to buy and they in turn are
placing them on feed and returning them to the stockyards to be sold at a good profit. In
addition to this, approximately 30,000 lambs and sheep have been fattened by the
Stockgrowers, Inc., yards this year. The figure will be higher by summer. Experts say that
Ogden's perfect climatic conditions, excellent water, together with good feed in
abundance, have been in a large measure responsible for the splendid results in this
industry.
Shipping records are another evidence of Ogden's rapid growth. All records for the
handling of perishable freight through the Ogden terminal were excelled during 1925. This
was particularly true in the. shipment of fresh tomatoes, of which more than 200 cars were
handled during the summer season of 1925, as against 57 cars in 1924. Official statements
predict an even heavier shipment during 1926.
The country surrounding Ogden is the richest and most fertile in the State of Utah, and
from its central location in this fruit and vegetable region, Ogden, naturally, is the
shipping point for its products. Diversified farming has been practiced for a great many
years, vegetable and fruit growing going hand in hand dairying, poultry and livestock
raising.
The leading foodstuffs produced in this region are small grain, sugar beets, vegetables
(particularly tomatoes and peas), as well as fruit of all descriptions, especially
peaches. The fruits and vegetables of Utah have long been acknowledged the finest in the
country and the best of these are raised in the territory surrounding Ogden.
Because of the large amount of fruit and vegetables raised, there is necessarily a
surplus, and it is due to this fact that a good number of canning factories have been
located at Ogden. There are 45 such plants in Utah, and, of these, twenty-eight are
located in or within a few miles of Ogden. From these factories comes nearly fifty million
cans of canned goods each year and the greater part comes from f actories near Ogden.
Containers for the use of these manufactures are made in Ogden in large factories operated
by the American Can Company and the E. C. Olsen Box Company. A recent enlargement of the
American Can Company factory, costing more than a half million dollars, will increase that
company's capacity from 90,000,000 to 180,000,000 cans yearly.
If Ogden had only these twentyeight canning factories alone, that fact would entitle it to
the classification of industrial center, but her great industries do not stop there.
Ogden has long been known as the "Minneapolis of the West," because of its
splendid geographical and transportation facilities. This term is not misapplied, when one
considers the fact that Ogden is now the grain and milling center of the intermountain
region. At Ogden are located the mills and elevators owned and operated by the Sperry
Flour Company, Globe Grain & Milling Company, Tylton Flour Mills, and the Associated
Farmers Milling Company.
The elevators of these concerns have a capacity of two and a half million bushels of
grain, and the Ogden mills turn out two million barrels of flour per annum.
One of the leading crops of Utah is sugar beets, and Ogden is headquarters for the
Amalgamated Sugar Company, which has factories in Utah and Idaho. One of its principal
factories is situated on the outskirts of the City of Ogden. This plant was built in 1899
and has grown until now it has a capacity of 1350 tons daily.
Another important industry is that of cement manufacturing. Two of Utah's three cement
mills are located near Ogden and produce about 75 per cent of the cement used in the
territory they serve. The development of commercial sand and
gravel properties in the West has been given added impetus in recent years by the
increased building of concrete roads, pavements, dams, irrigation projects and other
concrete structures. Utah is paying considerable attention to its highways and one finds
paved roads from Ogden north to Brigham City, and after a short stretch, on to the Idaho
line, southward to Salt Lake City and Provo, thence to Nephi, eastward through beautiful
Ogden Canyon.
IN addition to the foregoing, Ogden
boasts of a great number of industries too numerous to mention here, among them being the
eggpacking and poultry fattening plants of the Utah Poultry Producers Cooperative
Association, the Ogden Silver-Black Fox Farm, the two large sheep-feeding plants operated
by the Stockgrowers, Inc., and the Globe Mills, the Ogden-Utah Knitting Company, whose
factory is one of the finest in the territory, the Becker Products Company, and the work
clothes factory operated by J. Scowcroft & Sons Company, who also have a large
wholesale grocery establishment.
Ogden is also headquarters of the Utah Construction Company, the largest railroad and
irrigation construction company in America. Large forces of men, teams and machinery are
put to work by this concern from Ogden.
The supply depot of the Intermountain District Forest Service is another of Ogden's
industries. This depot is now supplying equipment to each of the 158 forests in the United
States. It is the only supply port of its kind in the country and supplies national
forests from Alaska to Porto Rico, including the eastern and western forests of the United
States.
Ogden is also the headquarters of the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads, and it is from here
that all supplies and road-building materials used in the entire intermountain country arc
sent out to the different jobs.
The Ogden Arsenal, erected here by the United States Government, is the first and only
extensive arsenal in the intermountain country. Its arsenal is operated as a storage
depot, and the plan is to store fifteen per cent of all ammunition possessed by the United
States Government.
Ogden has long been spoken of as one of the most beautiful cities in the United States,
its business district being compact and well laid out. It has many modern retail stores,
all showing the finest and newest merchandise procurable.
One building that has attracted a great deal of attention is the Peery Egyptian Theatre,
which was recently completed at a cost of $300,000. It is considered one of the beauty
spots of the city.
Construction on two other splendid new buildings is rapidly nearing completion, the New
Reed Hotel and the First Utah National Bank Building, each of which will cost a million
dollars.
A fifty thousand dollar improvement was recently made to the old First National Bank
Building, a seventy-five thousand dollar addition to the Elks' Home, in addition to the
building of the one hundred thousand dollar livestock show coliseum. Permit valuation for
residences and apartments in 1925 was over $800,000, and it is estimated that they will
exceed this amount in 1926. There has already been more than $737,000 worth of new
construction in Ogden this year exclusive of the new hotel and the First Utah National
Bank Building.
In the heart of the business district is a square block devoted to the City Hall, the
Carnegie Public Library and the City Park. Ogden is a city of parks, there being Lorin
Farr Park, Lester Park, Liberty Park, City Park, Monroe Park and Artesian Park.
The streets of the city are wide and clean and are lined with magnificent trees. It is
essentially a city of homes, a large portion of the citizens owning their homes. The
residential district, especially on the cast bench, is very beautiful, each home having
its own lawn and flowers.THE scenic
beauties surrounding Ogden make it an ideal place for the tourist to spend his vacation,
because the mountain canyons hold out great opportunities for the pleasure seeker in
search of rest or recreation in their cool confines, some of the most beautiful in
America.
Just east of the city, only a few minutes drive over a paved highway or on the trolley, is
beautiful Ogden Canyon, where an ideal summer holiday can be spent. Here are to be found
several rustic hotels, which contain all the modern conveniences, as well as numerous
summer homes and mountain cabins.
Then there are mineral springs, the water from which is of great medicinal value, coming
from the ground at a temperature of about 135 degrees Fahrenheit, and where commodious
bath houses have been erected and modern pools made to accommodate the public if it
desires to avail itself of the privileges of bathing in these healing waters.
In conclusion we want to say that the Ogden Chamber of Commerce bids you welcome to Ogden.
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Ogden Town View
Union Depot
Freight Depot
Globe Mills
Sperry Flour
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