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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...

On February 17, 1920, a man who was assumed to be associated with a burglary at the Leader Store was shot and killed near the bridge over the Box Elder Creek on 300 North (location in photo) as he tried to escape local authorities. As no one could recognize him, his body was placed in the window at Stohl’s furniture store (as they also had an embalming business and mortuary) for two to three days in hopes someone would. Fingerprinting was a new technology at this time and uti

This is a picture from the 1930s showing Brigham City from the north east looking south and west back towards the city. The Tabernacle and original Central School are visible in the city skyline. Very few homes existed east of 400 East until development began in earnest during the 1950s with the arrival of Thiokol.

Taken from: https://utahtheaters.info/Theater/History/141/Roxy-Theatre The New Grand Theatre opened on 25 December 1932, showing Marlene Deitrich in "Blonde Venus." The theater was built in a space created by knocking down the walls separating the old Rosenbaum Hall from later additions. At least part of the wall and foundation of the old Rosenbaum Hall was left intact and still standing when the theater was demolished in December 1980.[1] In 1935, new management brought the

We’d love to hear your memories and see your pictures of this event! Here’s what we could find: There is photo evidence that the beginning of the “Carp Scramble” started as early as 1935 (and possibly even earlier) and was held between Forest and First North near where City Hall is now located. The fish were dumped into the cement “ditch” that went along the road at that time (see photo) and many people gathered to watch the children fight to “land” the largest fish. Measurem

Merry Christmas! We'd love to hear your Christmas memories of Brigham City! Thanks to Scott Jensen for collecting photos of Brigham City that we can share. Most photos, if not all, were taken by Bruce Keyes and are used for nonprofit, educational, and noncommercial purposes only. To catch up on posts you may have missed through the year, you can also visit us at historicbc.com 1960s decorating the courthouse 1966 on Main Santa visits on the corner of Main and Forest Main Stre

Dr. Rose Ellen (Ella) Bywater Valentine was born in 1875 in Brigham City, Utah. After teaching school for a time, Rose Ellen was offered a job by a family friend, Dr. L. H. Berg, a local dentist. While she initially avoided participating in the actual dentistry, one day a tooth needed to be extracted and the doctor wasn’t there, so she performed her first tooth extraction. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Berg encouraged her to continue extracting teeth. Ella became increasingly inter

Large families were common in early Brigham City though one family built up their posterity rather quickly. Gerhardt Jensen and his wife Else Marie Christiansen had 3 children reach adulthood, a son and twin daughters. The twin daughters (Maria Hadave Jensen Bott and Gehardena Jensen Forsgren) each bore 17 children, 10 boys and 7 girls (though not all the children made it to adulthood.). Their older brother, Brigham Jensen, had 9 children with his first wife (who died) and th

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