Nearly 70 years ago, Utah’s first state prison closed its doors and was transformed into the much-loved Sugar House Park. Construction is now underway on a new penitentiary that is 15 miles away but vastly different from its predecessors. The Utah Territorial Prison opened in 1855 with 16 cells on 80 acres selected by Brigham Young. The original facility was built of brick … [Read more...]
Graphic Designers Rebrand Salt Lake City’s Neighborhoods
The Neighborhood Project A group of graphic designers showed their love for the Capital City this October with the completion of an unpaid project that created logos and other branding items for neighborhoods across Salt Lake City. Dubbed The Neighborhood Project, participating designers were assigned a neighborhood at random—some actual designations, others unofficial … [Read more...]
Trappers and the Ogden Valley
Jim Bridger Spins The Yarn “One hundred Cheyenne warriors, arrows drawn, fire in their eyes, riding on the fastest mustangs you ever did see were right on my heels! I could feel the ground rumble as they chased me right into a steep canyon. I looked around at walls and Indians on every side. There I was, surrounded, boxed in ...” “What happened next, Mr. Bridger?” an eager … [Read more...]
At Rest Far From Home: German Prisoners of War Were Killed After Germany Surrendered
At Fort Douglas Military Cemetery, dead warriors rest in peace. Amongst the quiet rows are nine white grave markers with distinctly German names: Otto Bross … Ernst Fuchs … Gottfried Gagg ... They all have the same date of death—July 8, 1945. This is no coincidence. For the past seven decades these weathered tombstones have borne silent witness to a war crime committed in … [Read more...]
New Feature: Flip through the entire November issue online
Matt Warner: Utah’s Outlaw
Utah has produced some of the Wild West’s most prominent figures, from distinguished religious leaders such as Brigham Young, who led a Mormon exodus to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, to celebrated outlaws such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Long before statehood, Utah Territory was home to historic figures both famous and infamous. One of Utah’s genuine … [Read more...]
What Your Walls May Hide
Sometimes Walls Can Talk On a cold winter day a handful of years ago, Tom McWhorter got out his tools for a wall demo project. Tom, a self-described remodeling artist by profession, has been slowly reshaping his Lake Street home’s interior not only to upgrade its functionality, but also to add architectural interest. He began carefully removing the original lath and … [Read more...]
How Beer Saved Park City – Part I
Park City, UT, Main Street — On this balmy February day, moms with kids in tow are decked out in the latest in ski fashion. Couples pose for selfies, proud of their suntans. A few skiers on the hill make their way down the slopes. But the majority are here to shop, dine and enjoy the town. I visit probably the most famous bar in town,recently featured in Playboy Magazine—The … [Read more...]
Salt Lake Sonar
Exelis is a local Salt Lake City company that works with the U.S. Navy developing and manufacturing components used in submarine and surface ship sonar systems. How did a landlocked company form a Navy partnership? It all started in the 1950s. The company started out as King Laboratory. They manufactured “crystals” needed in the then-current sonar process. Salt Lake was … [Read more...]
Turkey Soup For The Soul
It was a gray November evening in a grey classroom painted by bright smiles. I was an ESL teacher for newly arrived immigrants, a role that encompassed both instructing English and serving as a gateway to an often confusing culture. As I started with my usual happy “Hello class!” and received the usual happy “Hello teacher!” I saw a confused look on the face of Mrs. … [Read more...]