Historic Tidbit

A 1950s era postcard showing the Intermountain Indian School shortly after being converted from Bushnell Hospital. This picture is used for nonprofit, educational, and noncommercial uses only.

There has long been reports and rumors of a mass burial grave of railroad workers who died of cholera in the Brigham City Cemetery and histories of "pauper's graves" or "Potters Field." Some of this has been challenged by research and ground penetrating radar. An editor’s note, challenging the cholera burial, was taken from https://brighamcityhistory.org/.../community-development.../   It states, “This seems rather unlikely, as most railroad workers were buried fairly near wh

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.

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

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

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

With the overnight snowfall and sunny morning today Saturday Febuary 15, 2025, it was possible to see the original B that was made by...

Peach City Ice Cream, or "Peach City," was established by J.W. “Bill” Harris in 1937. The original location was noted as 151 South Main...

The “B” on the mountain east of Brigham City was placed in its current spot by the Box Elder Class of 1951-1952, according to Denton...

John H. Bott came to Brigham City from England via New York. Family history notes that he lived with Alvin Nichols (in the area of the...