Utah History for Kids

Area: 644 square miles
Population (2000): 196,533
County Seat: Ogden
Origin of County Name: from early trapper John Weber
Principal Cities/Towns: Ogden (77,276), Roy (32,885), South Ogden (14,377), North Ogden (15,026), Washington Terrace (8,551)
Economy: defense, transportation, warehousing, distribution, retailing, tourism, recreation, health care, printing
Points of Interest: Ogden Union Station (Browning Firerms Museum, Browning Kimball Vintage Car Collection), Fort Buenaventura, Pineview Reservoir, Willard Bay State Park, Snow Basin, Powder Mountain, Nordic Valley, Ogden's historic 25th Street, Ogden Nature Center, Abbey of our Lady of the Holy Trinity in Huntsville, Weber State Univeristy, Eccles Community Art Center.

Ogden Union Station now houses several major museum collections.

What is the land like?
Weber County has long been the crossroads of Utah and the Intermountain West. Its eastern boundary is the spine of the Wasatch Mountain range with its towering peaks and sharp valleys. The county extends to the west into Great Salt Lake. Both mountains and flatlands are laced by the Ogden and Weber rivers and their tributaries.

Prehistory and early Euro-Americans
Nomadic Shoshones, Utes, and prehistoric groups favored this area for centuries. They hunted in the mountains and foothills and fished in the streams. Archaeologists have studied the remains of their hunting camps in mounds near the Weber and Ogden rivers.

American and British mountain men entered the area in the early 1800s to trap beaver and trade with the Indians. In 1824, the famed Jim Bridger became the first white man to report sighting the Great Salt Lake.

Peter Skene Ogden traveled along the east slope of the Wasatch Mountains in 1825. But he never actually visited the site of present-day Ogden, the city that is named after him.

John C. Fremont drew the first accurate maps of the area after he visited the mouth of the Weber River in 1843.

Settlers and development
In 1843 horse trader/trapper Miles Goodyear built a fort and trading post on the banks of the Weber River, near where it meets the Ogden River. Late in 1847 he sold his claim to James Brown, a veteran of the Mormon Battalion, for $1,950 in gold coins, and the property became Brown's Fort, also known as Brownsville. Within three years the community had 1,141 residents. Its name was changed permanently to Ogden and the surrounding area designated as Weber County.

Growth in the county really took off after 1869, when the nation's first transcontinental railroad was finished on May 10 at Promontory Summit. Fortunately for Ogden’s businesses, the city became the main junction for transferring rolling stock, passengers, and freight. Ogden became known as "Junction City."

During 1890-1940 the railroad was the most important employer of Blacks in Utah.

Other industries grew up: woolen mills, canneries, livestock yards, flour mills, breweries, iron works, banks, and hotels, and telephone, telegraph, and power companies.

Ogden inventor John M. Browning not only operated an important business in Ogden but he also became perhaps the world’s greatest genius in gunmaking. In 1879 he patented his new single-shot rifle--the first of more than 100 firearms developed by the Brownings and sold all over the world.

Weber County's next big population explosion came just before and during World War II, when the military built the Defense Depot Ogden in northern Weber County and Hill Air Force Base and the Naval Supply Depot in nearby Davis County. DDO and Hill continue to provide many jobs for Weber residents. The war also placed increased demands on the transportation network. On many days during the war, as many as 150 regular and special trains moved through Ogden's Union Station.

When people stopped riding railroads, Ogden’s fortunes sank for a time. The Union Station closed, but it was saved to become a museum center. Now the county has become involved in other, space-age kinds of transportation. Several aerospace industries have offices here. Factories produce powerful jet engines for aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. Other manufacturing plants build Jetway loading bridges for airports worldwide.

Weber State College, founded in Ogden in 1889,is now a University and has has more than 18,000 students (in 2005). The U.S. Forest Service regional headquarters, the IRS Service Center, and the McKay-Dee and St. Benedict's hospitals are among the county's major employers.