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Through the Years: 200 North between 200 and 300 W
Through the Years: 200 North between 200 and 300 W The Third Ward built their school/chapel out of log and adobe in 1879 on the corner of 200 N and 300 W. It later burned down. In 1887, they built a new school, “Emerson”. On May 12, 1912, the Third Ward Chapel was dedicated by President Joseph F. Smith and has continued to stand on the corner of 200 North and 200 West. Emerson School was attended by the school children growing up north of Forest Street and west of Main Street

Ken Bott
Mar 161 min read


Home of Oliver G. Snow on corner of 308 South Main Street
Homes of Brigham City Home of Oliver G. Snow on corner of 308 South Main Street Oliver G. Snow was born in Great Salt Lake City in 1849 and later came to Brigham City with his father, Lorenzo Snow, and his mother, Mary Adaline Goddard Snow. He grew up in Brigham City and was the owner of the Bank of Brigham City and also became the stake president, after his father, in 1877. He was often named in the Brigham Bugler as “Banker Snow.” He owned the home east of the tabernacle (c

Ken Bott
Mar 122 min read


Through the Years: 300 North and 100-200 East
After the division into the four wards in 1877, The Fourth Ward was the quadrant east of Main and north of Forest Street. The ward members set aside the property that is now 300 N and 100 E for their school/meeting house. The school was called “Columbia” and 300 North was named Columbia Street (not sure which was named first) as it was the first road north of the original plat that ended at “North Wall” street (changed to 200 N in 1900.) After building their church house, and

Ken Bott
Mar 91 min read


Through the Years: West corner of Forest and Main in 1898, 1958, and 2025
Green circle: Lorenzo Snow's "Big House" on Main- Chimneys and stone wall visible Blue circle: The "Armeda Block" that was split into two businesses for many years- From 1921 on, Idle Isle was on one side and other companies on the other until both sides were later brought together in one restaurant. Red circle: Bank of Brigham that continues to stand. Its stone facade was removed when it became the appliance store pictured in 1958 The 1958 photo also captures the brief time

Ken Bott
Mar 51 min read


Through the Years: 200 S and 200 to 300 W
After Brigham City was divided into 4 wards in 1877, each ward started to build a school that was also used as a chapel. This is the spot where the Second Ward built their initial school/chapel, the Whittier School, and then their chapel. The original school/chapel and Whittier school house are in the first photo, the second chapel and school in the second, the former chapel in 2013 after renovations through the years, and the site today. The Compton Photo is from the taberna

Ken Bott
Mar 21 min read


Watkins Pond/Park
In early Brigham City, the pond on west Forest was on both sides of the street with a bridge going over (see 1875 Glover Map). The ponds were referred to as “north pond” and “south pond” and were drained into each other, when needed. Ice from the south pond was cut into blocks in the winter and put into ice houses in the area. The stored ice was used in the summer for making ice cream, among other uses. Members of the Watkins family purchased the area south of Forest and the

Ken Bott
Feb 261 min read


1880 Compton Photo from Courthouse looking east
Red: Merrell Planing Mill Blue: Boot Shoe Harness and Hat building Yellow: Baron Woolen Mill Green: Home of John D. Rees, first home built outside of the fort, second mayor of Brigham City and the individual who donated the land for Rees-Pioneer Park Brown: "Prospect Square." Brigham City's original Plat had three squares in the middle of town, this one, the one where the courthouse is, and Brigham Young Park where the grassy area by the museum is. Violet: Christian Hansen ho

Ken Bott
Feb 242 min read


Fact or Folklore?
Facts: In 1942, Bushnell General Military Hospital was built in Brigham City and served in the treatment of WWII soldiers who had been injured and experienced other issues from their service. One of Bushnell’s specialties was amputation and drew some of the top surgeons to our little town. Bushnell was also one of the first hospitals to use penicillin and document its tremendous medical benefits. Bushnell treated up to 3800 soldiers at a time and was so large that it had more

Ken Bott
Feb 192 min read


KBUH
KBUH had its first broadcast on February 22, 1948. It was located at 948 West Forest Street in Brigham City and its first phone number was 948. It was at 800 on the dial and was a “daylight” radio station that ran from local sun up to local sun down. It was also considered one of the first “Drive-In” radio stations as listeners were invited to drive their car up to the “invitation window” and “listen while commanding a full view of (their) modern, audience-participation studi

Ken Bott
Feb 123 min read


1935-36 Box Elder High School Gymnasium
During the Great Depression, federal programs and money were used to do various projects throughout the United States. One of the projects in Utah was to build a gymnasium for Box Elder High School. It was built north of the high school and across Forest Street and stood where the "Boot, Shoe, Harness, and Hat" cooperative building had stood. (The scene from "It's a Wonderful Life" where the gym floor opens over a pool was filmed in a school gymnasium in Beverly Hills, CA tha

Ken Bott
Feb 92 min read


Indian School 1950
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.

Ken Bott
Feb 51 min read


Brigham City Cemetery- Fact or Folklore? Mass burial sites
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

Ken Bott
Jan 302 min read


A day in early Brigham City:
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

Ken Bott
Jan 271 min read


1930's Picture
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.

Ken Bott
Jan 211 min read


Roxy Theater
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

Ken Bott
Jan 122 min read


“Carp Scramble”
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

Ken Bott
Jan 32 min read


Christmas in Brigham City in the 1950s and 60s
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

Ken Bott
Dec 25, 20251 min read


Dr. Rose Ellen Bywater Valentine, First Female, Utah-born Dentist
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

Ken Bott
Dec 18, 20252 min read


Twins
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

Ken Bott
Dec 13, 20251 min read


Lilacs at the Cemetery
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

Ken Bott
Dec 9, 20251 min read
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