Establishment of Schools, 1880
Broom Bench School
Ogden’s first school was organized in 1849, and Charilla Abbot was the first teacher. Abbott gathered letters from scraps of paper and pasted them on paddles to teach students how to read. The children practiced writing on their hands with pieces of charcoal.
As early as 1850, city leaders attempted to establish a free public education system, but taxes were difficult to consistently collect. Instead tuition-based public and private schools were organized.
Other attempts to establish free schools over the next few decades also failed, but trustees had difficulty collection tuition fees as well. Many of Ogden’s children were unable to afford an education and schools struggled to function.
By the late 1880s, city leaders and school trustees became convinced that the tuition system needed to be done away with. In the summer of 1889 a new school board was elected and a taxation system was establish to fund the schools. The local newspaper boasted that Ogden was the first community in the Territory to offer free public education.
As soon as a free public education system was established, enrollment increased significantly and existing school buildings proved inadequate. The school board quickly began reorganizing districts, building new schools, and hiring more teachers. This focus on education united Mormons and non-Mormons in the community, and helped in Utah’s efforts towards statehood.
Quincy School
Washington School
Central School