Well now, pull up a stump and let ol’ Clemmie tell ya ’bout the first time folks could cross the Jordan River near Lehi without gettin’ their britches wet. It was quite the undertaking, and had a good bit o’ the spirit of enterprise in it, just like most things in a growin’ town.
You see, back in the spring of ’53, folks ’round these parts decided they needed a proper way to get across the Jordan River, ’bout ten miles north of Utah Lake. Now, this wasn’t just some neighborly fella throwin’ down a few logs. Oh no, this here was a commercial enterprise, plain and simple. A whole stock company was organized for the very purpose of buildin’ that bridge.
And the fella who really got the ball rollin’ on this was Charles Hopkins. He went and got himself a charter from the Legislative Assembly. That there charter gave him and his partners, Ezekiel Hopkins and Alonzo D. Rhodes, the authority not only to build the toll bridge but also to collect a toll for crossin’ it. The act grantin’ ’em these rights was approved on January 21st, 1853.
Now, this charter, it wasn’t just a handshake and a wink. It laid out the specifics. It said that Charles Hopkins and Alonzo D. Rhodes could sell stock at $25 a share to raise enough money to pay for buildin’ the whole shebang. And once the stock was sold, the stockholders would choose a committee of three to keep track of the money and oversee the buildin’. Each stockholder got one vote for every share they owned.
The fella actually in charge of seein’ that bridge get built was Thomas Ashton, he was the one doin’ the supervisin’ that spring. And it had to be built good enough to pass the muster of the Territorial Commissioner.
Right from the get-go, that bridge turned out to be a pretty good deal, rewardin’ the fellas who put their money in with a nice bit of interest. They even had fellas like George Zimmerman, and later a man named Jenkins, and the Ball family, livin’ right there at the bridge to collect the tolls. Joseph J. H. Colledge was the last one to do that job for many years.
Funny thing was, one of the very first ordinances passed by the Lehi City Council was all about regulatin’ the rates for crossin’ that Jordan Bridge. They spelled out just how much it would cost for everything from a wagon pulled by two animals (that’d set ya back 20 cents, or six tickets for a dollar) down to a single sheep or hog (just a penny!). The council had the say on them prices.
That company that built the bridge, they had the right to own it until they made back one hundred percent more than what they spent. After that, it was supposed to be turned over to the Territorial Commissioner in good shape, as property of the Territory. Though, I hear tell they weren’t too happy ’bout that when the time came. The charter was eventually repealed in 1866, but they kept on collectin’ tolls until a new bridge was built by Utah County in 1871, and the old one was finally torn down.
That first Jordan River bridge, it was a sign of Lehi growin’ up, movin’ beyond just gettin’ by to buildin’ things that made life a little easier, and maybe even a bit more profitable.
Bibliography:
- Gardner, Hamilton. History of Lehi: Including a Biographical Section. Published by the Lehi Pioneer Committee, The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1913.
Unofficial Historian, Front Porch Philosopher & Occasional Pie Judge
Clementine Wrenfield (but you can call her Clemmie) is a self-appointed keeper of curious stories, dusty diaries, and questionable facts. Born under a clothesline and raised on her grandmother’s tall tales, Clemmie believes every fence post has a story—and she’s on a mission to find it. When she’s not digging through old trunks or sipping sassafras tea, she enjoys hosting dramatic reenactments of historical events using only sock puppets and her neighbor’s goats.
She’s never met a mystery she didn’t want to solve or a pie she didn’t want to critique.