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The “Reel” Story of Utah Silk
Have you ever noticed groves of mulberry trees in your neighborhood? These trees aren’t native to Utah, but were planted to support a pioneer silk industry led by Mormon women and girls.It’s hard to imagine silkworms thriving in Utah’s harsh…
Telephone Transforms the Uinta Basin
You call, you text, you surf the net. You spend countless hours on your phone. Learn how the telephone transformed Utah’s remote Uinta Basin.When the telephone reached Utah’s remote Uinta Basin at the turn of the twentieth century, it completely…
Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Baseball in Carbon County
The all-American game of baseball helped new immigrants adjust to life in Utah during the early 1900s.During the early 1900s, the United States came into its own as an industrialized nation. Attracted by jobs and the chance to move up in society,…
T. H. Jefferson’s Map
A mysterious traveler, T.H. Jefferson published a map of the California Trail in 1849. The map contained valuable information about the waterless stretch of desert west of the Great Salt Lake.In 1849, a map of the California Trail was published by a…
Sweet Story of the Startup Candy Company
Confections are a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States and Utahns currently buy candy at the highest rate in the nation – almost double the US average. It’s been that way for at least a century.Utahns have long had a sweet tooth. In…
Swaner: The Nature Preserve at the Center of Change
This week learn about one family who made it their mission to preserve nature in the heart of a growing city – and they succeeded!
In Summit County, a precious 1200-acre area of wetland is permanently preserved through conservation easements as a…
Susanna Bransford: The Silver Queen
Meet prominent socialite and millionaire Susanna Bransford, who built her fortune on the back of Utah’s mining boom.Susanna Bransford – Park City’s infamous “Silver Queen” – epitomizes Utah’s glamorous Gilded Age. But Bransford…
Sundance: How Hollywood Changed Rural Utah
The natural beauty and recreational opportunities offered by the Wasatch Range have long brought people seeking an enhanced quality of life. But how did the arrival of Hollywood change the culture and economy of this corner of Utah?Tucked in the…
Summer Skiing on Mt. Timpanogos
Timp Glacier, on the east face of Mt Timpanogos, isn’t really a glacier. But the distinction hardly mattered to thousands of skiers who were anxious for the unique chance to hit the slopes in July.
Beginning in 1912, thousands of adventure-seekers…
Streets Closed for Winter Fun
Water is a key part of Utah’s recreation scene, whether you’re skiing, snowboarding, sledding, or ice skating. Learn how Utah's residents used to love their winter thrills so much that they shut down entire city streets to make way for snowy fun.…
Stout and Spirited: Utah's 19th Century Liquor Industry
The surprisingly stout and spirited history of the liquor industry in 19th century Utah!During the late 1800s, Utah had a thriving liquor industry. LDS Church President Brigham Young had no qualms about producing or selling alcohol. He built a…
Steen’s Folly: Utah’s Frenzied Uranium Boom
A frenzied uranium boom swept up southern Utah in the 1950s. The boom had a long term impact on the health of countless miners.On July 6, 1952, a down-on-his-luck uranium prospector named Charlie Steen made a major strike near Moab, Utah. His…
State Street River: Salt Lake City’s 1983 Flood
Find out how a season of terrible floods left Salt Lake City residents with a memorable scene: their neighbors packing sandbags to create a river running down State Street.
The uncharacteristically wet winter and spring seasons between 1982 and 1983…
Stansbury Expedition Surveys the Great Salt Lake
Captain Howard Stansbury journeys around the Great Salt Lake. In 1849, officials of the US Army Corps of Topographical Engineers sent Captain Howard Stansbury on a two-year expedition to the Great Basin with a long list of orders. At the top of the…
Sprinkling Wagons
While today’s roads are paved, the dusty roads of the early 1900s caused major health and cleanliness concerns for Utah’s city dwellers.During the early 1900s, Box Elder County’s town, Corinne, was growing fast. More traffic along the dirt…
Spring City and the Politics of Preservation
Living in a historic home can be lovely – but for Spring City residents in the 1970s, the influx of so-called "outsiders" sprucing up pioneer-era historic dwellings was a source of contention.
During the 1970s, Spring City residents used federal…
Speaking American
Utah's pivotal 1919 Americanization Act impacted the state's vibrant immigrant population. When the thirteenth session of the Utah Legislature closed in March 1919, new legislation included a $4 million bond for new roads, a law preventing…
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…
Solstice Sun Tunnels
Sun Tunnels, an art installation by Nancy Holt, has become a unique part of Utah’s heritage.On June 21, 1976, the day of the summer solstice, New York artist Nancy Holt gathered several friends under the massive skies of Utah’s west desert to…
Socialism's Legacy of Reform
Utah is considered a firmly conservative state. However, in the early 1900s, the Utah Socialist Party became a political force to be reckoned with.Now that the elections of November are over, let’s take a moment to look back at a time when Utahns…