EXHIBITS

100 Years of Congregation Brith Sholem: Honoring the Jewish Community in Ogden, Utah: “You can’t get anywhere without coming to Ogden!”

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“You can’t get anywhere without coming to Ogden!”

Railroad_Yards_Ogden_P_5.jpg
View of Ogden Union Station railroad yard, 1887.

The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) reached the city of Ogden, Utah, on March 8, 1869, placing the area in the spotlight for persons heading West seeking adventures in business or travels. When the Union Pacific Railroad chose Ogden as its western headquarters in 1870, the city’s population exploded. Ogden became a capital for shipping, manufacturing, and financial business due to its connecting point for UPRR and other railroad companies.[1] This monumental achievement for Ogden, which became known as the “Junction City,” led to a diverse flow of people—men seeking jobs, wealth, and religious freedom.[2] Many found labor in the railroad yards, while others rested for a short while in the new city, causing ruckus for a night or two on Main Street, now known as Historic Twenty-Fifth Street, while traveling further West. Others decided to settle and call Ogden home. In 1870 Ogden held 3,000 residents, which grew to nearly 13,000 by 1890.

[1] Richard C. Roberts and Richard W. Sadler, Ogden Junction City (Northridge, CA: Windsor Publications, Inc., 1985), 48–49.
[2] Fred J. Flower, Descriptive Illustrated Review of Ogden City and Utah Territory (Ogden, UT: W.W. Browning & Co. Printers, 1890), 25; Val Holley, 25th Street Confidential: Drama, Decadence, and Dissipation Along Ogden’s Rowdiest Road (Salt Lake City, UT: The University of Utah Press, 2013), 1–5.
[3] Holley, 25th Street, 9.
[4] Weber State University, “1210039535 004,” Brith Sholem, filmed 1997, at Ogden, Utah, video, 2:59, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJhlfNr4DUc; “Hebrews of Ogden Start a Fund for Synagogue to Be Erected in This City,” Standard (Ogden, UT), March 8, 1917.
[5] Holley, 25th Street, 3–4.
[6] Stone, A Homeland, 176.
[7] Holley, 25th Street, 12.
[8] Weber State University, “1210039535 004,” 4:37.