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Written by Tony Castro, Reference Archivist at the Utah State Archives and Records Service Research Center. These days, historic railroad stations across the country seem to be for everything except purchasing tickets and boarding trains. What’s more popular these days are a variety of services such as chambers of commerce, history museums, and antique shops. In some cases, the stations

As we continue our series on Utah’s Road to Statehood, we will explore the obstacles that prevented Utah from becoming a state until 1896. In early Utah, religion and politics were so closely intertwined that Congress refused to entertain the idea of statehood until the 1890s. Council of Fifty When the Territory of Utah was created in 1850, President Millard

Birth certificates issued by the Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics in 1911 are now indexed online! Access the Utah Birth Certificate Index to search names and view digital images for free. All birth certificates at least 100 years old are public, even if not online or indexed yet. In addition to identity and proof of citizenship, the registration

Welcome back to our series about Utah’s road to statehood. In this post we will explore some of the history of the Latter-day Saint pioneers who settled in the Salt Lake Valley in the later half of the nineteenth century. Immigration to Salt Lake Valley The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was founded in 1830 in New York

Indigenous Americans The earliest settlers in modern Utah were, of course, the Indigenous Americans. The Ancestral Puebloans lived in the vicinity of Utah from 500-1300 AD. They were commonly known as ‘Anasazi,’ an exonym coined by the Navajos, and not preferred by the Puebloans, which means ancient enemies. The Puebloans occupied the southeastern portion of Utah, as well as portions

Happy Valentine’s Day weekend! We are celebrating the holiday of love by sharing our newly digitized Trademark Register series with all of you! This collection is packed with colorful labels of both popular national brands and smaller local companies dating back to 1881! Series 401 – Secretary of State Trademark Registers, 1881-1979 This series is a chronological list of the trademarks

Do you know the story of Joe Hill? Did you know that the Utah State Archives has a rich collection of records that illuminate the case of Joe Hill, the international controversy it engendered, and the worldwide response and publicity his trial and subsequent execution generated? Joseph Hillstrom (also known as Joe Hill) was born in 1879 in Gävle, Sweden

Before we had GPS and phones with map apps, people used folded paper maps. Across the United States, transportation departments distributed free highway maps both as a public service and a way to promote tourism, including here in Utah. The Utah State Archives is pleased to announce that a collection of Official Highway Maps from the Utah Department of Transportation

Mae Timbimboo was born in Washakie, Utah in 1919. Washakie was a community of the Shoshone tribe, made up of descendants of the people who survived the Bear River Massacre in 1863. Mae attended boarding school at Washakie Day School. Boarding school was common for Indigenous Americans at the time and was designed to force Indigenous American children to assimilate

Pearl Harbor and Alien Enemy Registration After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. was suspicious of Japanese citizens. They were afraid that those who had immigrated to the U.S. from Japan were secretly spies for their birth country. As tensions rose, people of Japanese descent were evacuated from the Pacific Coast due to fears