Area:
644 square miles;
population:
158,330 (in 1990);
county seat:
Ogden; origin of
county name: from
early trapper John
Weber; principal
cities/towns:
Ogden
(63,909), Roy
(24,603), South Ogden
(12,105), North Ogden
(11,668), Washington
Terrace (8,189); economy:
defense, transportation,
warehousing, distribution,
retailing, tourism,
recreation, health
care, printing; points
of interest: Fort
Buenaventura State
Park, Weber
State College,
Willard
Bay State Park,
Ogden Union Station
(Browning Firearms
Museum, Browning Kimball
Vintage Car Collection),
Pineview Reservoir,
Snow
Basin, Powder
Mountain, Nordic
Valley, Ogden's
Historic 25th Street,
Ogden Nature Center,
Abbey of Our Lady
of the Holy Trinity
in Huntsville, Eccles
Community Art Center.
Weber County has long
been the crossroads
of Utah and the Intermountain
West. Its eastern
boundary is the spine
of the Wasatch Mountains
with their towering
peaks and sharp valleys.
It extends west into
Great Salt Lake. Both
mountains and flatlands
are laced by the Ogden
and Weber rivers and
their tributaries.
Nomadic Shoshone,
Ute, and prehistoric
Indians favored the
area for centuries,
hunting in the mountains
and foothills and
fishing in the streams.
Mounds near the confluence
of the Weber and Ogden
rivers contain remains
of their camps.
American and British
mountain men entered
the area in the early
1800s, trapping beaver
and trading with the
Indians. In 1824 Jim
Bridger became the
first white man to
report sighting Great
Salt Lake. Peter Skene
Ogden traversed the
high valley just behind
the Wasatch Front
in 1825 and is remembered
in the name of the
area's largest city--although
he never visited the
actual site. The first
accurate maps of the
area were drawn by
John C. Fremont, after
he visited the mouth
of the Weber River
in 1843.
Permanent settlement
began in 1843 when
horse trader/trapper
Miles Goodyear built
a fort and trading
post on the banks
of the Weber River,
near where it meets
the Ogden River. Late
in 1847 he sold his
claim to James Brown,
a veteran of the Mormon
Battalion, for $1,950
in gold coins, and
the property became
Brown's Fort, also
known as Brownsville.
Within three years
the community had
1,141 residents and
its name was changed
permanently to Ogden
and the surrounding
area designated as
Weber County.Growth
accelerated in 1869
when the nation's
first transcontinental
railroad was completed
on 10 May at Promontory
Summit, sixty miles
northwest of Ogden;
the junction for transfer
of rolling stock,
passengers, and freight
was quickly moved
to more conveniently
located Ogden, nicknamed
"Junction City." Other
industries established
included woolen mills,
canneries, livestock
yards, flour mills,
breweries, iron works,
banks, hotels, and
telephone, telegraph,
and power companies.
Ogden inventor John
M. Browning patented
in 1879 a new, single-shot
rifle--the first of
more than 100 firearms
developed by the Brownings
and sold all over
the world.
Weber County's next
sizeable population
explosion came just
before and during
World War II when
the military built
Defense Depot Ogden
in northern Weber
County and Hill Air
Force Base and the
Naval Supply Depot
in nearby Davis County.
DDO and Hill continue
to provide many jobs
for Weber County residents.
The war also placed
increased demands
on the transportation
network, and as many
as 150 regular and
special trains moved
through Ogden's Union
Station on many days
in 1944.
Weber County has definitely
entered the space
age. A number of aerospace
industries have offices
and other facilities
here, and manufacturing
plants produce powerful,
miniature, jet engines
for aircraft and missiles
and Jetway loading
bridges for airports
worldwide. Weber State
University (with some
13,000 students),
the U.S. Forest Service
regional headquarters,
the IRS Service Center,
and the McKay-Dee
and St. Benedict's
hospitals are among
the county's major
employers in the 1990s.
Murray
M. Moler
