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< Back 142 West 2nd Street Return to Homes Jane Romrell (1838 - 1909) and George Pierce (1829-1898). George Pierce 1868 board house at 142 W 2nd Street; drawing Gordon Q. Jones. In 1868 George Pierce was almost 40 years old when he built this board house at 142 W 2nd Street for his family on the farm of his father-in-law, Francis Romrell. Francis Romrell took up this farm in 1858, and his wife Mary died in 1866. At this time Francis was 67 years old and needed assistance, so his daughter Jane and her husband George Pierce joined him on the farm in 1867. George bought more land to enlarge their farming production. They were all immigrants; George was from England and the Romrells from the Isle of Jersey. The Romrells spoke both French and English. [1] George's new board house was located close to the north branch of today's Lynne Ditch. The soil was excellent and water available. Both George and Jane had green thumbs- her flowers were beautiful and his apples, corn, pumpkins and sugar cane were outstanding. George converted the sugar cane into molasses. Their barn was huge and their home became a busy center for farming. George understood the value of herbs; he made and sold medicinal salves for bruises and sores. In fact he first met Jane Romrell in 1863 when he came to the Romrell home to doctor their horses who had cut their legs on barbwire. [2] By 1877 George and Jane had about 7 living children, and George built a new brick house with six rooms located 100 feet east of their board house. By the 1880s the family lived next door at 140 W 2nd St. After George died in 1898, two of his sons, Fred and Porter, continued to run the farm, and they built new houses for themselves on 2nd Street. In about 1900-1920 an unknown family member (probably Porter Pierce) enlarged the 1868 board house built by George Pierce by adding two wings on each side of the house. During 1900-1920 two wings were added to each side of the board house at 142 W 2nd ST; drawing by Gordon Q. Jones. The 1868 board house is center with two wings added about 1900; photo 2007. Battista & Mary Bertinotti Mearo Battista (1867-1938) & Mary Bertinotti Maero (1872-1933). In 1896 Battista and Mary Bertinotti Maero immigrated from Italy to Ogden, and Battista got work with the railroad. Mary was the daughter of Michael Bertinotti who lived at 150 W 2nd St. rear. By 1925 Battista and Mary Bertinotti Maero lived at 142 W 2nd Street in the enlarged house with two wings; at that time, they had nine living children. A grandson named Jack Card lived with Battista and Mary in the 1920s. In the 1930s, as a youth, Jack was recognized in Five Points as the star player on the Ogden 15th Ward basketball team. He made Five Points proud when he played as a pitcher in minor league professional teams from 1938-1940. [3] In the 1950s Chief Deputy Jack Card was part of a team that cleaned up Ogden’s notorious 25th Street. [4] Mary died in 1933 and Battista in 1938. Their daughter Lucy Maero Hawkins bought the property and continued to live there with her family. In 1943, Lucy’s daughter Bulah Hawkins and her husband Don Abercrombie, built the little house to the rear of 142 W 2nd Street. This house remained in the Maero family for about 70 years. Lucy Maero Hawkins Pledger lived here until 1991. [1] - Jane Romeril Hammond Pierce, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Vol. 34, p. 56, Ogden DUP Museum, Ogden, Utah. [2] - A biographical sketch of George Pierce. [3] - Polk Ogden City Directory, 1925-26; interview Joan Maero Wright, 2006. [4] - Lyle J Barnes, Ogden’s Notorious “Two-Bit Street”, 1870-1954, Utah State University. Return to Homes Previous Next

< Back Return to Roads Bingham Way & Erastus Drive Bingham Way Erastus Drive Bingham Way and Erastus Drive were named to honor Erastus Bingham and his family who were among the first settlers on 2nd Street in 1851. Erastus and Erastus Jr. established the farm on the south side of 2nd opposite today’s Fort Bingham subdivision. In 1853 Bishop Erastus Bingham supervised the construction of a fort that straddled West 2nd Street. A large community grew in the fort under the influence and early leadership of Erastus Bingham, his sons, Isaac Newton Goodale, and Sam Gates. Erastus and Lucinda Bingham One Bingham cabin remained at 317 W. 2nd Street for 100 years and was known as “the Old Bingham Home”. Bingham family members lived here for about fifty years and members of the Stone family for the next fifty years. In 1955, under the leadership of Ogden Mayor Raymond Wright, the historic cabin was moved for preservation to the Sons of Utah Pioneers museum in Sugar House and years later was moved again to Pioneer Village in Lagoon, Farmington, Utah. Chauncey & Edna Kent Stone with baby Harvey by the Old Bingham Home where they lived for 15 years; photo 1911. In 1929 the Old Bingham Home looked like this; a garage stands in front of the Bingham granary; the Thomas Mills barn is on the right; photo Edna Kent Stone. Brickyard Road named for Sam Gates’ brickyard. Mayor Raymond Wright in front of the Bingham cabin at 317 W 2nd Street. He desired to preserve the historic Bingham cabin where Clyde and Macel Stone Montgomery lived in 1950; photo Standard Examiner, c. 1950. Hayride and cabin; photo c. 1953. Courtesy Dave Montgomery. The old Bingham granary c. 1952. Bingham cabin on truck bed ready to move; photo c. 1955, courtesy David Montgomery. TODAY: The Old Bingham Cabin is now located in Pioneer Village, Lagoon, Farmington, Utah; photos courtesy Steve Johnson, 2005. TODAY: The historic Bingham granary remains at 317 W 2nd Street and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Erastus Bingham was born in Concord, Vermont in 1798. At age 34 he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and followed the Prophet Joseph Smith to Missouri and Nauvoo. He and his family spent a winter in Council Bluffs, Iowa, helping to establish that location, and followed Brigham Young to Great Salt Lake City, arriving on September 19, 1847. ​ In the spring Erastus was allotted a farm in the Holliday district and a grazing permit in what is now known as Bingham Canyon where his sons, Sanford and Thomas, discovered copper ore while watching over the cattle. On discussing this find with President Brigham Young, they were advised: “not to attempt mining, as the lives of the people depended upon farming and livestock raising.” The Binghams followed counsel and did not mine; they were among those of this era who became great agriculture stewards of the land. This canyon has been known as Bingham Canyon since that time, now containing the largest open-pit copper mine in the world. [1] Copy of admittance into Deseret Agriculture and Manufacturing Society In April 1850 Brigham Young sent Erastus Bingham and his family to Ogden. Erastus was made branch president over the Farming Lands on the north side of the Ogden River in December 1850, and on January 26, 1851, President Brigham Young and party came to Ogden and held meetings to organize the Weber Stake of Zion, dividing it into two wards, the North and South Wards, the Ogden River being the dividing line. Erastus Bingham was changed from branch president to bishop of North Ward with Charles Hubbard and Stephen Perry as counselors. ​ The following month, February 1851, Ogden City was named and incorporated. In April 1851 Erastus took an oath of office as Associate Judge of the County Court of Weber County. [2] Lucinda and Erastus Bingham Bingham Farm In the spring of 1851 Erastus Bingham established his final farm on West 2nd Street in Ogden. Bishop Bingham and his son, Erastus Bingham Jr., staked some of the earliest claims on 2nd Street and began plans to extend the Barker Ditch to 2nd Street. This ditch was completed by the work of many people under the direction of Isaac Newton Goodale , Erastus Bingham’s son-in-law. Bishop Bingham’s son Sanford and family also claimed a farm on 2nd Street. His sons Willard, Edwin, and Brigham married while the family was living on 2nd Street, and they also became home builders and farmers in this area for a time. ​ The biography of Martha Lewis, wife of Sanford Bingham, gives a description of their farm on 2nd Street: ​ “ They had a farm part of which was tillable soil and part meadowland. Their farm implements were very crude, and they used the ox team, getting water from the Ogden River (via Mill Creek and irrigation ditches) to irrigate their land. The Indians often camped near them and one old Indian woman helped Mrs. Bingham with her work. Martha taught the Indian woman how to cut patterns and to make clothing. ​ While on the farm they made cheese, and her husband kept sheep. He would clip the wool from the sheep, and she would wash and care for it. She did her own spinning, weaving and made all the clothes they wore. They also raised flax and made their own table cloths and towels.” ​ Indians camped on both sides of 2nd Street. [3] The Indians and settlers were on friendly terms, but the Indians often took what they needed or wanted from the white man without asking. Securing food was often a problem for the Indians, and since the white man had settled on the Indians’ land without asking permission, the natives felt they had a right to the settlers’ beef cows or other items without permission. The settlers’ farms upset the Indians’ food supply when grazing cows and sheep consumed the plants that the Indians gathered for food. ​ In 1852 elections were held and Erastus Bingham became a city councilman to Ogden City. In 1853 Brigham Young advised Erastus Bingham and other Weber County leaders to “fort up” because of the small but uneasy feeling between local Indians and settlers that still prevailed from the accidental shooting of Chief Terikee and because Indians in Utah County were on the war path. Bishop Bingham supervised the construction of a fort that straddled 2nd Street and soon housed 500 to 600 people, including Shoshone Indians during the winter of 1853-54. The Shoshone were in danger of starving because the settlers’ cattle and sheep had destroyed the plants that the Shoshone women gathered for food. ​ The fort became a little city and a place of peace for both settlers and Indians; in warm weather the Indians casually camped or rested in the open space in the center of the fort. It took the settlers two years to complete the walls of Bingham Fort. In 1854 Erastus Bingham served as a member of the first Utah Territorial Legislature. ​ By 1855 Brigham Young advised the Bingham Fort residents to break up the fort and move into Ogden City, as there were more people living on 2nd Street than in Ogden. Bishop Bingham did as counseled and took up a lot in Ogden City but still retained part ownership of the farm on 2nd Street. For almost 18 years he served continuously as bishop, first on 2nd Street and then in Ogden City. He had three wives, nine children with his first wife and one child with his third. [4] ​ By 1870 Erastus retired from public service due to his age and health concerns. He moved back to 2nd Street and had a large granary built near his cabin at today’s address of 317 W 2nd Street; 2nd Street was a dirt road called Bingham Fort Lane at this time. Erastus died at home in 1882, the same year that the Edmunds Act was passed in the US Congress declaring polygamy a felony. Bingham granary. Photo c. 1910. After the death of Erastus Bingham, Patrick Shea purchased the 60-acre Bingham farm as an investment, and the Shea family rented out the farm to others for about 25 years. In 1913 John and Chauncey Stone expanded Stone farm with the purchase of the 60-acre Bingham farm. Today the historic, forty-acre 1851 farm still remains between 2nd and 7th Streets, now called the Bingham/Stone Farm , the oldest farm in Weber County; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The Bingham/Stone farm is the oldest farm in Weber County. Bingham Way and Erastus Drive are located on the old Gates/Stone farm. Following are two photographs of the area of Bingham Way and Erastus Drive before the farm was subdivided in about 2002. 1997 alfalfa growing in the area of today’s Erastus Drive and Bingham Way. Photo courtesy of Bridget King. 1967 view in the area of 360 West. Pictured is Harvey Stone. The land of the Fort Bingham subdivision remained a farm for 157 years. Photo Anna Stone Keogh. [1] - The Descendents of Erastus Bingham and Lucinda Gates, published by The Erastus Bingham Family Corp., Ogden, Utah, 2nd edition 1977, p.4. [2] - Ibid, p. 4; Counselor Charles Hubbard and Stephen Perry also lived north of the river; the first lived near Farr’s Mill and the latter at 2nd Street and 1200 West . [3] - Iva May Bingham Costley, Sketch of the Life of Martha Ann Lewis Bingham, manuscript, p.2; Fred Pierce interview, Bingham’s Fort, Built to Guard Against Indians, Standard Examiner 1934. [4] - Bingham, Belnap and Scoville, Sketch of the Life of Erastus Bingham and Family, Utah Pioneers of 1847, p. 5-13; Editor Milton R. Hunter, Beneath Ben Lomon’s Peak, 1944, p. 85. Previous Return to Roads Next

< Back Return to Roads Stone Pond Road, Stone Court Stone Pond Rd and Stone Crt. in the Fort Bingham subdivision, Ogden Utah. Before the settlers came, the Native Americans fished, camped and wintered by a large pond that was located on the north side of today’s West 2nd Street. The pond had an unusual shape and did not freeze over in the winter, suggesting that it was part of an underground river. In 1853 Sam Gates claimed 40-acres of land on West 2nd Street that included the large, unusual shaped pond. In 1869 the railroad track was built through the Lynne community; the track bordered the west side of Sam Gates’ farm and had to bridge the large pond. In the early 1870s Sam Gates sold the west 20-acres of his farm to James Stone. Sam had little time to farm; he was in his late 60s and was busy running the Adobe Mill and Brickyard. James Stone was 19 and newly married to Mary Ellen Melling, and they needed a house and a farm. James built a log cabin beside the pond and his family lived here happily for many years. Two of their children were born in this log cabin. Their daughter later wrote: “Father built a log cabin of only one room, but it was a very large and comfortable room. He purchased a meadow which had on it a very large pond of water. It also had a spring of lovely drinking water on it. There were fish in the pond; we had a boat and use to ride out and fish. Many rushes and flag-cattails grew around its edge. Birds and ducks flocked here; cranes, shitepokes, and pelicans sometimes were there. Muskrats by the thousands. There was an abundance of perfectly grand watercress. All in all, it was a grand place to live. The Oregon Short Line railroad bounded it on the west. There were willows around the pond and it looked pretty in the winter and at Christmas time with the meadows covered with snow, and yet the pond would never freeze over and was a haven for ducks and fish the year round.” [1] 1919 map showing unusual shape of Stone’s Pond in upper left corner; the railroad bridged the pond in the 1860s. Birth of Baby Jimmy Stone in Cabin by the Pond On January 15, 1877, a new baby arrived in the Stone cabin. The neighborhood mid-wife, Mahitiable Bingham, or “Aunt Hitty”, assisted in the birth. Sarah Stone Crowther described the birth of her brother: “We lived in the cabin until my next brother was born. Dad had harvested his wheat and not having a granary [in which] to store it, he had to make a large bin in one corner of our room for storing this wheat. When the time came for Ma to meet this ordeal, there was no place to put me and my brother John. Poor women, no hospitals, and very crowded living quarters. I can remember mother was in pain, but I didn’t know what it was all about. Dad went for Aunt Hitty. She came and when things were near the climax, Dad told me and my brother we must stay in the wheat bin and keep real quiet, that Mama was very sick. We were afraid, it was dark in that wheat bin, but we had to mind Dad. I remember we kept sinking away down in the wheat. Pretty soon we heard a baby cry. Then in a few minutes Dad got us out of the wheat bin and we saw our dear little brother Jimmy. That is what he was named. We watched Aunt Hitty wash and dress the little dear and put pretty little clothes on him. Then Dad gave us some money to give to Aunt Hitty to pay for our baby brother.” [2] Eclipse of the Sun and Rafting on Stone's Pond Alton Richards (1904-1986) lived at 144 2nd Street and worked seasonally on Stone Farm as a teenaged boy. In 1945 he reminisced: “I shall never forget an experience I once had while thinning a patch of beets located just south of Stone’s Pond. I especially enjoyed working by this body of water because there were so many birds in this area. I liked the melodious songs of the blackbirds and meadowlarks, the whistle of the killdeers, the quacking of the wild ducks, and the screams of the curlew snipes. One morning as I was thinning beets in that area, I noticed that it seemed to be getting darker, and I wondered why, because there weren’t any clouds in the sky. I noticed that the birds had stopped their singing, and I was puzzled. Soon it became so dark that I couldn’t see the row of beets clear enough to thin them. Then I began to realize that an eclipse of the sun was in progress. I made a few quick looks up at the sun and noticed that it was all dark except a very narrow crescent on one side. It must have been about 98% covered by the moon. The temperature seemed to drop about 20 degrees, and the birds all went to sleep for the “night”. I sat down to wait for the light to return. Soon it started to get lighter, the birds started singing again, and I could again see well enough to continue my work. John Melling Stone (1874-1945, son of James Stone) was a good farmer and owned a lot of land. I used to ride on a raft he had on Stone’s Pond. I enjoyed fishing for carp as I sailed around on the raft. One day I found a wild duck’s nest on a little island in the middle of the pond. The baby ducks had just hatched out an hour or two before. When they heard me approaching, they all left their nest and swam away, even though they were only about half as large as baby chickens. One cold winter day when a group of us boys were sailing around on the raft, Orville Nordquist fell off into the icy water. He swam to the shore and ran all the way home up to 5-Points to keep from freezing to death." [3] Today Stone’s Pond was drained when the Ogden Defense Depot was built in the 1940s leaving a slough on the east side of the railroad tracks. In 2004 the slough was designed into two holding ponds for the Fort Bingham subdivision. West holding pond in 2005 before the houses were built. East holding pond, 2014. [1] - Sarah Stone Crowther, Biography of Mary Ellen Melling Stone, hand written manuscript, c. 1930, p. 80. [2] - Ibid, p. 92, 93. [3] - Memory written on the death of John Stone, 1945, by Alton Richards. Previous Return to Roads Next

< Back 233 West 2nd Street Return to Homes Randolph & Elsie Gaisford Brown Home Randolph was a native pioneer born in 1864 in Ogden to Jesse S. and Caroline Stewart Brown. His father and uncle, Alex Brown, were the first white Mormon settlers to come to Weber River Valley in January 1848. His father’s farm is now the Downs Subdivision. The Jesse Brown Farm is now the Downs subdivision. Randolph became deaf by the measles when he was a child. Unable to speak or hear, he communicated in his own type of sign language and gestures. When he was 36 years old, he married Elsie Gaisford, age 16, almost 17, and built this house between his father’s cabin to the east and Lewis Taft’s cabin to the west. His new board, hall-parlor house must have looked quite modern in 1900 in contrast to these old cabins on either side of his house. Elsie Gaisford was a distant cousin to Randolph. Orphaned in 1889 at age six, Elsie was raised by her aunt, Lois Brown Hutchens, and uncle, John Allen Hutchens, on West 2nd Street near the Jesse Brown family. The house Randolph built for Elsie was only a half block away from her aunt and uncle’s house. Randolph and Elsie had five children. In addition to farming on 2nd Street, Randolph and worked for twenty years for Ogden Pressed Brick and Tile Company. Randolph was an avid fisherman. At age 78 Randolph went fishing one spring day and became the victim of foul play. He was found in the Weber River near the West 33rd Street bridge suffering from effects of exposure, near drowning and trauma to the head. It appeared that he was robbed and pushed off the bridge. His family and friends rushed to the hospital to support him, but he died in the hospital on May 13, 1942, one week before his 79th birthday. Elsie died at age 70 in April 1954. The house at 233 W 2nd Street remained in the Brown family until the 1970s. Return to Homes Previous Next

< Back Cooking and Gathering Return to Native Americans Egg Lady, painting by Farrell R. Collett Indian Women Cooking Mary likes to see the Indian women cooking their breakfast mornings. As it became light and before the sun was up, one would see the squaws busily engaged cooking over the campfires they had previously made, chatting to each other. She said it was a very pleasant sight to see them at their different tasks, as all seems so pleasant and busy. They camped on both sides of 2nd Street. [1] Gathering The Northwestern Shoshone were hunters and gatherers; the women did the gathering. The Indian women would socialize as they went in groups to gather seeds. Little girls accompanied their mothers at a very young age and learned this important skill. Cradle boards would come in handy when a child was too young to participate, but would still go along- the board would be hung up in a nearby tree. The women took with them the tools of their trade: willow baskets, winnowing pans, and hitting sticks. As they gathered sunflowers, wild rice, and mustard, they told each other of the latest happenings in the camp. Sometimes they traded recipes and sang songs as they labored. The gathering was a hard task. When seeds were scarce, a mother might spend an entire day gathering enough for only one family meal. Digging sticks were used for digging roots and bulbs. Wild vegetables were normally plentiful, with a harvest of ground potatoes, camas, sego lily, cactus, wild garlic, and other bulbs. Berries of all kinds were found in the mountains and fields, along with wild honey. Eggs had also gathered a delicacy because they were so hard to find. [2] [1] - Autobiography of Mary Elizabeth Hutchens Sherner, Mary Elizabeth – Her Stories, dictated to her daughter Dorothy A. Sherner, manuscript, 1933, p. 86. [2] - Darren Parry, The Bear River Massacre, Common Consent Press, 2019, p. 17, 18. Return to Native Americans Previous [object Object] Next

< Back Return to Roads Adobe Mill Way & Brickyard Road Adobe Mill Ct. and Adobe Mill Ln named after Sam Gates’ adobe mill. With the arrival of the railroad in 1869, Ogden became the greatest railroad center of the Rocky Mountain region. With an eye on the expanding economy, Sam Gates established an Adobe Mill in 1870 on the north side of 2nd Street about three-fourths of a mile from Five Points [1] . Excellent clay for adobes was available in the sloughs by Stone’s Pond. [2] His son, George Gates, and his son-in-law, James Gardner , assisted him. The adobe mixer or mill was located by Sam’s cabin at today’s intersection of 2nd Street and Century Drive. Site of Sam Gates 1870 Adobe Mill is the intersection of 2nd Street and Century Drive; photo 2009. The adobe bricks (“dobies”) were made from marsh mud and were sun-dried. Usually, the mud and water were mixed by feet, hoe or shovel. Feet were ideal as one could sense when the mud was properly mixed with as little water as possible. After mixing the mud was placed into molds and sundried until firm enough to be stacked. ​ Joseph Romrell, son of George and Patience Romrell , was born in 1870. His first job as a young boy was at the Gates adobe brickyard where he carried the bricks from the molds to the drying yard. The next day they were topped and turned over to dry on the other side. [3] There are two houses on 2nd Street built with adobe bricks from the Gates Mill that are still standing in 2022. Today’s walls of the James Stone house at 386 West 2nd Street are thirty inches thick, built with adobes from the Gates Mill but now covered with siding. The Peter Sherner house at 122 2nd Street is adobe, now covered with cement. The Moroni Stone house at 226 2nd Street was built with adobe brick in 1880, and Moroni made the bricks himself. This the only house on 2nd Street with visible exterior adobe bricks, now sealed with a protective sealant and painted. The Moroni Stone house provides a rare view of well-preserved adobe walls under the porch that spans two sides of the house. People who live in adobe houses with thick walls find that these walls form some of the best insulation available. [4] James Stone house, 386 W 2nd St, log cabin portion 1866, adobe portion circa 1875.. Moroni Stone house, 226 2nd St, adobe, built 1880. Peter Sherner house, rear view, 122 2nd St, adobe, built 1870s. Brickyard Road named for Sam Gates’ brickyard. Some people wanted a more durable brick, so James Gardner built a kiln in the 1870s to fire the sun dried adobe bricks into a burnt brick. A brunt brick was harder than an adobe but soft compared the bricks that would be made after the turn of the century. ​ Sand and gravel were not suitable for bricks that would be fired in the kiln; small particles of limestone even smaller than a pea could cause the brick to explode when it was fired. The marsh mud around Stone’s Pond was pure mud and was ideal for making burnt bricks. The burning in the kiln usually took from three to four weeks. The bricks nearest the fire and farthest into the stack became the hardest and were used on the outside walls as they were more weather resistant. Softer bricks were better for insulation and were used on the inside walls. [5] ​ Gardner located the kiln and brickyard about three blocks north of Sam’s cabin and the adobe mixer. The site of the kiln is on the south side of North Street across from the house located at 371 W. North Street. This site was close to the marsh and to Stone’s Pond. The adobe mill and the brickyard were connected by a lane, the old Sam Gates Lane. Site of kiln at approximately 370 W North Street. Today, there remain three houses and two granaries that were constructed over 100 years ago with burnt bricks. James Gardner house, 156 2nd Street. Mary Maxham house at 214 W 2nd Street. Gillson granary at 150 W 2nd Street. George Pierce house at 140 W 2nd Street. Detail of burnt bricks on the Bingham granary. at 317 W 2nd St. [1] - Editor Milton R. Hunter, Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peak, 1944, Quality Press Salt Lake City, Utah, p. 362, 425. [2] - William W. Terry, Weber County History Is Worth Knowing, p. 120. [3] - Ibid, p. 120, 122; Nina Bowman, Joseph Romrell, p. 274. [4] - William W. Terry, Weber County History Is Worth Knowing, p. 122 . [5] - Ibid. Previous Return to Roads Next

< Back Return to Roads 2nd Street & Chief Little Soldier Way Corner of W. 2nd Street and Century Dr., Aug. 5, 2021 W. 2nd St. a.k.a. Chief Little Soldier Way has golden view of Mt. Lewis & Mt. Eyrie. The 1851 Bingham/Stone Farm was a Native American camping ground for thousands of years; the farm is on the National Register of Historic Places; photo by David Montgomery. A shoe-box full of arrowheads have been found on the Bingham/Stone Farm. In July 2021 the Ogden City Council approved an honorary road name for West 2nd Street: Chief Little Soldier Way. All the concrete and cars hardly reflect 2nd Street's Native American history, so it is important that the name of a Shoshone chief is visible on the top of 2nd Street signposts to elevate Shoshone history to its proper stature and acknowledge West 2nd Street and the surrounding land as Native American camping grounds. This is a starting point inviting all to learn of the unique Shoshone history and listen to Native American voices and perspectives today. Also, amid the busy clamor of 2nd Street is tucked away "The Oldest Neighborhood in Ogden". The 1851 pioneer Bingham Farm and six houses from the the 1860s are rare and unique treasures located on the grounds of the 1853 Bingham Fort. [1] These are among the oldest landmarks in Ogden. The four honorary road signs for Chief Little Soldier Way extend between the east-west borders of Bingham Fort, which are roughly from Wall Ave. to Century Dr. The DUP monument and the crosswalk, a bit west of Century Dr., are located on the actual line of the west wall of Bingham Fort. The crosswalk and the DUP monument are located on the line of the west wall of Bingham Fort. Placing the honorary Chief Little Soldier Way signs in the confines of Bingham Fort reminds us of two facts: The Shoshone were free to enter the fort and camp in the open center portion. 2In the winter of 1854-55, the Shoshone were without food because the pioneer herds had denuded Mother Earth of the seeds, grass and plants that the Shoshone gathered for food. So, the Shoshone lived in the fort with the settlers and shared food and labor until the weather warmed enough that they could go on a long hunt. The six blocks of 2nd Street west of Five Points has many old houses built before 1920; twelve of these homes were built by pioneers. [2] The Native American camping grounds, the 1851 farm, and the twelve pioneer houses make 2nd Street the Oldest Neighborhood in Ogden. 1880 pioneer adobe house at 226 2nd Street. [1] - The addresses of the five old houses of the 1860s that still remain on W. 2nd St. in Bingham Fort are: 152 W. 2nd St., 159 W. 2nd St. rear, 150 W. 2nd St. rear, 142 W. 2nd St., and 386 W. 2nd St. [2] - Some of these old houses are hard to recognize as they have been covered with siding; some are not visible from the street; follow guide. Previous Return to Roads Next

< Back 136 West 2nd Street Return to Homes 136 West 2nd Street Leon & Josephine Reno House YESTERDAY: 136 W. 2nd Street; photo courtesy of G. Sherner, 1982. Leon Reno and Josie Reno In the 1880s and 1890s there was a surge of Italian immigrants that settled at Five Points, on 2nd Street, and many in the old Bingham Fort. They were poor and were seeking a new life, similar to the pioneers who came thirty years earlier. It was fitting that the Italians purchased some of the old farms and houses that once belonged to the pioneers. By 1900 2nd Street west of Five Points came to be called “Little Italy”. Victor Reno Senior arrived on W 2nd Street in 1887 and became one of the leaders of the Italian farmers that congregated there. By 1912 Victor Reno’s wife, Nellie Bune Reno, built this new bungalow at 136 W 2nd Street 400 feet east of today’s Aspen Acres subdivision which was the Reno farm and site of the first Reno home. The new house was evidence of the family’s economic progress and permanent place in the community. After Nellie’s death in 1931, her son and daughter, Leon and Josephine, continued to live here. Leon Reno (1894-1969) grew up on W 2nd Street working on the Reno family farm but, after serving in the Air Force from 1918-19, he attended Weber Academy, training in pharmacy studies. He served as the pharmacist in the Greenspot Drugstore located in Wangsgards at Five Points and was well known in the community as “Doc Reno”. He was a social person and always had a funny joke or story to tell. After work and on weekends, he continued all his life helping his brother, Vic Reno Jr, on the family farm (Aspen Acres Subdivision). Josie (1884-1966) cared for her mother and worked as a book keeper for W. H. Wright & Sons Co. Because of its prominent spatial location, the house is an easily identifiable visual feature along W 2nd Street in old Bingham Fort. There is a path on the east side of the home (Old Pioneer Road) that gives increased visibility to the property. When the news media wants to represent West 2nd Street, 136 W 2nd Street often appears in their pictures: Standard-Examiner, February 2020. TODAY: Photo in Salt Lake Tribune, October 2021. Return to Homes Previous Next

< Back 301 West 2nd Street and Bingham/Stone Farm Return to Homes 301 West 2nd Street “Our new house” – the Chauncey and Edna Stone Home was completed in Dec. 1925. Listed on National Register of Historic Places in 2004, typifying the Golden Age of the Family Farm; listed on Ogden Register of Historic Places in 2021. Thirty acres of the farm placed in a conservation easement for perpetuity. Chauncey and Edna Stone Home and Bingham/Stone Farm This 1920s house was built in the southwest corner of the former Bingham Fort and on the frontage of the old Bingham Farm. This spot yielded simple artifacts like a rocks and adobes that brought back stories of the past that had slipped into the corners of most minds. In 1923 as Chauncey dug with horses and scrapers to begin the foundation, he uncovered the 1850s rock foundation and many adobe bricks of the old Bingham Fort tithing house. His find stirred up public interest, and the Standard Examiner wrote an article about it titled Lost Fort Discovery. Chauncey used the rocks of the tithing house in the foundation of his new bungalow. Another surprise on the farm was the discovery of arrowheads. As Chauncey plowed the fields of the pioneer Bingham Farm from 1913 to the 1960s, he found dozens of arrowheads, the artifacts of the Shoshone and other ancient tribes. Chauncey and Edna discovered more artifacts in the Lynne Ditch that runs behind the house: china chips. When the fort was built in 1853, the Lynne Ditch was diverted to run inside the fort on the south side. Women of the fort threw their broken china dishes and glass into the ditch to keep the silt down. The tradition of throwing china and glass into the ditch continued for fifty years or more, and china chips can be found in the West 2nd Street section of the Lynne ditch today. Chauncey and Edna were married in 1908 and lived 100 feet west of this house in the Old Bingham Cabin for fifteen years where their three children were born. Chauncey and Edna Stone by Bingham Cabin located 100 feet west of 301 W 2nd St.; photos 1911& 1916. In 1913 Chauncey and his brother John purchased the Bingham cabin and the sixty-acre Bingham Farm and combined it with their 1871 Stone Farm which was on the north side of West 2nd Street. In the early Twentieth Century, Chauncey plowed the old Bingham Farm with horses, often using three horses and a triple tree because the plow was so hard to pull. When plowing with horses, it was easy to spot an arrowhead. With years of practice, Chauncey could later spot arrowheads from a tractor. Over the years, he and his son, Harvey Stone, filled a shoe box with arrowheads. In addition to grain and hay, Chauncey started a dairy farm. In the beginning of the dairy, Edna drove about the Five Points neighborhood in a horse and wagon selling her cheese and sweet cream butter. Later they sold milk to Weber Central Dairy. During thrashing and haying time, Edna rose up at dawn to bake bread and cook meals for the workers on a majestic stove. Edna’s Majestic Stove Rainfall, surpluses, and national markets prices made farming difficult and vulnerable. Chauncey took classes in electricity and worked for Bell Telephone for a few years, installing some of the first telephones in Weber County in the 1920s and enabling him to build the new brick house. The new house had electricity and running water and was completed in December 1925 just in time for Christmas. During the 1920s and 1930s Chauncey built two barns, a milk house, a garage, a tractor garage, several chicken coops and a workshop. Chauncey could have had other jobs, but he believed that the farm was the best place to raise children - that farm work kept them all strong and healthy physically and gave them strong minds as well. He also liked being his own boss. [1] Chauncey and Edna lived on their farm through two decades of agriculture abundance, the Great Depression and two world wars. During the Depression the Stones had little cash but plenty of food. Tug Anderson said that the Stones raised six other boys besides their own during this time; young men in the neighborhood worked on Stone Farm in exchange for meals and food to take home. The farm was a busy place characterized by lots of hard work and lots of fun. Mrs. Anderson said it saved her sons’ lives to have milk to drink each day during their growing teen years. [2] In 1935 Chauncey had forty dairy cows, fifty chickens, five horses and two wells. By the 1930s most of the farm work was done by machines although horses were still used for some jobs. Events during World War 11: It was difficult to hire farm labor, and Italian prisoners of war were hired by Chauncey’s niece’s husband, Clyde Montgomery, to work on the farm. The prisoners worked here gladly in a relaxed atmosphere with lunch served in front of the granary. Hemp was grown on the farm for the government; its strong industrial fibers were used to produce rope and other materials for the armed services. Neighbor Taki was taken to Topaz Internment Camp near Delta, Utah. Chauncey, Clyde and others took care of his farm while he was gone. Every third- or fourth-day Chauncey would drive on the tractor to Taki’s farm to feed the cows and chickens. When speaking to his family about this injustice to Taki, Chauncey’s eyes would fill with tears. The Chamber of Commerce and the federal government confiscated a total of 1,679 acres of choice local farmland on West 2nd Street to build the Utah General Depot. Chauncey lost 36 acres and another 40 acres that he co-owned with his brother John. This was a big loss to Chauncey and John’s 200-acre farm. For diverse reasons, nationally and locally, World War ll was the beginning of the end of the era of family farming. By the 1950s Chauncey’s son, Harvey Stone, took over the farm; Harvey also served the agriculture community for 26 years as the Lynne Irrigation President and Ditch Master. This farm was claimed in 1851 by Erastus Bingham. It has been a working farm from 1851 to the present and is among the oldest farms in Utah. For its first 60 years it was known as Bingham Farm; for the next 90 years it was known as Stone Farm. In 1998 the names were combined to Bingham/Stone Farm. In 2004, the National Register of Historic Places accepted the forty-acre farm, this house, Clyde’s house, and ten farm buildings on their list under the title of Stone Farm, Ogden, Utah, typifying the Golden Age of the Family Farm from the 1920s to 1950. Also in 2004, thirty acres of the farm were placed in a conservation easement with the State of Utah for perpetuity. In 2021, the Stone House at 301 W 2nd Street was listed on the Ogden Register of Historic Places. Also in 2021, the Weber County Heritage Foundation held a public event on the Bingham/Stone farm called Meet the Shoshone, to memorialize the ancient Native American presence on the farm and along 2nd Street. China chips found in the Lynne Ditch. Arrowheads from the fields of the Bingham/Stone Farm. Chauncey Stone plowing with three horses in the 1920s. Raymond Peterson planting, 1920s. Hay stacks on Stone Farm circa 1933. Haying 1930s. Tug Anderson & Harvey Stone Warren Stone & Chet. Warren Stone, harrowing, 1935. Warren Stone milking 1930s 1933 chicken coop; later used to store drums of gas for machinery. Chauncey Stone milking barn and milk house. [1] - Interview Tug Anderson 1999 . [2] - Ibid. Return to Homes Previous Next

< Back 150 West 2nd Street - Gillson Return to Homes The Gillson/Genta home left; granary right; abandoned property in 1986 at time of Ogden Reconnaissance Survey. Abandoned Gillson/Genta house, front as it looked in 2001. Restored/Gillson-Genta house/as it looked in 2010. Gillson Family Built the House c.1866 William Gillson & Charlotte King William Gillson Charlotte King. Photo from DUP Museum, Ogden, Utah. William (1811-1873) Gillson and his wife Charlotte King (1810-1899) left England and moved to South Africa in 1845. Nineteen years later they left South Africa and moved to America to gather with the Saints in Zion. That journey took seven months. They settled in the abandoned Bingham Fort in 1859 on the north side of 2nd Street on the Old Pioneer Road which continued on to Harrisville at that time. Upon arrival, the family was dirt poor; William was 48 years old and his son Edward was 18. All had to work together to create a house, a farm and lateral ditches and provide food and clothes. Martha Gillson was nine years old when they arrived. She recalled that her mother would walk to North Ogden and wash all day for a little white flour to mix with the brand they had to make bread for the children. While the mother was away the little children worked but were afraid of the Indians when they were alone. Martha worked helping her father strip sugarcane to grind for molasses, carrying sage brush to make fires and helping with the family cooking. Martha also gleaned in the fields gathering wheat; sometimes she could glean five bushels a day which she could sell for five dollars per bushel. This money would help to buy their clothes. She would start to town with a bushel of wheat on her back, sometimes she would get a ride; she would sell her wheat and buy calico that cost $.60 a yard. She felt very proud when she was able to get a new dress. She enjoyed the bread her mother baked in a large kettle over the fire in the fireplace of the cabin. Sometimes they had very little to eat and very often when Martha went out to glean in the fields, all she would have to eat was a piece of bread with a cucumber and salt. [1] As the years went by the family prospered, and in about 1866 they built the board farmhouse house pictured above. In the beginning, the house was handsome; the exterior walls of the main structure were board and the interior walls were adobe brick covered with lath and plaster. The exterior walls and interior walls of the kitchen lean-to were adobe; the square footage of the house was 24 x 29 feet. A cellar was dug under the lean-to with stone lined walls six feet high and a well in the SE corner. In time a lean-to was added to the lean-to. Square nails were found in all the old construction of the house. [2] These kinds of improvement over the log cabin were typical of farmhouses built the late 1860s. In the 1920s, the Genta family covered the exterior board and adobe walls with cement, as it appears in all the pictures. The interior walls of house were adobe covered with lath‘n plaster. The interior walls of house were adobe covered with lath‘n plaster. Picture of the east side of the Gillson house shows the prominent portion of the house with/double/lean-to. with a lean-to and a second lean-to; photo Dave Montgomery, 1960s. Walls of lean-to are adobe bricks interior and exterior, eventually the exterior was covered by cement. Granary Built By Edward Gillson The granary was built in the 1870s by Edward Gillson; in the 1920s the Genta family covered it with cement and added a room. Right: in 2000 Brent Baldwin stripped the cement off the granary. By 1870 William Gillson was so good at plastering that he chose to make that his vocation; he and his wife moved to another residence on Washington Ave., leaving the farm to his son Edward Gillson who built this granary with orange brick from the Gates Adobe-Brick Mill in the 1870s. The granary was two-level with a four-foot rock foundation. Wheat and grains were stored in the upper level; the lower level had a dirt floor and served as a root cellar. [3] In 2002 Brent Baldwin stripped the cement off the granary, added a porch, put a door on the extension, added a new roof, installed windows and made a barber shop and guest room filled with charm. Brent Baldwin restored the granary in 2002. Genta Family Mary Peraca Bertinotti and Anna Bertinotti Genta Anna Bertinotti Genta immigrated from Italy in 1889 with her husband, two sons and her widowed mother, age 55. Her uncle Michael Bertinotti owned the Gillson property at this time, and he allowed Anna’s mother, Maria Peraca Bertinotti, to live in the Gillson farmhouse and he moved into a simple board house about 100 feet the north. So, there were now two houses at the address 150 W 2nd Street rear, the larger and nicer house for his sister-in-law, Maria, and a simple board house for Michael. Maria never learned to speak English, and Michael looked after her until his death in 1911. In 1912, widowed Anna Genta bought all her uncle’s property on 2nd Street: the Gillson house, the granary, the simple board house and five acres of farmland. She moved into the larger house with her mother, and her son John and his family took the other house, and John farmed the land. They fit right in with the neighborhood; at this time there were so many Italians living on West 2nd Street that it was known as “Little Italy”. By the 1920s the Genta family covered the Gillson house with cement for preservation. They also covered the granary with cement, added a room and turned it into a house. So now there were three houses at the address of 150 W 2nd Street rear. After Anna Genta’s death in 1925, her son John Genta and family continued to live and farm here, renting some of the houses to family members. In 1937 when Wall Ave was constructed and the Utah General Depot was under construction, many farmers were forced to sell their land and the large farming community on 2nd Street dissolved at that time. John Genta quit the farm and left the houses to various relatives. [1] - Rueben L Hansen, A Sketch of the Life of Martha Gillson Hall, manuscript, 1938. [2] - Interview Brent Baldwin, 2011. [3] - On site visit in May 2000 by Gordon Q. Jones, author Pioneer Forts in Ogden Utah, 1996, Sons of Utah Pioneers. Return to Homes Previous Next