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Today's tour headed east toward Salt Lake City. Following the Lincoln
Highway through the city but there really isn't much of the era remaining
and it would have taken only slightly less than forever to accomplish it.
So we used expressways to reach the east side of town then picked up the
Ogden Loop. The ground covered today would largely be the same that I covered
on the way to the conference on Tuesday.
Our first stop was at the Kimball/Bitner ranch near Wanship, Utah. The
Lincoln Highway, the railroad, and a stagecoach route all passed near
where I stood to take the first picture. The stone house on the right was
built in 1862 by William Kimball as a hotel. The house on the left was
built by the railroad to house workers. Yes, the trains and cars did pass
between the houses. Milton and Hoffman Bitner bought the farm in 1908
though it seems that Milton was the primary builder and caretaker. We were
treated to home baked pastries and, from a dispenser barely visible through
the kitchen door in the third picture, cold water from the farm's spring.
When we left, the last surviving member of Milton and Edith's offspring
was among those waving goodbye. The 92 year old, whose name got away from
me, had stood inside the stone house where he was born telling stories and
answering questions. He wants to live five more years, he said, to equal
the final age of a cousin.
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Next up was the Summit County courthouse in Coalville. We were told there
was a small museum in the basement and I expected a couple of storage
rooms packed with unorganized bits of local history. There were more than
a couple of rooms and, while they might have been packed, they were not
really unorganized. The intricate logging diorama, which extends far to
the left of the photo, was definitely impressive.
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When the organizers were planning meals for the conference, they were not
aware of any restaurant near where we would be at noon today that was
capable of holding and feeding the group. When the city office was called,
to check into allowing us to eat a box lunch in the city park, they
volunteered that Larry's Spring Chicken Inn could handle sizable
groups. So a call was made and they went on the schedule. A very good
fried chicken buffet was ready right on time. The restaurant
is in the 1908 Morgan Opera House though there is no apparent evidence of
the building's former life.
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In Ogden, we made an extended stop at
Union Station.
Ogden has always been a major railroad city and the 1924 station is a
major landmark.
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In an arrangement somewhat similar to Cincinnati's Union Terminal, Ogden's
station is now occupied by four museums: The Utah State Railroad Museum,
the John M. Browning Firearms Museum, the Browning-Kimball Classic Car
Museum, and the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Our group was
particularly interested in the Prest-O-Lite fueled head lamps on a 1911
Knox Runabout since Carl Fisher, the man behind the Lincoln Highway, was
also the man behind Prest-O-Lite.
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There are also things to look at outside. At one end, there are a number of
locomotives and, at the other, Utah's "Merci
Car". A display inside the railroad museum had reminded me of a
story I had essentially forgotten and may never have known in detail. In
1949, France sent forty-nine boxcars to the United States as an expression
of gratitude for America's post World War II aid. There was a car for each
state and one to be shared by the Territory of Hawaii and the District of
Columbia. More information, including the status and location of each car,
is here.
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Dinner was at the The Historic Benson Grist Mill. Besides the mill, the
site contains a blacksmith shop and several relocated log cabins.
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