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Change in Rose Park
One of the most racially diverse neighborhoods in the Salt Lake Valley didn’t start out that way. Find out how Rose Park changed from a subdivision restricted to white people to become the vibrant community we know today.
Rose Park, located in the…
The Origins of Rose Park
Rose Park began as an affordable, working class neighborhood. But the true costs for the subdivision would not be revealed until decades later.
In 1947, housing developer Alan Brockbank scoped out a plot of land not too far from the center of Salt…
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…
The Civilian Conservation Corps and Desert Reclamation
During the depths of the Great Depression, thousands of young men went to work on over one thousand water projects in Utah. Learn about some of the projects that survive to this day.
In the 1930s, there was no shortage of work to be done on Utah's…
Claiming the Water: Violence in the Desert
Who owns common sources of water? As Mormons began to spread south throughout Utah Territory in the 1850s, conflict over watering holes in the desert turned deadly.
In the arid Utah desert, one resource takes priority over all others: water. When a…
Floyd Dominy: Legacy of a Lightning Rod
Floyd Dominy was more than a government bureaucrat. As commissioner for the federal Bureau of Reclamation, Dominy was a lightning rod for the controversy over humanity’s relationship to the natural environment and had an outsized impact on the…
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…
Equitable Water Distribution: the 1962 Bear River Project
Utah has an insatiable demand for water, and the Bear River is one of northern Utah’s most abundant sources. Despite this, efforts to fully develop it have long been stymied by a combination of geography and politics.
All of Bear River’s natural…
How Carp Took Utah Lake
Utah Lake was once an important and abundant source of fish and wildlife for the Timpanogos Ute people. But by the turn of the twentieth century, Utah Lake’s native fish species had almost completely vanished.
Prior to Mormon settlement in 1849,…
Utah Wildlife Management: Trout vs “Trash Fish”
Stocking Utah’s waterways with sport fish is a practice that goes back more than a century – so long ago that many people may think these introduced species are native. Find out how this impacts Utah’s true native fishes.
Setting up beside a…
We Can “Build a Dam Anywhere”: Survival of the Central Utah Project
The Central Utah Project – which is still under construction – began with plenty of optimism and ambition. But politics and the inherent difficulty of moving mountains nearly sank the project. Learn how it survived.
The Central Utah Project –…
Moving Mountains: Origins of the Central Utah Project
The vast plumbing infrastructure of the Central Utah Project is the culmination of Utah’s desires to move water to where we want it to be. Find out how complicated and contentious this endeavor has been.
By the mid-twentieth century, the water of…
Flood Control And Watershed Management
Living in the desert means dealing with extreme conditions. Sometimes that means drought, but other times the problem is too much water all at once. Learn how Utahns in Manti looked upstream to tackle the problem of flooding.When you live in the…
Even the Grasshoppers were Starving: The 1934 Drought
The 1934 drought that ravaged the nation was a natural disaster that came at the worst possible time for Utahns. Find out how officials helped guide the state through this catastrophe with help from the federal government.
In 1934, a historic drought…
Ghost Towns: Dewey
There are only three roads in Utah that bridge the Colorado River, and only a handful of crossings. The ghost town of Dewey is one of those places and early settlers of the region made good use of this crossing.
Getting across the Colorado River is…
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…
Utah’s Green Book
In the 1940s, new roads, affordable cars, and an interest in national parks meant that more Americans were packing up their vehicles and hitting the open road. For Black travelers driving through rural areas of Utah, the Green Book was a vital…
In This Little Town of Ours, We Have a Literary Club
In 1928, a women’s club in Moab adopted an official song that crowed: “In this little town of ours, we have a literary club, and we derive from it everything good, it helps the town and public in numerous ways.” Learn more about these women and…
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…