Ogden (/ˈɒɡdən/ OG-dən) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Great Salt Lake and 40 miles (64 km) north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth largest city. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a convenient location for manufacturing and commerce. Ogden is also known for its many historic buildings, proximity to the Wasatch Mountains, and as the location of Weber State University.

Ogden is a principal city of the Ogden–Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which includes all of Weber, Morgan, Davis, and Box Elder counties. The 2010 Census placed the Metro population at 597,159. In 2010, Forbes rated the Ogden-Clearfield MSA as the 6th best place to raise a family. Ogden has had a sister city relationship to Hof in Bavaria, Germany, since 1954.

History

Ogden in 1874

Originally named Fort Buenaventura, Ogden was the first permanent settlement by people of European descent in what is now Utah. It was established by the trapper Miles Goodyear in 1846 about a mile west of where downtown Ogden sits today.

In November 1847, Captain James Brown purchased all the land now comprising Weber County together with some livestock and Fort Buenaventura for $3,000 (equivalent to $94000 in 2022). The land was conveyed to Captain Brown in a Mexican Land Grant, this area being at that time a part of Mexico. The settlement was then called Brownsville, after Captain James Brown, but was later named Ogden for a brigade leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, Peter Skene Ogden, who had trapped in the Weber Valley a generation earlier. There is some confusion about which "Ogden" was the first to set foot in the area. A Samuel Ogden traveled through the western United States on an exploration trip in 1818. The site of the original Fort Buenaventura is now a Weber County park.

Westbound passengers changed cars at Ogden, from Union Pacific to Southern Pacific, which took them to California

Ogden is the closest sizable city to the Golden Spike location at Promontory Summit, Utah, where the First transcontinental railroad was joined in 1869. It was known as a major passenger railroad junction owing to its location along major east–west and north–south routes, prompting the local chamber of commerce to adopt the motto, "You can't get anywhere without coming to Ogden." Railroad passengers traveling west to San Francisco from the eastern United States typically passed through Ogden (and not through the larger Salt Lake City to the south). However, Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, no longer serves Ogden. Passengers who want to travel to and from Ogden by rail must travel via FrontRunner commuter rail to Salt Lake City and Provo. Renowned Danish impressionistic writer Herman Bang died in Ogden in 1912 during a lecture tour in the United States.

In 1972, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints completed construction of and dedicated the Ogden Utah Temple in Ogden. The temple was built to serve the area's large LDS population. In 2010, the LDS Church announced they would renovate the Ogden Temple and the adjacent Tabernacle. The work which began in 2011 includes an update to the exterior, the removal of the Tabernacle's steeple to make the Temple's steeple a main focus, and a new underground parking garage and gardens. The Temple was rededicated in 2014.

Because Ogden had historically been Utah's second-largest city, it is home to a large number of historic buildings. However, by the 1980s, several Salt Lake City suburbs and Provo had surpassed Ogden in population.

The Defense Depot Ogden Utah operated in Ogden from 1941 to 1997. Some of its 1,128 acres (456 ha) have been converted into a commercial and industrial park called the Business Depot Ogden, colloquially known as "BDO".

Geography

Topography

Ogden is located at 41°13′11″N 111°58′16″W / 41.2196°N 111.9712°W / 41.2196; -111.9712 (41.2196, −111.9712), at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. This is at about the same latitude as Benevent in Campania in southern Italy.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 26.6 square miles (69 km²), all land. Elevations in the city range from about 4,300 to 5,000 feet (1,300 to 1,500 m) above sea level.

"Ogden" sign over Washington Boulevard at the Ogden River; toward downtown

The Ogden and Weber Rivers, which originate in the mountains to the east, flow through the city and meet at a confluence just west of the city limits. Pineview Dam is in the Ogden River Canyon 7 miles (11 km) east of Ogden. The reservoir behind the dam provides over 110,000 acre⋅ft (140 million m³) of water storage and water recreation for the area.

Prominent mountain peaks near Ogden include Mount Ogden to the east and Ben Lomond to the north.

Streetscape

Ogden and its surrounding area

From south to west to north, Ogden's neighboring towns are South Ogden, Roy, West Haven, Marriott-Slaterville, Farr West, Pleasant View and North Ogden. The city is - like many others in the US - characterized by a spacious, street grid with many blocks. The streets are numbered from north to south, which is expressed in the corresponding street names. By extending the numbers with directions ("E" for east and "W" for west) their relative relation to the central point is made clear. In the center of the city, the blocks from Union Station along 25th Street, the north-to-south oriented cross streets are named after former U.S. presidents such as Lincoln Avenue, Grant Avenue, Washington Boulevard, Adams Avenue, Jefferson Avenue, and Madison Avenue. The central connecting street in north–south orientation is Harrison Boulevard. The city area is divided into six districts: in the North End, including West Ogden, Downtown and East Central; in the East, including East Bench and Shadow Valley.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, Ogden experiences either a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) or a humid continental climate (Dfa) depending on which variant of the system is used. Summers are hot and relatively dry, with highs frequently reaching 95 °F (35 °C), with a few days per year reaching 100 °F (38 °C). Rain is provided in the form of infrequent thunderstorms during summer, usually between late July and mid-September during the height of monsoon season. The Pacific storm season usually lasts from about October through May, with precipitation reaching its peak in spring. Snow usually first occurs in late October or early November, with the last occurring sometime in April.

Climate data for Ogden, Utah, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1897–present
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	62 (17)	67 (19)	79 (26)	87 (31)	98 (37)	106 (41)	106 (41)	104 (40)	104 (40)	89 (32)	76 (24)	65 (18)	106 (41)
Mean maximum °F (°C)	48.4 (9.1)	56.6 (13.7)	69.7 (20.9)	77.8 (25.4)	87.6 (30.9)	96.2 (35.7)	100.3 (37.9)	97.4 (36.3)	91.0 (32.8)	79.4 (26.3)	66.0 (18.9)	53.1 (11.7)	100.6 (38.1)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	35.7 (2.1)	41.9 (5.5)	52.7 (11.5)	59.6 (15.3)	70.1 (21.2)	81.5 (27.5)	91.3 (32.9)	88.7 (31.5)	77.8 (25.4)	62.7 (17.1)	48.5 (9.2)	36.8 (2.7)	62.3 (16.8)
Daily mean °F (°C)	28.5 (−1.9)	33.4 (0.8)	42.9 (6.1)	49.1 (9.5)	58.6 (14.8)	68.4 (20.2)	78.0 (25.6)	75.8 (24.3)	65.4 (18.6)	51.7 (10.9)	39.5 (4.2)	29.6 (−1.3)	51.7 (11.0)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	21.2 (−6.0)	24.9 (−3.9)	33.1 (0.6)	38.6 (3.7)	47.1 (8.4)	55.3 (12.9)	64.8 (18.2)	62.9 (17.2)	53.0 (11.7)	40.8 (4.9)	30.5 (−0.8)	22.4 (−5.3)	41.2 (5.1)
Mean minimum °F (°C)	7.1 (−13.8)	10.9 (−11.7)	21.1 (−6.1)	27.2 (−2.7)	33.8 (1.0)	42.5 (5.8)	55.8 (13.2)	52.3 (11.3)	39.7 (4.3)	27.6 (−2.4)	17.3 (−8.2)	8.3 (−13.2)	3.6 (−15.8)
Record low °F (°C)	−23 (−31)	−23 (−31)	5 (−15)	6 (−14)	26 (−3)	29 (−2)	36 (2)	33 (1)	20 (−7)	8 (−13)	0 (−18)	−20 (−29)	−23 (−31)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	1.53 (39)	1.55 (39)	1.71 (43)	1.97 (50)	2.17 (55)	1.12 (28)	0.35 (8.9)	0.72 (18)	1.06 (27)	1.68 (43)	1.17 (30)	1.33 (34)	16.36 (414.9)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)	8.8	8.6	9.1	9.9	8.9	4.8	3.0	3.9	5.5	6.7	7.3	9.4	85.9
Source 1: NOAA
Source 2: XMACIS2

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	500	—
1860	1,464	192.8%
1870	3,127	113.6%
1880	6,069	94.1%
1890	14,889	145.3%
1900	16,313	9.6%
1910	25,580	56.8%
1920	32,804	28.2%
1930	40,272	22.8%
1940	43,688	8.5%
1950	57,112	30.7%
1960	70,197	22.9%
1970	69,478	−1.0%
1980	64,407	−7.3%
1990	63,909	−0.8%
2000	77,226	20.8%
2010	82,825	7.3%
2020	87,321	5.4%
source:

2020 census

**Ogden, Utah – Racial and ethnic composition**
*Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.*
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	54,216	52,557	52,743	70.20%	63.46%	60.40%
Black or African American alone (NH)	1,630	1,553	1,759	2.11%	1.88%	2.01%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	681	701	696	0.88%	0.85%	0.80%
Asian alone (NH)	1,023	966	1,197	1.32%	1.17%	1.37%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	109	241	331	0.14%	0.29%	0.38%
Other race alone (NH)	69	150	404	0.09%	0.18%	0.46%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	1,245	1,717	3,293	1.61%	2.07%	3.77%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	18,253	24,940	26,898	23.64%	30.11%	30.80%
Total	77,226	82,825	87,321	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

2010 Census

As of the census of 2010, there were 82,825 people living in the city. The population density was 2,899.2 people per square mile (1,119.4 people/km²). There were 29,763 housing units at an average density of 1,117.4 units per square mile (431.4 units/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.02% White, 2.24% African American, 1.40% Native American, 1.20% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 3.7% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.64% of the population.

2017

As of 2017 the largest self-identified ancestry groups in Ogden, Utah were

English (15.3%)
German (9.8%)
American (6.7%)
Irish (6.6%)
Scottish (3.7%)
Italian (3.4%)
Danish (2.9%)
French (2.1%)
Swedish (1.9%)
Welsh (1.7%)

Education

Weber State University's main campus in Ogden

Ben Lomond High School

K-12

Ogden City School District is the public school district in the city, with its boundaries mirroring the city limits. It operates Ogden High School and Ben Lomond High School.

Weber School District serves areas outside of the city limits, even if they have "Ogden, Utah" postal addresses.

DaVinci Academy of Science and the Arts is an elementary and secondary charter school system.

Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind's boarding facility is in the city.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City operates and/or sponsors Catholic schools including Saint Joseph Catholic High School.

Tertiary level

Weber State University
Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College
Stevens–Henager College

Ogden is home to the Ogden Botanical Gardens, which serve as an extension location and distance education center for Utah State University.

Economy

MarketStar headquarters in Ogden, Utah

Bank of Utah was founded in Ogden in 1952 and maintains its corporate headquarters in Ogden

As the principal city of the 2nd largest MSA in Utah, Ogden serves as an economic hub for the northern part of the state. Much of the central city is occupied by offices of federal, state, county, and municipal government entities. The Internal Revenue Service has a large regional facility in Ogden and is the city's largest employer with over 5,000 employees. Other large employers include McKay Dee Hospital, Weber State University, Ogden City School District, Autoliv, Fresenius, and Convergys.

In 2013, Ogden ranked No. 16 on Forbes' list of the Best Places for Business and Careers.

The western parts of the city have several industrial areas. The largest is Business Depot Ogden, a former Army depot that was restructured to be a 1,000-plus acre business park.

Headquarters

MarketStar – Sales and marketing company.
ENVE Composites - high-end bicycle components
Autoliv North America – Automotive safety equipment.
Bank of Utah – Banking services.
America First Credit Union – Banking services.
Kadince – Software services.

Transportation

FrontRunner commuter rail, which runs between Provo and Ogden, via Salt Lake City

Interstates 15 and 84 serve the city. I-84 runs east–west through the southern suburbs, merging with I-15 near Riverdale. I-15 runs north–south near the city's western edge and provides connections to the rest of the Wasatch Front and beyond. Ogden is served directly by exits 341, 342, 343, and 344. US-89 enters the city from the south, running through the city as Washington Boulevard, which serves as the main street of Ogden. It then continues north to Brigham City. State Route 39 runs east–west through the city as 12th Street, and continues eastward through Ogden Canyon providing access to Pineview Reservoir and the mountain and ski resort town of Huntsville.

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) operates four bus routes directly between Salt Lake City and Ogden, as well as numerous others that serve Weber and northern Davis counties that connect into either the Ogden Intermodal Hub on the west edge of town or to Weber State University. Ogden is also the source of the two routes that serve Brigham City, the northernmost extension of UTA's bus system. It also has a Greyhound bus stop along a line that runs north–south along I-15. The FrontRunner commuter rail runs between Salt Lake City and the Ogden Intermodal Hub in downtown Ogden.

Amtrak service is provided with a bus connection running to/from Salt Lake City, where there are daily California Zephyr trains west to the Oakland, California, area and east to Chicago, Illinois. Amtrak trains do not serve Ogden directly. Historically, Ogden Union Station served as a hub for frequent trains going northwest to Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, and east to Chicago. Amtrak ended the Pioneer in 1997. In the same year, Amtrak ended the Los Angeles to Chicago Desert Wind.

Ogden–Hinckley Airport, Utah's busiest municipal airport, is in the southwest portion of the city. The only commercial service is operated by Breeze Airways with nonstop service to Orange County, California. Allegiant Air offered commercial service from Ogden to Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona, Avelo Airlines served Burbank, California, while Utah Airways offers charter service to many of the West's national parks. As of May 2022, both Allegiant and Avelo ceased service, citing rising costs and dropping ticket sales, in addition to expanded availability of air carriers at Salt Lake International airport just 35 minutes south.

Sites of interest

Historic 25th Street, Downtown

Peery's Egyptian Theatre, Downtown

The First Security Building on 24th Street

Bigelow-Ben Lomond Hotel
Dee Events Center
Eccles Avenue Historic District
Historic 25th Street
The Ice Sheet Curling: venue used during the 2002 Winter Olympics
Jefferson Avenue Historic District
The Junction: retail and residential complex
Ogden High School
Ogden Nature Center
Ogden Utah Temple
American Can Company of Utah Building Complex
Ott Planetarium
Peery's Egyptian Theatre
Snowbasin Ski Area: alpine skiing venue used during the 2002 Winter Olympics
Union Station
Ogden Forest Service Building
Weber State University

Sports and recreation

The mountains and rivers near Ogden offer many opportunities for outdoor recreation.

An extensive trail system, immediately adjacent to the city's eastern edge, gives residents and visitors immediate access to the foothills of the Wasatch Range. The foothill trails are used for hiking, running, mountain biking, and sometimes snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Steeper trails climb eastward into the mountains, and many other mountain trails originate within a few miles of the city. A system of paved urban trails runs along the banks of the Ogden and Weber Rivers.

The quartzite cliffs above Ogden's foothills provide a variety of rock climbing routes. An extensive boulder field in the foothills is one of the most popular bouldering sites in the state.

Lindquist Field, home of the Raptors

On the mountains east of Ogden are three downhill ski areas: Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, and Nordic Valley. Popular sites for cross-country skiing include Snowbasin and Weber County's North Fork Park.

Kayaking is a popular sport on portions of the Ogden and Weber Rivers. A developed kayak park lies on the Weber River in the western portion of the city. The reservoirs near Ogden are used for a wide variety of water sports.

Ogden is also home to the minor league baseball team Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League, the Women's Flat Track Derby Association league Junction City Roller Dolls, and the junior hockey team Ogden Mustangs of the United States Premier Hockey League.

Ogden Stadium houses the annual "Hot Rocking 4th", a motorsports event.

There are several golf courses in the city of Ogden.

Weber State University fields several intercollegiate athletic teams that attract spectators from among residents. The university is especially known for its basketball team.

Ogden is a satellite venue of the Sundance Film Festival. A local film festival, now called the Foursite Film Festival, has been held annually since 2004. Other events of interest include a downtown farmer's market, the Ogden Arts Festival, the Harvest Moon Festival, Ogden Winterfest, and the Ogden Marathon.

Ogden has had two shopping malls. Newgate Mall was built in 1981, and Ogden City Mall a year prior. The latter was torn down and redeveloped as The Junction.

Renown

Two ships in the United States Navy have been named after the City of Ogden; the first, USS Ogden (PF-39), in 1943, and the second, USS Ogden (LPD-5), in 1964.

Ogden was the site of the infamous Hi-Fi murders in 1974.

Flying J, the largest retailer of diesel fuel in North America, once had its corporate headquarters in Ogden.

In the media

Ogden is one of five cities featured in the first season of the ABC reality series Emergency Call, which chronicles real-life 9-1-1 calls and the operator-dispatchers who handle them. The Ogden City Mall (which has since been replaced by The Junction (Ogden, Utah) featured in the video of the pop music hit "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany Darwish.

Notable people

Hal Ashby, Academy Award-winning film director
Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's
Rodney Bagley, co-inventor of the catalytic converter
Tanoka Beard, basketball player
Colby Bockwoldt, football player
Solon Borglum, sculptor
Fawn M. Brodie, historian
John Moses Browning, inventor and firearms designer
Val A. Browning, industrialist, philanthropist, and gun innovator
Laurence J. Burton, politician, U.S. House of Representatives
R. D. Call, actor
Tom Chambers, basketball player
Les Clark, film animator and director
Elwood Cooke, tennis player, Wimbledon doubles champion
Bernard DeVoto, historian
Kelly Downs, former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants
Spencer Eccles, philanthropist
Arthur Guy Empey, adventurer, soldier, writer, actor
Arnie Ferrin, basketball player
Byron Foulger, actor
Tracy Hall, chemist
William Jefferson Hardin, black legislator
Robert Harris, first African American to serve in the Utah State Legislature
William Wadsworth Hodkinson, Paramount Pictures founder
Francis L. Horspool, painter
Ashley Jenkins, online personality
Cecil Jensen, editorial cartoonist
Edward U. Knowlton, physician and politician
Damian Lillard, basketball player and NBA Rookie of the Year
Jeff Lowe, World Class Alpinist
May Mann, society columnist for The Ogden Standard-Examiner, later Hollywood columnist and celebrity biographer
J. Willard Marriott, hotel magnate
Herbert B. Maw, politician, Utah's 8th Governor
K. Gunn McKay, politician, U.S. House of Representatives
Joe McQueen, jazz saxophonist
Wataru Misaka, basketball player
Blake Moore, politician, U.S. House of Representatives
Red Nichols, jazz musician, bandleader
Ray Noorda, business executive
"The Osmonds": George Jr. (Virl), Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie, entertainers
Janice Kapp Perry, songwriter
Heath Satow, artist
Byron Scott, basketball player and coach
Brent Scowcroft, politician, United States National Security Advisor
Sarah Sellers, American long-distance runner
Richard H. Stallings, politician, U.S. House of Representatives
Ken St. Andre, game designer
Brent R. Taylor, politician and United States Army officer
Minerva Teichert, artist
E. Parry Thomas, banker
Olene S. Walker, politician, Utah's 15th Governor
Ginger Wallace, artist and philanthropist
Gedde Watanabe, actor

Ogden, Utah facts for kids

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