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Ghost Towns: Sego, a Coal Town with a Colorful Past
Down a bumpy canyon road in the Book Cliffs of southeastern Utah, curious travelers can find the ghost town of Sego. Named for Utah’s state flower, it’s a dusty coal town with a colorful past.
The canyon where the ghost town of Sego sits has been…
Ghost Towns: Cisco
A former railroad and ranching hub, the tiny settlement of Cisco became a ghost town after highway travel through the remote area was rerouted. But is Cisco still a ghost town today?
On the eastern edge of Grand County, a few miles south of…
Rural to Rockets: Box Elder County Takes Off
So, you are a giant aerospace company and you want to build a rocket plant: what do you look for? This week, learn how one Utah town met all the requirements to become a center for the US rocket industry and how that decision forever changed its…
Ogden Union Stockyards
Do you know where your food comes from? Utahns once depended on local butchers for fresh meat. But, in the early 1900s business boomed for the Ogden Union Stockyards, signaling a shift in how and where Utahns purchased their food.
Today, most…
The Militarized West
World War II and the Cold War brought the military to much of rural Utah, transforming those places in the process. The economic boost that followed was long-lasting in some communities, but devastatingly short-lived in others.
While the federal…
The Mountain Man: a Romanticized Symbol
Rugged individualism is practically synonymous with the American West, and mountain men are the embodiment of that ideal. But the ideal tends to mask the real significance – and legacy – of mountain men in Utah.
In the early nineteenth century,…
The Jeffersonian Ideal: A Misfit for Utah
When the United States was was created in the late 1700s, Thomas Jefferson had a vision of a nation built by individual family farmers. Here in Utah – we love farmers. But did we really live up to Jefferson’s ideal?
For many in the United States'…
Welcome to Main Street: Helper Commercial District
Every rural Utah town has their own special Main Street. In Carbon County, Helper’s main street tells a rich historic story about change and continuity in its unique community.
In the early twentieth century, the small community of Helper was…
Orchards to Steel: The Transformation of Utah Valley
Today, Utah Valley is known for its rapid development and urban growth. But the valley just east of Utah Lake used to be farmland and orchards. Find out how wartime transformation brought prosperity to this region -- but also irrevocable…
The Airport: from Woodward Field to International Hub
What began over a century ago as a field for airplane stunts has become one of the country’s top thirty busiest airports. But did you know Salt Lake City's airport has a wildlife division?
Love it or hate it – chances are, everyone who’s been…
The Rise/Fall/Rise of Fisher Brewing Company
An impressive mansion on Salt Lake City’s west side serves as a reminder of Utah's beer history and the prosperous titan who ran the largest brewery in the West.
Utah’s strict liquor laws are something of a hilarious nuisance for many visitors to…
Cosmic Aeroplane: Salt Lake City’s Countercultural Safe Haven
The heart of Salt Lake City’s countercultural movement found its home in a small, independent headshop in the 1960s and 70s.
Utah’s countercultural movement in the 1960s and 70s was fairly tame compared to the social movements of larger cities.…
Fuller’s Hill: Salt Lake’s Premiere Urban Playground
Maybe you’ve heard of the Great Saltair Pleasure Resort as a prime example of Utah’s early pleasure resorts. But have you ever heard of Fuller’s Hill? At about 1100 East and 400 South in Salt Lake City, this little-known park had a covered…
Adapt or Die: Utah’s Contested Water History
The story of water in Utah is complex, and rifts often arise in unexpected places. The fact that water sustains us all can sometimes be easy to overlook, but ultimately it an issue we cannot ignore and to which we must constantly adapt.
Utah is…
Sorority of River Rats: Gender Norms on the River
If you’ve ever been on a river trip, you probably didn’t bring along your hair curlers or a nightgown. But for women rafters in the 1930s, keeping up gender norms was part of the river experience.
Between 1936 and 1949, Norm Nevills operated a…
Chlorine, Giardia, and Pickles
If you or your dog have ever gotten sick drinking untreated water, you've probably heard of giardia. Chlorine is regularly used in water treatment plants across Utah today to fight this deadly water parasite, but some of its earliest opponents…
Desperate for Rain: Utah’s Cloud Seeding Industry
Utah communities regularly wish for more rainfall, especially during years of drought. But can they do more than just pray? Learn how scientists in the 1950s harnessed technology to make their own rain.
Today, Utahns experiencing drought due to…
Gaslighting about Gas Emissions and Acid Rain
Acid rain used to be a big problem in Salt Lake Valley. As local farmers sought to curb its impact, they found themselves getting “gaslit” about gas emissions from nearby smelters, both in court and in their own fields.
Water normally means life…
Utah Lake’s Wicked Waters
Utahns love to visit beautiful Utah Lake for recreation, but the lake’s dangerous conditions remind us to be wary of getting too comfortable on the water.
On a calm Sunday afternoon in June 1883, Thomas Yates and some friends from the town of…
Utah v. United States: the 1931 Riverbed Case
Water law in the West can be complicated. Find out how river runners helped the government decide who owns the riverbed of the Colorado Basin, and why that even matters to the public.
In the late 1920s, the state of Utah wanted to use the riverbeds…