{"id":239,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:32:03","latitude":41.22072419999999937090251478366553783416748046875,"longitude":-111.9797293000000308893504552543163299560546875,"title":"The Ogden Union Station","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/58f090ae9edbfd9b32807b99f22f31bd.jpg","address":"2501 Wall Street, Ogden, UT","all_locations":[],"zoom":5,"creator":["Chris DeGroot, Weber State University"],"description":"In 1869, having completed its part of the transcontinental rail line, the Union Pacific Railroad constructed a line through Weber Canyon to Ogden on a grade completed by men working under a contract granted Brigham Young, president of the LDS church. It was agreed that Ogden would serve as a temporary terminal for both the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. Both companies built and maintained facilities in Ogden, including express offices, engine, lodging, and baggage houses. By mid-January 1870, ten trains were operating daily through the Ogden terminal. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nThere was some controversy between Ogden and Corinne for designation as the final junction point. However, the decision of Brigham Young to designate land in Ogden for specific use as railroad yards, eventually led to Ogden becoming the “Junction City.”  The designated space included facilities serving UP and CP, the Utah Central branch line to Salt Lake City, and the Utah Northern line to Cache Valley. In 1878, the companies agreed to use a common depot – the original 1869 Union Pacific building. Therefore, the building became a “union” station.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nIn 1888, the Ogden Union Railway &amp; Depot Company was organized to fill Ogden&#039;s need for a new depot. The building was designed by architect Henry Van Brunt and featured a large electric clock tower that was donated by Ogden jeweler John S. Lewis. Mayor David Eccles declared a city-wide holiday for the laying of the cornerstone. He invited businessmen to close their establishments and urged citizens to &quot;engage in the ceremonies.&quot; Reporting on the 5,000 to 6,000 persons who attended, the Ogden Standard commented that &quot;the old shanties called the depot will not be used much longer.&quot; <br />\r\n<br />\r\nHowever, in 1923 the building caught fire and was all but destroyed. A new depot on the foundation of the old was completed in 1924. The father and son team of John and Donald Parkinson designed a Spanish Colonial Revival. The artist Edward Laning painted the murals that adorn the Grand Lobby, the last that the artist painted before his death in 1981. The Ogden Union Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nPassenger and freight trains no longer use the Union Station. Instead, the building now hosts: the Utah State Railroad Museum, John M. Browning Firearms Museum, Browning-Kimball Classic Cars Museum, and Utah State Cowboy and the Western Heritage Museum. The building also serves as a gallery for art and as a meeting place for special events. Saved from demolition and restored by determined locals, the Station is now city-owned and city-run.<br />","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"The imposing Spanish Colonial Revival Ogden Union Station is the expression of Ogden as a significant railroad hub in the American West and the determination of a community to cherish that identity.","website":"","related_resources":["Clark, Brian E. Los Angeles Times, “Utah: Trains Don’t Come to Ogden’s Union Station Anymore, but Museum Lovers Do,” 24 December 2016.","National Register of Historic Places. “Ogden Union Station,” Ogden, Weber County, Utah,  National Register #71000867.","Ogden Union Station website, available at <a href=\"http://theunionstation.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http://theunionstation.org/.</a>","Shaw, Mitch. Standard Examiner, “Ogden City Dissolves Union Station Agreement, Will Take Over Management,” 15 August, 2017.","Smithsonian American Art Museum website. “Edward Laning,” available at <a href=\"https://americanart.si.edu/artist/edward-laning-2791\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https://americanart.si.edu/artist/edward-laning-2791</a>","Strack, Don. UtahRails.net website. “Ogden Railway & Depot Company.” available at <a href=\"http://utahrails.net/ogden/ogden-ourd.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http://utahrails.net/ogden/ogden-ourd.php</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/58f090ae9edbfd9b32807b99f22f31bd.jpg":{"id":1028,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Ogden Union Station Front Exterior","description":"Ogden Union Station front exterior with horse statues painted for summer Pioneer Days, 2018.  | Used by permission of photographer Tyler Brinkerhoff.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/58f090ae9edbfd9b32807b99f22f31bd.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/6aa37ee3cb862cc6f08e1b53d4acb492.jpg":{"id":1029,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Southern Pacific Railroad Entrance","description":"Ogden Union Station exterior entrance for the Southern Pacific Railroad | Used by permission of Photographer Tyler Brinkerhoff.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/6aa37ee3cb862cc6f08e1b53d4acb492.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/13883e0cb5193dd62617349e93e69d88.jpg":{"id":1030,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Union Pacific Railroad Entrance","description":"Ogden Union Station, exterior of entrance for the Union Pacific. Crager Iron Works, 2018.  | Used by permission of photographer Tyler Brinkerhoff.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/13883e0cb5193dd62617349e93e69d88.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/7d3c442d6497a0ad8b5b5fe208cdd92c.jpg":{"id":1031,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Union Station Lobby","description":"Union Station Lobby showing the south mural by Edward Lanning.  | Used by permission from the Union Station Foundation, <a href=\"http://theunionstationfoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http://theunionstationfoundation.org/</a>","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/7d3c442d6497a0ad8b5b5fe208cdd92c.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/daae355f1da616c9784db0117a297b7b.jpg":{"id":1032,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Union Depot, c. 1880-1890","description":"Union Depot, Ogden, railway passenger station. The old boardwalk can be seen in the right foreground of this picture of the old Union Depot which was taken circa 1880-1890 by C.R. Savage. This depot was destroyed by fire in 1923. Photo #5830.  | Used by permission from the Utah State Historical Society, <a href=\"https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6057vr3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6057vr3</a>.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/daae355f1da616c9784db0117a297b7b.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/f6d8c49ba84caed9782abaa7c9180864.jpg":{"id":1033,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Union State, 1926","description":"The newly built Union Station, 1926.Photo #24557.  | Used with permission from the Utah State Historical Society, <a href=\"https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6x641s6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6x641s6</a>","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/f6d8c49ba84caed9782abaa7c9180864.jpg"}}}