Historic 25th Street
Encyclopedia
Historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries, historic districts receive legal protection from development....
located in Ogden, Utah
Ogden, Utah
Ogden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. 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...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The Historic 25th Street neighborhood occupies three blocks
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
of 25th Street, beginning at Wall Avenue on the west end and ending at Washington Ave on the east, with Lincoln and Grant Avenues transecting.
History
The history of 25th Street began with the opening of Union StationUnion Station (Ogden)
Union Station in Ogden, Utah, also known as Ogden Union Station, is located on Historic 25th Street. It was formerly the junction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads....
, at the west
West
West is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of east and is perpendicular to north and south.By convention, the left side of a map is west....
end of the street
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
, during the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
in 1869. Later, another rail line
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
, the Utah Northern Railroad
Utah and Northern Railway
The Utah and Northern Railway is a defunct railroad that was operated in the Utah Territory and later in the Idaho Territory and Montana Territory in the western United States during the 1870s and 1880s. It was the first railroad in Idaho and in Montana....
, was built between Franklin, Idaho
Franklin, Idaho
Franklin is a city in Franklin County, Idaho, United States. The population was 641 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
and Ogden. The Ogden Union Station Depot became the hub for the Utah Northern Railroad, and served as a major railroad junction
Junction (rail)
A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...
. The original structure of the Union Station Depot was destroyed by a fire in 1923.
During the early 20th century, 25th Street was a center of activity in Ogden. Home to retail shops
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
, restaurants
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, ice cream parlors
Ice cream parlor
Ice cream parlors are places that sell ice cream and frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is normally sold in two varieties in these stores: soft-serve ice cream , and hard-packed, which has an assortment of flavors, as well as frozen yogurt, which is a low-fat alternative and tastes slightly...
, hotels
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
, and laundries
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
, the street was also a common site for illicit activities such as gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
and narcotic sales
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
. Popularly known as ‘’Two-Bit Street’’, the area obtained such a seedy reputation that Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
is rumored to have said that Ogden was too wild a town for him. An urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
tells of a system of underground tunnels
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
that bootleggers
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
created during prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
to move alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
from Union Station to the Bigelow-Ben Lomond Hotel
Bigelow-Ben Lomond Hotel
The Bigelow Hotel is a historic hotel located at 2510 Washington Blvd. in Ogden, Utah, United States. It has also been known as the Ben Lomond Hotel, Radisson Hotel and Ben Lomond Historic Suite Hotel. It was added to the National Register in 1990...
located on the east end of the neighborhood.
In 1954, 25th Street was cleaned up as part of a city-wide crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
-reduction effort led by Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Lorin Farr (a descendant of Ogden's first mayor, Lorin Farr
Lorin Farr
Lorin Farr was a Mormon pioneer and the first mayor of Ogden, Utah.Farr was born in Waterford, Vermont. He was a son of Winslow Farr. When he was eleven, Farr joined the Latter Day Saint church after having been taught of it by Orson Pratt and Lyman E. Johnson...
).
25th Street today
Farmers' market
A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
(July through September) and car shows
Auto show
An auto show, or motor show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is commonly attended by automobile manufacturers. Most auto shows occur once or twice a year...
. The rebuilt Union Station houses the Utah State Railroad Museums, the John M. Browning Arms Museum, and the Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum. The street is also the location for the Ogden City Municipal Building and the Federal Courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
.