RAILROADS AND GROWTH,
1869-1889 B
'y 1869 Weber County had experienced more than two
decades of colonization and settlement by the Mormons, but the area was still an agricultural and rural county of small villages and towns dependant particularly on the water from the Weber and Ogden rivers. The county's population of 1,141 in 1850 and 1,807 in 1860 increased to 7,358 in 1870, and much of this tremendous growth was tied to the coming of the railroad. By 1880 the county had 12,344 people; this multiplied to 22,273 in 1890. Ogden, the major city and county seat, was similarly affected by the railroad. In 1860 Ogden's population stood at 1,463 people, an increase of only a few hundred over that listed for 1852. In 1860 the majority of the county's population resided in Ogden, with only 344 living elsewhere in the county. By 1870 Ogden's population jumped to 3,127; in 1880 it was listed at 6,069; and by 1890 it had reached 12,889. Ogden had become the "junction city" of the Union and Central Pacific railroads and had grown in population, commerce, and diversity. 107
