The arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad created Ogden's "Two-Bit Street" back in 1869. More than 130 years later, city fathers are hoping a different kind of railroad will re-create what is now known as "Ogden's historic 25th Street."
The city is working to place an intermodal transportation hub near the old Union Station at the west end of 25th Street where buses and passenger trains would unload residents and visitors. They're also hoping eventually to add the north-end station of a commuter rail line to link with Salt Lake City.
"We want to encourage people to come downtown, and 25th Street is part of that," said Richard McConkie, deputy director of city planning and business development. "Twenty-fifth Street is a neighborhood with its own personality and character, and we don't want to change that."
Ogden was incorporated in 1851 and remained a quiet city for nearly two decades, its people primarily of Mormon pioneer stock who had emigrated from the East to avoid harassment by mobs. But the peace of relative isolation was shattered when the railroad came through the state and Ogden became "Junction City."
Chinese and Irish rail workers were the first to arrive, and after their jobs were done, many settled at the rail hub, followed by immigrants and people traveling by train from around the world who stopped off in Ogden seeking entertainment or sometimes the start of a new life.
By the turn of the century, the three blocks east of the depot were lined with saloons, restaurants, bordellos, rooming houses and barber shops. It was a bustling place with businesses run by men and women of Italian, Chinese, Jewish and Japanese descent.
In its heyday, 25th Street was known worldwide as "Two-Bit Street," a moniker derived from its real name and a reference to prostitution, one of its most prosperous businesses.
In the mid-20th century, the street's businesses declined until it became little more than a two-block flophouse for alcoholics and down-and-outers, but in the 1900s, 25th Street flourished — in its own way.
The Mint Saloon was described in newspaper accounts as having "a handsome interior with a bar and finishings in oak with rich wood carvings, beveled plate-glass mirrors, artistic masterpieces, rich cut glass."
An Ogden City Landmarks Commission walking tour guide describes many of the remaining buildings with colorful pasts:
The London Ice Cream Parlor, built in 1882 or 1883, has a Greek Revival facade with pediment roof and pilasters, Roman arched windows and bracketed cornice. It housed during the early years the Chicago Shoe Store, Bon Ton Restaurant and T. Ashby Shoe Store and now the Athenian Restaurant. The upper floors, like those in many buildings on the street, started out as legitimate boarding houses but around the turn of the century served the needs of local prostitutes.
The Davenport Saloon also boasts interesting architecture, with Greek Revival influences and a unique facade with basket weave bond above the second-story windows. Many businesses were housed here, including the Night Hawk Cafe. It was once owned by infamous madam Dora Belle Topham, who made special arrangements with the owner of the adjacent London Ice Cream Parlor for a 3-foot corridor between the two buildings, allowing direct access to Electric Alley where her "girls" welcomed customers. The alley today is identified by a National Historic Register marker.
The C.C. Keller Building, constructed in 1899, has a long history as a residential building, though some people weren't long in residence. It housed several hotels and rooming houses, as well as the notorious Rose Rooms following World War II. Rose, the madam of the house, was a striking woman who dressed extravagantly and walked 25th Street with her tame ocelot.
The tour guide describes other "businesses" on the street including opium dens, gambling parlors and houses of prostitution. Old Ogden newspapers indicated that women came from Salt Lake City to visit the opium dens, and "women of the night, trying to drum up business, dropped navy beans from second-story windows on men walking below."
Crime and action peaked on 25th Street during World War II when hundreds of thousands of soldiers crowded the street, according to the brochure. During the years of the war there were 65 gambling centers on or near the street.
Corruption permeated law enforcement agencies, and police were often bribed to "look the other way" when it came to 25th Street business. Politicians and police authorities were reported to be frequent customers. Prohibition brought bootleggers, and sometimes police got into the act, reselling confiscated liquor.
During the '50s and '60s, the street deteriorated into Ogden's skid row. Its new nickname — lower 25th Street — carried a darker double entendre. Some of the buildings were torn down and others suffered from neglect and vandalism. Transients occupied upper-floor rooms and spilled out into the streets and alleys.
Enough of the original structures remained to catch the attention of conservationists who saw its potential as a historic district. But renovation and restoration would take many years.
In 1977, Mayor A. Stephen Dirks penned a statement that introduced a working master plan for reclamation of 25th Street:
"Ogden is presently on the threshold of a renaissance in the revitalization of lower 25th Street. It is acknowledged that the street between Wall Avenue and Grant Avenue has the most complete contiguous selection of turn-of-the-century commercial architecture in the state of Utah."
Interest in preserving historic sites was heightened during the nation's bicentennial celebration in the mid-'70s. Two blocks of 25th Street were listed on the National Historic Register in 1976 and on the local register in 1981, and Ogden's Historic 25th Street was born.
The master plan called for preservation of the remaining historic structures and the addition of elements to attract people to the area as both customers and residents, including residential condominiums, a transportation complex and motel convention center.
A slow economy during the 1980s slowed development. Finally, after nearly 25 years, some of that vision is being realized with plans for the transportation hub just north of Union Station, the existing Marriott Hotel behind the north side of the street, and a new proposal for Apartments at Botticelli Square behind the south side.
The Botticelli project seems to fit the city's long-term vision of 25th Street — to maintain it as a neighborhood, make it attractive to visitors and customers and keep its historic value. It calls for 130 "affordable multifamily" units south of 25th and some retail and restaurants to fill what is now vacant lots on the street's south side.
The new buildings would have to conform to architectural rules to blend in with the historic structures. The new Prescom Electronics building on Wall Avenue just around the corner from the 100 block of 25th is the first building built in the neighborhood in 50 years. Its design makes it compatible with the street.
McConkie says the city has been involved in providing low-interest loans to help business owners renovate historic buildings and has even purchased some properties to make sure they weren't destroyed. Many of the businesses in the 200 block have been renovated, and fine-dining restaurants exist alongside antique stores, a brewery, comedy club and several neighborhood taverns. Planters decorate the sidewalks, and Victorian lamp posts cast soft light on visitors at night.
Then, 25th Street was area where gamblers and revelers once crowded the streets and soldiers looked for a good time. Later, it was the place "upstanding" Ogdenites avoided. Now it's a trendy neighborhood where an eclectic collection of tourists, business-lunch crowd and blue-collar "regulars" spend their days and evenings.
E-mail: karras@desnews.com