OGDEN — The Sacred Heart Academy has been gone for 50 years, but it lives still in the memories of fomer students who wanted others to know of the contributions the school made in the early days of Ogden.
In 1878, seven Catholic Sisters who were members of Holy Cross Ministries established the Sacred Heart Academy on 26th Street and Washington Boulevard in Ogden. Over the years, many residents attended music classes and kindergarten at the academy.
By 1883 there were 200 students attending the academy. By 1889 the school had outgrown itself and a new one was built on 25th Street. The school accommodated 600 boarding students and 21 sisters.
In 1938 the school closed to students and the building was
used as a medical complex. The building was demolished in 1961, according to the Utah Historical Society.
Because of its beginnings and rich history, the Sons of the Utah Pioneers Ogden chapter recently dedicated a bronze plaque to honor its pioneers.
“We were going to put a monument there but the sisters told us they would rather we use the money to help impoverished people,” said Dr. Paul Southwick, chairman of the plaque and monument committee for the group. “We really think it deserves recognition so we had a beautiful bronze plaque made, which has a picture of the building along with several dates.”
The organization presented the plaque at the site where a new building now stands.
“We want to honor all of the pioneers in our area and really want to accentuate the characteristics of the people and places that were important to our history,” Southwick said.
The mission of SUP is to keep alive the memory of the early pioneers who came to the state to settle the West, Southwick said. Sacred Heart Academy was an important part of that settlement.
“It all started with the sisters coming here and establishing themselves in our community and they have done so much since their arrival,” he said. “They have been very dedicated and I’m there are a lot of people who have some wonderful memories of Sacred Heart Academy.”
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