Ogden

Sister cities

• Hof

History

Originally named Fort Buenaventura, Ogden was the first permanent settlement by people of European descent in what is now Utah. It was established by the trapper Miles Goodyear in 1846 about a mile west of where downtown Ogden sits today. In November 1847, Captain James Brown purchased all the land now comprising Weber County together with some livestock and Fort Buenaventura for $3,000 (equivalent to $ in ). The land was conveyed to Captain Brown in a Mexican Land Grant, this area being at that time a part of Mexico. The settlement was then called Brownsville, after Captain James Brown, but was later named Ogden for a brigade leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, Peter Skene Ogden, who had trapped in the Weber Valley a generation earlier. There is some confusion about which "Ogden" was the first to set foot in the area. A Samuel Ogden traveled through the western United States on an exploration trip in 1818. The site of the original Fort Buenaventura is now a Weber County park. Ogden is the closest sizable city to the Golden Spike location at Promontory Summit, Utah, where the first transcontinental railroad was joined in 1869. It was known as a major passenger railroad junction owing to its location along major east–west and north–south routes, prompting the local chamber of commerce to adopt the motto, "You can't get anywhere without coming to Ogden." Railroad passengers traveling west to San Francisco from the eastern United States typically passed through Ogden (and not through the larger Salt Lake City to the south). However, Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, no longer serves Ogden. Passengers who want to travel to and from Ogden by rail must travel via FrontRunner commuter rail to Salt Lake City and Provo. Renowned Danish impressionistic writer Herman…

Geography

Ogden is located at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. This is at about the same latitude as Benevento in Campania in southern Italy. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , all land. Elevations in the city range from about above sea level. The Ogden and Weber Rivers, which originate in the mountains to the east, flow through the city and meet at a confluence just west of the city limits. Pineview Dam is in the Ogden River Canyon east of Ogden. The reservoir behind the dam provides over of water storage and water recreation for the area. Prominent mountain peaks near Ogden include Mount Ogden to the east and Ben Lomond to the north. From south to west to north, Ogden's neighboring towns are South Ogden, Roy, West Haven, Marriott-Slaterville, Farr West, Harrisville, Pleasant View and North Ogden. The city is - like many others in the US - characterized by a spacious street grid with many blocks. The streets are numbered from north to south, which is expressed in the corresponding street names. By extending the numbers with directions ("E" for east and "W" for west) their relative relation to the central point is made clear. In the center of the city, the blocks from Union Station along 25th Street, the north-to-south oriented cross streets are named after former U.S. presidents such as Lincoln Avenue, Grant Avenue, Washington Boulevard, Adams Avenue, Jefferson Avenue, and Madison Avenue. The central connecting street in north–south orientation is Harrison Boulevard. The city area is divided into six districts: in the North End, including West Ogden, Downtown and East Central; in the East, including East Bench and Shadow Valley. According to the Köppen climate classification, Ogden experiences either a Mediterranean climate (Csa)…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,378
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  4,739
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  4,648
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,615
• American Avocet

  Recurvirostra americana J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  4,480
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  4,463
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,451
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,396

Largest nearby schools

• Fremont High
  High · PLAIN CITY · 2,160 students · 22.7:1 ratio
• Weber High
  High · OGDEN · 2,037 students · 21.9:1 ratio
• Roy High
  High · ROY · 1,834 students · 21.6:1 ratio
• Bonneville High
  High · OGDEN · 1,361 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• Wahlquist Jr High
  Middle · FARR WEST · 1,260 students · 24.7:1 ratio
• Rocky Mountain Jr High
  Middle · WEST HAVEN CITY · 1,225 students · 24:1 ratio
• Davinci Academy
  Other · OGDEN · 1,199 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• Ben Lomond High
  High · OGDEN · 1,169 students · 22.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.86 — 2026-08-07
  6 km NNW of Saratoga Springs, Utah
• M 2.59 — 2026-06-25
  12 km E of Millville, Utah
• M 3.1 — 2026-05-28
  12 km SSW of Snowville, Utah
• M 3.52 — 2026-02-14
  4 km NNW of West Valley City, Utah
• M 3.5 — 2026-02-05
  6 km WNW of Lehi, Utah
• M 2.71 — 2026-02-05
  41 km ENE of Oakley, Utah