North Ogden settler William John Hill built a home that is still owned by his posterity today.

Over 150 years ago, an Indian encampment of thirteen teepees and a log cabin occupied the land that is now the home of Jim and Loene Hill at 1661 N. 400 E. Jim’s great-grandfather, William John Hill, was called to settle the area and he, and others, built the brick home that is still standing in North Ogden today. As the land was developed, farmed, and fenced, the Indians moved away and William built the brick home for his growing family.

William and his family lived in the log cabin initially, but he built the brick home to accommodate his family of ten children. Imagine what that must have been like to be one of those children running through the fields, rough housing with siblings, and having responsibilities that we in our day will probably never have to worry about.I’m sure some of our experiences are the same aswell. Their mom probably pulled plenty of stickers out of feet and every one of them likely took a few moments to absorb the beauty of Ben Lomond’s peak.

Hyrum Hill was the youngest of William’s ten children. When he married, Hyrum and his wife lived in the brick home with his father until he died. The home you see from the street wasn’t always white and it didn’t always have a front porch. Hyrum built the front porch and he also enclosed the smaller porch on the southwest corner to transform it into a kitchen. Underneath the white paint there is red brick, and within the walls of the structure is the legacy of the hard work of ancestors blessing the lives of their posterity. When Hyrum died, Hyrum’s son Thomas inherited it, who later passed it on to his son Jim. This home is a physical representation of what the hard work and love of families can do for generations ahead