Belmont Building

Built in 1908, this modest brick storefront on 25th Street matched its neighbor so closely they read as a single design. Over the years it held a clothing store, a rooming house, and a grocery — and, tellingly for a railroad town, the Close and Jenkins Victor Cigar Store, which not only sold tobacco but rolled its own. A 1913 advertisement boasted of house brands with names like "Victor Bouquet" and "La Guesta Clear Havana," made in a factory the store had run for five years. Restored in 1985, it still stands in the historic district.

What the plaque says

Stylistically identical to the Nicholas Building to the west is the smaller complex at 208-210 25th Street. Built in 1908 the simple design features the same brick and transom detailing as the adjoining structure. The building was recently restored in 1985. Originally, it housed the Famous Clothing Store, the Belmont Rooms, Staple and Fancy Groceries, and Close and Jenkins Victor Cigar Store. The following ad, in 1913, extols the virtues of the Victor Cigar Store: “Lovers of fine tobacco find the Victor Cigar Store always ready to supply them with brands they like best. This store carries a well selected stock, also the output of their own factory, which was established here five years ago. Their favorite brands are ‘Victor,’ ‘Victor Bouquet,’ ‘Blue Bell,’ ‘ La Guesta Clear Havana,’ and other popular brands. Messrs A.E. Close and George W. Jenkins, the popular proprietors, are among out best known businessmen, and are playing a winning hand in the game of public favor.”

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ogden Union Station — steps away
  A grand 1924 train depot turned museum complex
• Snowbasin — 6.2 mi
  One of the country's oldest ski areas and a 2002 Olympic downhill venue — world-class terrain that somehow still skis uncrowded.
• Hill Aerospace Museum — 7.2 mi
  Over 90 military aircraft displayed indoors and on the tarmac
• Powder Mountain — 15 mi
  The largest ski resort in the United States by acreage — a famously uncrowded "PowMow" now remaking itself under Netflix's Reed Hastings.

More markers nearby

• Watkins Grocery and Cranshaw Photograph — steps away
• Davenport Saloon — steps away
• London Ice Cream Parlor — steps away
• The Union Restaurant & Switch Euro. Lodgings — steps away