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To introduce myself, my name is Ken Bott and Brigham City history is one of my favorite interests! My ancestors first arrived here in...

The original lilac bushes were planted in 1937-1938 as a project by the Civic Improvement Club under the direction of President C. V. Forsgren. The Civic Improvement Club began as an outgrowth of the Commercial Club (later the Chamber of Commerce) in 1906. Their first project was to petition the city council to keep cows off of Main Street. (Clink on link below for a history of the Club). The lilac hedge at the cemetery is currently being removed due to them being diseased an

Prior to Brigham City forming its own school district in 1896, education was provided by the 4 wards at their individual school houses with some other buildings being used for higher education. In 1900, the school district built its first school, Central, directly west from the Tabernacle. According to the Sanborn maps, this area was labeled “Tabernacle Square” in 1884 and “Public Square” in 1890 and August 1900 map. The date of its construction on the school itself is noted

The Christmas Village downtown has been updated to include many of the historical buildings of old Brigham City. Those of you who enjoy Brigham City history may enjoy visiting and seeing the work done by Daniel Kennedy and volunteers to help preserve these memories. Some of the buildings are gone and some remain. Here are the structures paired with photos of them in earlier times. The older photos are mostly from the Compton Collection at the Merrill-Cazier Library at USU. Al

The office of Dr. R.A. Pearse immediately east of the Nichols home that became the Pearse Hospital. An accompanying news article notes its construction in 1910. Dr. Richard Armstrong Pearse (1875-1945) was born in New York where he excelled in athletics. After graduating college, he attended medical school in Denver, Colorado and graduated in 1900. He eventually moved to Ogden to practice medicine but then met Venna Nichols, the youngest daughter of Alvin and Virginia Ann Cha

A home that stood behind "The Hotel" (Boothe/ Wasatch/New Utahna) which may have been an early home of LT Pierce, was subsequently used as a hospital and then the home of the sheriff. Drs. George M. Fister (1892-1976) and LeRoy Smith "had offices and operated a 10-bed hospital in the home now occupied by Sheriff Warren W. Hyde, just south of the Box Elder County Jail." (Box Elder Journal, 9/6/1962). The address of the home/hospital is noted as being at 32 S. 100 E. Dr. Fister

Many of the early settlers of Brigham City were recent converts to the church from Scandinavia. Because the patronymic system was being used in these areas, there ended up being a lot of Lars Larsens, Hans Hansens, Peter Petersens, etc. in the city. To avoid confusion, many were given "nick" names or names based on personality traits. Some examples in Brigham City included: Big Andrew (see article) Square House Hansen Ear Ring Pete Painter Larsen (see article- one of my favor

A relic of yesteryear: One pillar of the old granite and rod iron fence that used to surround the courthouse remains... Update! After posting about the granite pillars in front of the court house, Sean Beckstead's question of where they went led to more research. An article from the BENJ 8/21/1923 noted that the front gate was purchased by the Bear River Ward for their chapel. I don't know if they were there for a time but Seth Bott recognized them as the gate at the northwes

Another little door that interested me was the spot in between the Idle Isle and the business to the north. It was an alley for years but was eventually purchased by Bert Olsen (who later founded Bert's Turn Inn) and was called "The Tunnel." In the recent pictures, it is apparent why "The Tunnel" was an appropriate name. It originally was used as a news stand and tobacco shop. At one point, Bert Olsen displayed the scores of baseball games on the outside so that the citizens

I have wondered the history of this little "alcove" between the Evan Morgan building (now Dorius Law) and the former Boothe/Wasatch/Utah-Na/Howard Hotel. I found an article explaining it and thought that others may be interested. Box Elder News Journal 5/8/1923. Another article noted that the owner, J E Ryan "added a banquet hall and installed a street entrance to the cafe for better access by day-only guests" (The History Blazer, "Howard Hotel Reflects History of Brigham Cit

Arthur D Cooley was born in 1885 in Brighton, Utah. He lived part of his early life on a farm in Cache Valley and eventually attended Brigham Young College in Logan. Afterwards, he attended and graduated in pre-med from the University of Utah and went on to graduate from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago in 1911. After becoming a doctor, he relocated to Paris, ID to begin his practice. Within a few years, he and a colleague built a hospital in Montpelier, ID.

John Adams was born in Fairview, Franklin County, ID in 1878. He married Leuvenia Bishop in 1907 and they lived in Riverdale, ID until moving to Blue Creek in 1911. John was a rancher, livestock raiser, and wheat grower and maintained ranches in the Promontory and Blue Creek areas. The couple moved to Brigham City in 1919 and built a beautiful home at 176 North Main Street. John had a big, red barn that he kept on some property in Brigham City and raised and trained Palamino

History of "Peach Day" From "History of Box Elder County 1851-1937" it says, "...the idea of a Peach Day celebration occurred to these three gentlemen (S. Norman Lee, Victor E. Madsen, and J. Frank Bowring.). However, the time for harvesting the peach crop was three months distant so they decided to hold a strawberry festival. The success of this venture gave fresh impetus in planning the first Peach Day celebration which was held in the late summer of 1904." pg. 68. These th

Historic Business: Packer Motors Ira Packer’s father apprenticed as a blacksmith under John D. Rees in Brigham City. Ira learned blacksmithing skills from his father and was very mechanically-minded and able to understand how things worked and fix them when they didn't. Ira and his wife lived in Corinne and Ira eventually took a job at the J.A. Stewart Motor Company as a shop foreman. Eventually, the family moved to Brigham City and, after a couple of moves, bought a large, r

Historic Business: Ford in Brigham City With the changes in locations of some of our car dealerships, we thought it may be fun to look back at some of the dealerships of the past. We would love to hear the stories or any information that you may have about these pictures and places. This article will focus on Ford in Brigham City. One major contributor was Glenn Andersen. Glenn started working for Peach Motors as a young man and took over the agency in 1943, naming it Anderse

Historic businesses: Smith's Key Dates: 1911: Lorenzo Smith opens a small dry goods grocery store in Brigham City, Utah. 1932: The family business is named Smith and Son's Market. 1952: After refurbishing and expansion, the original store is reopened as Smith's Super Market. 1969: Smith's acquires its first nonfood business, the Utah-based Souvall Brothers. 1980: Having diversified its range of products and services, the company begins using the slogan, "We're not just a food

Photos that show the demolition of the block between 100 S and 200 S on Main Street in preparation for Smith's in 1981. I believe the photographer was Bruce Keyes.

This photo captures the 1934 razing of one of the early adobe buildings in Brigham City. It was the Cotton Thomas Hotel/first building...

"Mansard Roof" Many residents in Brigham City have noticed the affinity that some early residents had for Mansard roof homes. On January 14, 1981, an article appeared in the Box Elder Journal that was written by Cindy Yurth to answer this question. The article was entitled, “Mansard roofs posed mystery: why were there so many here?” Quoting a Brigham City history website: “Builders often traded their services, especially relatives, and almost all of these homes were built for

Northeast corner of 100 East and Forest A home was built on this corner by Abraham Hunsaker. It later was purchased by C.H. Davis...