Historic 25th Street

Entire books have been written about the people, places and pastimes of Ogden’s Historic 25th Street, but what makes the street so captivating is that it’s one of those places where anyone can still write their own story today.

Whether or not you believe in “ghosts,” you’ll feel 25th Street’s colorful past. The brothels and bootleggers that rolled in and out like the trains at Union Station at the end of the street may be long gone, but their spirits linger…not in a paranormal way, but in a palpable way. Of course paranormal enthusiasts may argue that it’s both.

The coming of the Transcontinental Railroad built 25th Street and its hotels, bars, and shops. Commercial air travel and the Interstate freeway system rendered passenger rail travel obsolete virtually overnight. Without the daily influx of tens of thousands of passengers, 25th Street stood boarded up for many years. Fortunately, those lean years kept developers away from the street during the era that most communities were bulldozing the old to make room for homogenized strips malls. As a result, when Ogden experienced its second birth as an outdoor recreation mecca, all the good stuff was still standing.

It has been lovingly brought back to life in the form of brew pubs, restaurants, art galleries, and independently owned shops. Historic 25th Street — sometimes referred to as Two-Bit Street, Two-Five Drive or H-Two-Five — is home to Ogden’s Farmers Market throughout the summer , the main promenade for each month’s First Friday Art Stroll, and the setting for the majority of the city’s festivals such as the Harvest Moon Celebration, Witchstock, and the Wasatch Yeti Bash.

You wouldn’t visit New Orleans without hitting Bourbon Street. You wouldn’t visit Memphis without checking out Beale Street. Don’t come to Ogden without making time for Historic 25 Street.

Don't miss our blog about the top 25 things to do on 25th Street!