In 1869, Union Pacific laid tracks stopping through Ogden, Utah to Promontory. The resulting traffic led citizens of Ogden to construct a cannery to sell excess crop production throughout the nation. In 1886, the Ogden Canning Company opened. Three years later, the Utah Canning Company was organized. Canning success motivated the start of other canneries throughout Utah.  In 1900, the North Ogden Canning Company was created by James Enoch Randall, Alexander Leslie Brewer, and nearby neighbors. They built a factory in 1901, one mile from the Randall home. Since the factory opened, numerous products have been added to the company's manufacturing. Any products grown by local farmers were eligible to be canned and transported: sugar peas, green beans, pie cherries, tomatoes, peaches, apricots, and more.  When the factory first began operating, methods of canning were slow and mostly by hand. Beans were snipped, tomatoes peeled, and labels pasted and attached all by hand. In later years, newer methods of canning were installed; mechanical devices and machines were purchased to improve the handling of the produce. Produce included sugar peas, green beans, apricots, peaches, pie cherries, fancy-pack cherries, whole tomatoes, tomato catsup, tomato juice, and red beets.  Early in July 1925, a fire destroyed part of the warehouse of the factory. When damage by fire had been repaired, members of the community gathered to spend an evening of dancing on the new floor upstairs to celebrate the restoration of the building.  In the early 1920s, Weber County was one of the most agriculturally productive counties in the state; however, over time the county became more urbanized and overall production declined. By 1930, there were thirteen canning factories in Weber County that employed 2,350 workers during the packing season, with a pay-roll of $266,000. In that year the total value of production was $3,225,000. In the entire district, the normal pack was 3,500,000 cases, valued at $9,000,000, making Ogden one of the least profitable.  One of the major interruptions of service for the North Ogden Cannery came during World War II when canning and distribution was halted for several crops including sweet cherries and sour cherries. Wartime rationing hurt the canning business as Americans were encouraged to can their own food in order to promote self-sustainability. After the war, the North Ogden Canning Company stayed afloat until it closed its doors a few decades later.  In 1970, the North Ogden Cannery building was purchased by Lloyd Searle for his business, Lloyd’s Heating and Air. Throughout the coming and going of many businesses through the next few decades, the inside of the building was changed dramatically. Nine years after the hiring of Shawn Maynard as a manager of the location in 1994, he bought the building from Lloyd Searle and, with his wife Sharlene, began remodeling. In Sharlene’s words, “knowing that the building was in desperate need of repairs, and could possibly fall victim to eminent domain and demolition, we made an offer to Lloyd to purchase the building.” In their remodel, the Maynards hoped to restore some original designs present when the building was a cannery. 

Several other businesses have taken up residence in the newly remodeled building including: the Pet Chalet Boarding and Grooming, Great Harvest Bread, Rejuvenation Massage and Yoga, and Shine Beauty and Nails. This wave of entepreneurship and renovation has kept the factory in good company. 

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In 1868, local residents of Smithfield wished to open a library. They did not have the money to build a separate building for a library, so they used space in the Second Ward Tabernacle. It continued to be used as a reading room until 1917. On February 3, 1916, Daughters of Utah Pioneers worked with other civic groups to develop and present a plan for a community library to the Mayor, Joseph J. Richardson. The idea was approved by the Mayor and the City Council. The designer of the library and local architect was Fred W. Hodgson.  Hodgson was the brother of prominent Ogden architect Leslie Hodgson with whom he apprenticed. Around 1915, Hodgson and his wife, Mary Eleanor Bingham, moved to Logan. During the next 15 years, Hodgson developed architectural plans for numerous schools in Cache and Box Elder Counties as well as churches, jails, and private homes. Shortly after plans for the library were approved, the city was in contact with the Carnegie Corporation in New York. Andrew Carnegie had previously announced an initiative to help fund the construction of libraries across the nation. He granted Smithfield $12,000 to build its library.  Building commenced thereafter and, in 1921, it was completed.  On December 3, 1922, the Smithfield Carnegie Library held a dedicatory service in the Second Ward Tabernacle. When the service at the Tabernacle was finished, the congregation went over to the library where Sylvester Low Jr. of the Library Commission gave the dedicatory prayer.

Peterson is a city in Morgan County. The city was renamed from Weber City to Peterson in honor of the town's first family, the Petersons. 

Morgan County was first settled by a man named Thomas Jefferson Thurston. Thurston first saw Weber Valley in 1852, as he and his sons were cutting down logs in the mountains. However, the canyon only had a narrow opening which the Weber River cut through. Despite the inaccessability of the valley, Thurston was determined to settle there. At first, the men had to lower wagons down with rope to get them into the valley. Eventually, a road was made through the canyon. In 1855, Charles Shreeve Peterson, one of the first settlers, brought his family to the area. Along with him came Roswell Stevens Jr., his son-in-law, and Edward Jackson, who later became his son-in-law after settling in the valley. They brought a herd of cattle owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, during a harsh winter much of the herd died. As was the custom, the women of the settlement boiled the bones of the cattle and used the grease to make soap.  Another calamity befell the settlement in the summer of 1856. Grasshoppers devoured the settlers’ grain fields, leaving many of the settlers without flour or bread for the winter. The people subsisted on wild roots, fish, and game and were able to add dandelions and sego lilies to their meals during the warmer months.  Peterson served as a representative in the Utah Territorial Legislature from 1864 to 1866. He had five wives: Ann Denis, Mary Ann Patten, her half-sister, Ann, Margaret Crispin, and Marry Thompson. In his early sixties, Peterson moved to Fielding, Utah, in hope of setting up a large farming operation for his families. Shortly after moving to Fielding, the family left for Mesa, Arizons, where Peterson passed. The settlement was originally called Weber City and was the county seat from February 1862, when Morgan County was organized by Peterson, to February 1972. When the county seat was moved, the area was renamed Peterson in honor of Charles Peterson, the area's first settler. 

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On March 22, 1852, the Davis County Commissioner told the county clerks to create three blueprints for the county’s courthouse to be approved. The winning design was a small two-story 35x45 foot adobe building. This courthouse was built upon a rocky knoll just south of State Street. The building was erected using donations and taxes, and the people of the North Cottonwood LDS Ward had donated so much to the courthouse that the ward was permitted to use an upper room of the courthouse for meetings, and parties if the room was not in use. Rooms of this first courthouse were also used as a general store, practice  hall, and dance hall.  On May 20, 1889, a new courthouse was approved by the county commissioner; this courthouse would be built just a few feet south of where the existing courthouse stood so State Street could be expanded without obstruction. The second courthouse was finished on August 18, 1890 and led by architect William Allen. The original courthouse was torn down in September of 1890. Davis County continued to grow, and before long more room in the courthouse was required. In 1929, the county commissioner announced the expansion of the courthouse. The county hired architect Theo Pope and contractors F.R. Knowlton and George Rupert for the project. This expansion was paid for by a memorial levy, thus the building was named the Davis County Memorial Courthouse. The second building was to remain in place, only the large tower at the front being removed. The entrance was increased and redesigned. Two wings extending off the original structure gave the building a neoclassical look. The expansion finished in 1932. In August 1956, plans to increase the courthouse were again approved with Theo Pope serving as architect once again. Another expansion of the courthouse occurred in 1979. The County Commissioner met again with Pope in May to renovate the jail from one story to two and to build a service tunnel between the courthouse and the library.  After 50 years of expansion, Davis County continued to accomodate a growing population. Iin 1990, the jail and courts had outgrown the Memorial Courthouse and moved to new facilities west of downtown Farmington. In 1996, the Memorial Courthouse had a small renovation, and the1889 building's  ceiling was uncovered. In 2010, the 1929 portion of the Memorial Courthouse joined both the Farmington Historic Landmark Register and the National Register of Historic Places. In 2010, the Farmington City Council voted to list the Davis County Memorial Courthouse as a city historic resource. In 2021, the newer section of the building was razed due to structural concerns. 

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The Royal Hotel was originally built in 1914 as a place for blue collar railroad workers and travelers. Shops, cafes, and offices filled the front spaces of the street floor, and modestly priced hotel rooms were located on the second and third floors. Sam (Saturnino Bengoechea) Maruri was born before February 6, 1894, in Amoroto, Spain. In 1912, he immigrated to Ogden, Utah. He married Maria Josefa Osa on February 1, 1922 in Ogden, Utah. Together they had at least three children. In the 1920s, the Maruri’s built a large brick building behind the Royal Hotel to house a court for the Basque game of Jai-alai. The court became an important social gathering place for the Basque population of Ogden to come and enjoy a game from their homeland. In 1935, Sam and Josepha took over management of the Royal Hotel and transformed it into a cultural gathering place for the Basque community. Basque employees of the local sheep industry would ship their products via the railroad and would often visit the Royal Hotel.

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The building from which the Shooting Star Saloon currently operates was erected around 1850 as a mercantile shop for Native Americans, fur trappers, fur traders, herders, and the small number of settlers of the town. The mercantile switched to a saloon in 1879, originally named Hoken’s Hole for its owner Hoken Olsen. Hoken (1862-1945) was the son of Norwegian immigrants who had converted to Mormonism and moved to Utah in 1876 as part of the “gathering.” He became a citizen of the US in 1902. Hunstville’s early newspapers are filled with accounts of how “Slippery Hoken'' had once more been fined for selling liquor without a license, or sent to jail for the same. His wife Maria Bingham operated the saloon when Hoken was in jail.  During the Prohbition Era in the 1920s, alcoholic drinks and card games were enjoyed in secret and a confectionery shop for children was displayed on the top floor of the saloon. However, Hoken continued to be arrested for selling liquor without a license. In 1929, Hoken sold his property to Ben Wood. In 1940, Huntsville’s Carl Stokes moved the saloon upstairs from the basement and named it the Shooting Star.  The Saloon has had several owners these past years. It is known for its menu, consisting of burgers and hotdogs. There is even a combination of hot dog and burger called the Star Burger. And, of course, there is a full bar of alcoholic beverages. The Saloon’s decor is also of note. Inside, the ceiling is completely covered in dollar bills and has a St. Bernard’s head stuffed and displayed on the wall, belonging to the deceased Buck, a previous Guinness World Record holder for St. Bernards because of its size and weight. “Buck” is a gift from Ernie Schultz who ran a bar in West Yellowstone, Montana. The tables were once used by monks at the nearby Trappist monastery. Antique items such as registers can also be found in the Saloon. The origins of the dollar bill ceiling are unclear. Some say that Whiskey Joe, a patron from decades orevious, began the trend of tacking dollar bills on the ceiling. Whiskey Joe was notorious for never having enough money to pay for his beer. He'd give the bartender a dollar toward his tab, and it would be tacked up on the ceiling. Whiskey Joe would show up the next day with an additional dollar, and so it continued. A few have claimed that Whiskey Joe continues to haunt the saloon. However, Whiskey Joe's legacy is debated. Huntsville librarian Carol Stoker claims that her uncle Charlie left the first dollar bill on the ceiling on his way to fight in World War II, declaring he would use it when he came back. Whatever the real story, today hundreds of dollar bills blanket the ceiling. Names of patrons penned on each one are a sign that they'll be back for another round.

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The Berthana social and dance hall celebrated its public opening on May 26, 1915. The  idea to create a gathering center for the young residents of Ogden is credited to Bertha Eccles and Anna T. Dee whose names became the name of the building. An article published in the Ogden Standard Examiner on the day following the opening night dubbed the social center as the “most beautiful ballroom in the West.” The 600 guests invited to opening night were greeted with handsome decor, a professional and welcoming staff, and a large, lively orchestra. Part of the opening night festivities included a grand march led by William Spry, Utah’s governor at the time.  The main floor of the Berthana was designed for retail space; the second-floor ballroom was 120 feet long by 80 feet wide, built by the David Eccles Estate and the Thomas D. Dee Co. The Berthana maintained its status as a major gathering place for state conventions of the Utah Federation of Women’s Clubs, concerts, dances, company promotions, beauty pageants, and even boxing matches. The ballroom was used for such activities until about 1940, when it was converted into a roller-skating rink. With the exception of a brief but unsuccessful attempt to reopen in the 1980s the ballroom has remained largely unused since the 1970s. In 2012, life was breathed back into the former social hall in the form of a $750,000 renovation that transformed the Berthana into an entertainment venue that hosted businesses such as the Copper Club. Lynda Huddleston, the manager of the Copper Club, said, “if you come in here and stay still and just listen, you can almost hear the music that  used to play here. We want to bring that feeling of excitement back to Ogden.” In 2016, The Union Grill left its location in Union Station and opened its doors in the Berthana.

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Known as the Promontory Branch Stations, the Central Pacific Railroad maintained nearly 30 section stations along the tracks in Utah. These stations were each located roughly 10-12 miles apart and provided needed maintenance and upgrades to the rail lines. Some of the stations had permanent buildings, while others were not much more than tent cities. Typically, each was overseen by two white foremen, and housed anywhere from eleven to thirty Chinese workers. A few stops became actual towns, booming and bustling with the railroad traffic along the stretch.   Two of the major section stations along the Promontory route included Terrace and Kelton. Terrace was inhabited from 1869 to 1910. It was the largest station of the Promontory Branch, and provided the main source of maintenance and repair resources for the Salt Lake Division, which stretched from Wells, NV to Ogden, UT. The population estimates vary widely, but could have reached up to 1,000 residents at its peak. Nearly half of those were projected to be Chinese workers for the railroad. Although, according to the 1880 census, the actual Chines population was under 100.  The town, which boasted a number of establishments including a saloon, barber, general store, grocer and two hotels, also had a communal structure called the Athenaeum. The Athenaeum was funded by a small local tax and provided bath houses and a library. The Chinese settled on the east side of town, and maintained a laundry, cook house, and Joss sanctuary. Water was supplied to the town via a 12-mile aqueduct from Rosebud Creek. The aqueduct was traded out for a pipe in 1887. They later tried drilling a well in 1892, but were unsuccessful. The town was heavily affected by the completion of the Lucin cutoff in 1904 and a fire that decimated town buildings around that same time. By 1910, there was nothing but scraps of metal and building remnants left of Terrace.  The section station of Kelton, also known as Indian Creek, lasted much longer, spanning from 1869 to about 1942. The town served as a major shipping and travel connection. It was the  southern terminus of the Utah, Idaho, and Oregon Stage Company and also an Overland Mail Route station. During the 1870s alone, six million pounds of goods and supplies were transferred from train to wagon from Kelton. The railroad had a depot, turntable, engine house, water tank, pump house, section house, rail spurs, and sidings. Businesses in town included a two-story hotel, saloons, general stores, a post office, and a blacksmith. The town water was piped in from the Raft River Mountains just seven miles north. The population peaked at about 150 people in the late 1800s.  The town's decline happened over a period of years with one event  after another. The stage route was no longer in use by the 1880s, the Lucin Cutoff project significantly slowed train traffic down to just a few trains per week, an earthquake rocked the city in 1934, and the railroad removed the rails to donate to the war effort in 1942. The few structures that are left in the ghost town are visited only by railroad enthusiasts, local historians, and tourists.

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Though the joining of the rails at Promontory, Utah was an iconic moment, the resulting route from the Sierra Nevada Mountains through Promontory was too steep and long for trains that were longer, faster, and carrying increasing numbers of passengers and freight. Both the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific companies wanted a better route. Collis Potter Huntington, the president of Southern Pacific, ordered William Hood, his chief engineer, to plan alternate routes. These plans were put on hold due a financial crash and Huntington’s own death in 1900. However, when, after his death, his shares were sold to Edward Harriman, an official of the Union Pacific, plans were made for a new route that would save over forty miles off the Promontory route and be far more level. The route would lead from the small town of Lucin on the Nevada border, through a trestle on the Great Salt Lake, and ultimately to the town of Ogden, Utah. Though most of the Ogden-Lucin Cutoff was built quickly, construction of the trestle itself took over a year. Large loads of gravel and fill were poured into the lake for months, and many places in the lake were virtual sinkholes. Piles were driven into this fill to support the trestle, but many simply sank into the lake or had to be driven on top of each other. Massive amounts of piles, wood, rails, and supplies for the workers had to be shipped in. During the building of the Lucin Cutoff, forty-four workers were killed in train crashes, explosions, and drownings, including many Greek and Austrian immigrants. When construction was complete, the cutoff totaled over eight million dollars, over double its original estimate.  After over fifty years of service, rising levels in the Great Salt Lake threatened the trestle and a parallel track supported by a causeway was built in 1959. The trestle was still occasionally used until the 1970s. In 1986-1987, the cutoff was severely damaged by lake waters. Despite the trestle’s importance in railroad history and its documentation on the National Register of Historic Places, it was sold for a dollar and the wood was hauled off for salvage. Many local homes and businesses took wood from the trestle, which was described as “pickled” and very strong due to its long existence in saltwater. Thus marked the end of the Lucin Cutoff. 

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The Tooele Ordnance Depot was activated in December 1942, occupying 24,732 acres near the city of Tooele, Utah. Originally part of the U.S. Army Depot System Command (DESCOM), its mission was to provide a reserve storage depot which would have the following responsibilities: store vehicles, small arms, and fire control equipment, and to overhaul and modify tanks and tracked vehicles.   The Army chose the desert site near Tooele for four reasons: first, it was situated far enough inland from the West Coast to be defendable from attack by sea or air; second, the sandy loam soil of the area absorbed shocks--a necessary feature in case of accidental detonation or bombing; third, the site was adjacent to the Great Salt Lake Desert where ammunition, artillery pieces and vehicles in storage would be less vulnerable to ruse and corrosion in the dry climate, and finally, the site, which had been formerly used for sheep grazing, was uninhabited and with no existing structures.  Blowing sands and shifting soils were immediately encountered by construction crews, hampering construction efforts and forcing delays and shutdowns. Despite these and other problems, the contract was completed by January 1943. The problem of shifting soils was not alleviated, however, until later that year when Utah State University personnel planted drought resistant grasses to prevent further erosion. The Lanham Housing Project, known as Tooele Ordnance Depot Park, originally included permanent community facilities as well as housing. The quarters for the expanded World War II workforce included such amenities as a shopping center, a post office, and an elementary school. Six community buildings (Buildings 1001-1005) remain, but the housing units were declared excess following World War II and were either sold or demolished in the following years. During WW2, the depot received and shipped a total of 40,946 railroad carloads of  ammunition supplies and salvage items, handling more than 1,625,000 tons of material. In addition, the depot overhauled or salvaged 997 major auto vehicles, 1,347 major artillery pieces, and 896 tanks. In 1949, the depot assumed command of the Deseret Chemical Depot.   During the Korean War, the depot's major emphasis would shift from a storage unit to a manufacturing enterprise devoted to producing, rebuilding, and repairing military equipment. In 1952, TEAD was selected by Ordnance Ammunition Command (OAC) to develop Ammunition Peculiar Equipment (APE) for use in all depots munitions operations.  In 1962, the depot was redesignated the Tooele Army Depot. Since that time the depot has been assigned maintenance mission responsibilities for topographic equipment, troop support items, construction equipment, generators, and various types of tactical wheeled vehicles. In 1964, TEAD assumed command and control of the non-tactical generator rail equipment repair facility located at Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah. It was the sole facility in the country which provided such services.  The establishment of the Ammo Equipment Office (AEO) at Tooele was the result of a careful study involving thorough analysis. AEO was changed to the Ammunition Equipment Directorate (AED) in 1981. This changed the status of the organization on the depot. The AED mission was now recognized as a valuable asset to the Tooele Army Depot and was included in depot planning and programs.  In 1988, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) recommended that TEAD take over the general supply storage mission from Pueblo Depot Activity in Colorado. In 1993, BRAC recommended TEAD eliminate its troop support, maintenance, storage, and distribution missions. Since that decision, the Army completed the transfer of surplus property to the Redevelopment Agency of Tooele City (RDA). On January 19, 1999, the U.S. Army Materiel Command, Chief of Staff, Major General Normal E. Williams, presented a ceremonial deed commemorating the transfer of 1700 acres and 258 buildings to Tooele City.  On September 28, 1999, another mark in Tooele Army Depot history took place. Once again the mission of the Defense Non-Tactical Generator and Rail Center (DGRC), command and control, transferred to another command--U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren, Michigan. In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, the Department of Defense recommended realigning Sierra Army Depot, California, by relocating Storage to Tooele Army Depot. Capacity and capability for storage existed at  numerous munitions sites. To reduce redundancy and remove excess from the Industrial Base, the realignment would allow the Department of Defense to create centers of excellence and remove inefficiencies.  On March 1, 2010, TEAD was designated as a Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for Ammunition Peculiar Equipment by the Secretary of the Army. During a special U.S. Army ceremony, Deseret Chemical Depot was formally closed July 11, 2014. U.S. Army officials called it a transfer of property, taking Deseret Chemical Depot's 19,000-plus acres and transferring them to Tooele Army Depot. The depot is currently the Department of Defense’s western region conventional ammunition hub for the storage, receipt, issue, maintenance, and demilitarization. It is also the center for the design, manufacture, fielding and maintenance of all Ammunition Peculiar Equipment (APE). The workforce at the post is now primarily composed of civilians. A full colonel serves as the commander. As of June 2018, Colonel Todd W. Burnley is the depot commander.

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The John and Lillia Dumke House was built in 1920 on nearly an acre and a half of land. Originally, the land was the site of the Ogden Wholesale Florist company and several greenhouses. In 1917, Wholesale Florists eventually became the Dumke Floral Company, with John Dumke as its head. Just a few years later, John and Lillia Dumke built their home on the site. The property would serve as the headquarters and home of the Dumke family until the 1960s.  Constructed in 1920, the architectural significance of the Dumke home and its custom construction stands in contrast with some of the simpler working-class homes that surround the Dumke House. The Craftsman style residence features a buff red brick exterior on top of a cast concrete foundation with a full-height basement. The masonry work is high quality with custom alternating horizontal and perpendicular striated double brick trim pattern in the form of squares on the first bricklayers around the perimeter. Other areas of decorative brickwork are corbelling beneath the sills on the front of the residence. The original roof was made of cedar shake shingles but was replaced with asphalt shingles during a remodel in the 1990s.  One of the most significant design features of the John and Lillia Dumke House is the inclusion of an attached, covered car garage. This was a rare addition to homes before the 1950s. The inclusion of the garage marks the Dumke residence as a forerunner in future home design and signals a time of change from the horse and whip of the past to the age of the automobile.  The Dumke House is a unique structure in Ogden city. The location of the home in the center of the working class area of Ogden combined with its craftsmanship and design make the Dumke House a notable historic residence in Ogden city. Their house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. 

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The Ogden City Municipal building has been used as a courthouse, jail, and government office since it was built and opened to the public in 1938. Today, it houses the main city offices: the finance division, the city council, and the entire department surrounding the mayor. The Municipal building was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1983 as one of three outstanding art deco style buildings in Ogden. The building was designed by Leslie S. Hodgson and Myrle A. McClenahan. George A. Whimeyer & Sons supervised the construction. Twelve stories high, the main entrance of the building is centered on the east facade in a projecting flat-roofed pavilion capped with terra cotta trim. Symmetrically arranged from a rectangular base, side wings step down gradually from the taller central mass. The doors and transoms have a terra cotta surround. Period lamps in the Art Deco style flank the entrance. The exterior retains its historic integrity, and the interior maintains much of its original character. Especially notable are the marble dados, metal arid wood trim, plaster work, light fixtures, and patterned floors.

This building was built as a part of the federal relief program set in place during the Great Depression. Built in 1938, it comprised all of the Weber and Ogden official city buildings into one, conveniently located building within the heart of historic Ogden. It cost nearly one million dollars to construct. The Public Works Administration paid for nearly half and Ogden City and Weber County each contributed a little over a quarter of the total cost. The building's construction is a testament to the effectiveness of New Deal programs created during the Great Depression.   In 1996, the community rallied to save and renovate the building. Because of its importance to the community of Ogden and architectural history, a complete seismic renovation of this historic landmark was conducted by a consulting engineer.  A specially designed steel frame was lowered through the roof and floors to stiffen the structure. Woodwork was polished, light fixtures restored, and offices enovated. The building was reopened in October 2000 and continues housing the governmental needs of Ogden City. 

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The Swift Building, found near the Weber River in Ogden, Utah, has been around  for decades. Originally built in 1917, the building has been a landmark in the city. In that time, the building has passed through many hands, serving  many purposes. It was first a meat-packing plant. Later, it served as an administration building. It was then bought to be used as military storage for surplus items and was lastly used by a chemical manufacturer. When the chemical manufacturing company went bankrupt, toxic waste and other chemical products were left behind. Since then, the building has sat vacant for many years. Before steps could be put in place to clean it up, the building was first purchased by the city. The city wished to raze the building and sell the acreage. However, after purchasing the building, city workers discovered a trove of hazardous material and leftover supplies. In 2018, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was asked by the city to step in and complete an assessment. They found more than 40,000 dangerous chemicals, including water reactive, flammables, toxic substances, explosives, and corrosives. The EPA agreed to remove the toxic  chemicals by the spring and to provide a safe environment for the community members and workers during this process. The cleanup was completed around October of 2019  and plans to demolish the building were put in place. The demolition was started as soon as the cleanup was completed. The whole project was estimated to cost $3.01 million. In May 2020, the building was completely razed. As of June 2022, the city of Odgen was still working to address contamination of soil and groundwater, costing over $6 million total for the project. The total cost and timeline of the project will not be known for years, creating a heavy legacy for the Swift Building. 

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Fielding Garr arrived in Utah from Illinois in October of 1847. In 1848, Garr was assigned by the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to build a ranch on Antelope Island. Garr was asked to remain and take care of the church stock and the personal herds of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimbell. Garr, a widower, brought his seven children with and built a five-room adobe house, a rock milk house with a natural spring running through it, and a corral. 

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The  prairie style home was built in 1915 for Gustav Lorenz Becker (1868-1947) and his wife Thekla Bowen Becker.  Thekla Bowen Becker consulted heavily with the architect and interior designer, Walter E. Ware  of Ware and Treganza, a popular architectural firm in the area at the time.  The design appears to have been adapted from Frank Lloyd Wright's "A Fireproof House for $5,000" published in Ladies Home Journal in April of 1907.  The couple married in 1892. As a talented cook and socialite, Thekla Bowen Becker  was well known in the community to host dinners and get-togethers. Gustav L. Becker  had hobbies of his own such as sharpshooting and often performed his shooting tricks for others.   Gustav L. Becker was born on April, 7th, 1868 and grew up to become a pillar within the Ogden, Utah community. He was often called a, “noted industrialist.” His own savvy business expertise as well as that of his brother and business partner, Alfred Becker, led their business, The Becker Brewing Company, to become one of the leading distributors in the west.  In 1939, Gustav Becker was appointed President of the United State Brewers Association. He was an important man in the business and had previously served as chairman of the association's executive committee, gains committee, and hops committee.  In addition to the brewery business, Gustav Becker was active in several other Utah businesses. He served as director of the Amalgamated Sugar Company, Ogden State Bank, the Utah-Idaho Central Railway Company, the Superior Rock Springs Coal Company, the Ogden Morning Examiner, the Tintic Standard Mining Company, and Lion Coal Company. Although his early years were dedicated to building his business and his family, in 1918, at the  age of 50, Becker joined the Utah National Guard and was one of 12 recipients of the American Legion Award.  Becker was well-known and well-liked. In 1947, in the announcement of his passing, The Salt Lake Tribune wrote that Becker was "the first westerner to be adopted into the Bannock  and Shoshone tribe of Indians, just after the same tribe adopted the late pres. Franklin D.  Roosevelt.”   After Becker’s death on January 12th, 1947, his wife remained in the Van Buren Avenue home until her death in 1958. The Becker home was purchased in 1959 by Milton and Rita Berlin who renovated the home for use as a wedding reception center.  Today the Gustav Becker house serves as a children’s justice center.

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Shortly after the stake was organized in 1877, the Morgan Stake Tabernacle was built in 1878. The hard blue limestone used in its construction was quarried above Como Springs. The stone masons were George Criddle Jr., Henry Rock and Conrad Smith and their work on the building is still considered one of the best pieces of masonry in the state. At the time, workmen used wheelbarrows to haul rock to the masons atop the wall. Much of the work on the building was donated; however, those who were compensated for their work were paid with farm produce and meat donated as tithe offerings. The first conference held in the building was in May 1882. In 1893, the building caught fire while Sunday School was in session. Children were quickly gathered, the meeting was dismissed, and everyone quickly exited the building. A bucket brigade was formed taking water from the ditch on Young Street. The roof and framework of the building were destroyed. Only a few seats and the organ were salvaged, along with the big rock walls that stood firmly in place. In 1901, it was rebuilt and rededicated by the Church and its members.  In 1937, at a cost of $28,000, an annex was added to the front of the building and parts of the interior were renovated. In 1955, a cultural hall was connected to the tabernacle. In 2007, church leaders decided that the original rock structure should be preserved as a historical monument and that a new building would be built around it. In 2008, the building was rededicated for the fifth time. The Morgan Stake building continues to be utilized by local church members. 

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