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Prohibition in Utah
Utah’s history of anti-liquor laws began before Prohibition in the United States.Years before the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1919, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of "intoxicating liquors"…
Prehistoric "Snowbirds": Fremont Indians' Life on the Move
Birds do it… So do humans. In fact, humans in Utah have been heading south for winter for more than 1500 years. Along the lower Bear River, where it stretches into the Great Salt Lake, are the remains of five prehistoric campsites. …
Powering Utah: Lucien Nunn’s Hydroelectric Empire
The search for more affordable, alternative energy sources is nothing new. Learn how a businessman in the late 1800s electrified rural Utah using a state-of-the-art hydroelectric system.
We take it for granted now, but electricity was a hot commodity…
Powerful Madams Presided Over Utah’s Brothels
It may come as a surprise to learn that in late 19th century Utah – an era with great constraints on women’s work – that prostitution offered at least some women a path to a powerful career.In the late 1800s, railroads and urban growth spurred…
Poultry Co-operative Transforms Utah Agriculture
The switch from Utah being a net importer of turkeys to becoming a substantial exporter in the 1920s can be attributed to the efforts of one man -- Benjamin Brown -- and the poultry co-operative he organized.
Today, Sanpete County is notable for its…
Porters & Waiters Club: Worth the Trip to Ogden
Americans love their entertainment. But how far would you travel for a bit of fun? Here’s why a music club on Ogden’s 25th Street became a place worth traveling to. The rousing nightlife of cafes and clubs of the mid-twentieth century conjures…
Pools During Polio: Transmission or Treatment?
When Utah joined the nation’s crusade against polio in the 1950s, officials weren't sure what to do about public pools. Were they a place where children got relief from their symptoms or a nexus for mass infection?
After World War II, the United…
Plum Alley
Plum Alley, a narrow lane in downtown Salt Lake City, marks what used to be the heart of a vibrant Chinatown.Today, if you find yourself in downtown Salt Lake City walking along Second South past the Regent Street Parking Terrace, you’ll notice a…
Pleasure Cruising: The Galloway-Stone Expedition
The outdoor recreation industry in Utah is worth billions of dollars. But getting out into nature for simple pleasure – and paying someone to guide you – is a relatively modern concept. Learn about a river trip taken in 1909 that forecast the…
Pink Floyd the Flamingo
Looking out at Great Salt Lake you may have seen it before – a flash of pink wings and long legs… wait, was that a Flamingo? Find out more about Great Salt Lake’s beloved pink visitor Floyd.
In 1988, a flamingo living at the Tracy Aviary in…
Pinenut Harvest is a Family Affair
From ancient times to today, the harvest and preparation of food has been tough work, especially in the arid deserts of the Great Basin. Learn how Paiute families did that work together in order to feed and foster their communities.Throughout Utah,…
Padrone System Stifled Freedom
A lot of Americans still dream of the American West as a place of freedom and opportunity. But for workers at the turn of the twentieth century, it was never quite that simple.As author Mark Twain brings Huckleberry Finn’s story to a close, we read…
Pablo O’Higgins: Mexican Muralist
The Mexican Mural Renaissance is one of the most famous art movements in modern history. Learn how a blond-haired, blued-eyed, 20-year-old from Salt Lake City became a Mexican Muralist. In 1924, Utah judge Edward Higgins put his twenty-year-old…
Oscar Eliason, Utah's Homegrown Magician
In 1899, the Utah illusionist known as “Dante the Great” died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen in the tiny Australian town of Dubbo.Born Oscar Eliason to Swedish immigrant parents, the magician began his career at the age of twenty with a…
Orderville & the Great Pants Rebellion
The rural Utah town of Orderville was once a communal utopia – until a single pair of pants scandalized the whole settlement.
Inspired by the utopian visions of LDS prophet Joseph Smith, Utah settlements in the 1850s reorganized into an economic…
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…
Old Ironsides
Every year American sports fans gear up for the World Series. Learn how Salt Lakers used to get their baseball fix on the streets of downtown.Throughout its storied history, the game of baseball has been broadcast via the internet, on television, 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…
Obstacle or Opportunity? Winter Shapes Lives in Cache Valley
Winters in northern Utah’s Cache Valley are harsh. To survive and thrive, indigenous Shoshone peoples and Mormon settlers were faced with the question of “Will the challenges of winter make you or break you?”
Fur trappers who wintered in…
Not the End of the Line: Salt Lake's Rio Grande Train Depot
Once a major transportation hub, Salt Lake City’s Rio Grande Train Depot has served its community well over the last century. The Rio Grande Train Depot in Salt Lake City was built in 1910. Once a major hub of transportation, the building…