Historic Business

The M.H. King Company opened in Brigham City in 1957. It had a bright red sign that was visible for many years. While the sign was eventually covered, recent remodeling exposed that the sign remains behind the new facade. The M. H. King in Tremonton lasted until 2017, when all King's stores closed. Any memories of going to King's? Does anyone remember or have photos of Franks and Mirth that stood nearby in the 1980s? https://www.ebay.com/itm/297421066985 All photos are used f

For 51 years, Olof Parsons owned and operated a sheet metal shop at approximately 77 S. Main. The shop stood just south of a building that was originally a store for N.C. Mortensen, Anderson Produce, Packer Motor, Christensen’s, among others, and currently home of the Brigham City Chamber of Commerce. After Olof’s passing, the building was used by other companies until it was eventually torn down, presumably to allow easier access to parking behind the building. Olof was born

In 1903, the Utah Idaho Sugar Company built a $1,000,000 sugar factory in Garland, Utah. Due to high demand for sugar, it was decided to build another factory in Brigham City in 1916. A site was chosen just around 900 West and north of 600 North on “Watery Lane,” named for the Box Elder Creek running parallel to it. The area is in the vicinity of the Trestlewood Company currently. E.H. Dyer built the plant and it was stocked with used equipment from a discontinued sugar plant

On Memorial Day, 1949, George Craghead opened the “Auto-Vu,” a state-of-the-art outdoor movie theater, in Brigham City. It stood on Highway 91 near the mouth of Box Elder Canyon with the screen near Cemetery Hill. The business reportedly did very well in its first year and also sponsored a benefit for victims of polio, giving all money from an appointed night to the Box Elder County chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Ads for the theater ran in local n

Around 1941, the local Lions Club began pushing for a golf course in Brigham City. The area north of the junction of US30 and SR69 (900 North Main Street) was selected and, at the time, was a pasture, cattle shed, and feed yard. The Brigham City Diner and Gas Station stood at the junction (pictures included). The area was largely a bog due to the ground being filled with springs. In 1947, they started to work on managing the groundwater issue and had the area largely prepared

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

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