"The U.S. Forest Service Building, built in 1933-1934, together with the Ogden High School (1936) and the Ogden/Weber Municipal Building (1939) are exceptionally significant because they represent the most significant Art Deco structures in Ogden and the state of Utah. Additionally, they represent important works of the architectural firm of Hodgson and McClenahan, and are excellent examples of federal work projects initiated during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Forest Service Building is of special importance as it was numbered among the initial projects funded by congressional appropriations in the early years of the depression, prior to the formal organization of federal relief programs.
In 1908 the U.S. Forest Service established District 4 regional headquarters at Ogden, Utah, the state's second largest city and important railroad regional center. Historical analysis reveals that Ogden was selected over Salt Lake City because of three main factors: 1) more favorable railroad rates; 2) available facilities; and 3) greater aggressiveness of Ogden's business community. 1 Prior to the construction of a new building in 1933, the agency was housed at 203 24th Street.2 With the onslaught of depression in the United States, beginning in 1929, the federal government eventually sought to create work and construction projects designed to help the nation's rising unemployed. In the early 1930s, congress appropriated $250,000,000 for construction projects, one of which was a new building in Ogden, Utah, for the Forest Service.
Under Clement J. Gerber, federal construction engineer, and James A. Whitmore, federal acting architect, the Ogden architectural firm of Hodgson and McClenahan were commissioned to design the structure.4 On December 20, 1932, a contract for $229,000 was let to the Murch Brothers Construction Company of St. Louis, and work commenced in January, 1933.5 Local labor was to be employed, "when available," and lumber, brick, and cement was supplied by local businesses. Granite blocks were imported from the Raymond Granite Quarries of California.
Hodgson and McClenahan designed the Forest Service District 4 headquarters in the Art Deco Style, characterized "by a linear, hard edge or angular composition often with a vertical emphasis and highlighted with stylized decoration...
Hodgson, considered as the most important architect of the Ogden-Weber County area from the late 19th to the mid 20th century, provided the design concept sketches and McClenahan then produced the working drawings.
The U.S. Forest Service Building was originally built to provide offices for the U.S. Forest Service Intermountain Region, the Experimental Station, and the Supply Depot. The building, as described in a contemporary account, occupies a ground space of 11,300 square feet, consisting of a basement, four floors, and a three story tower. The first floor of the tower is considered the penthouse, second floor of the tower housed the elevator machinery, with the third floor maintaining an experimental hothouse. The basement was utilized as space for automobiles and other heavy equipment. Storerooms and offices of central purchasing, the maintenance agent, auditor, fiscal agent, and operations department were located on the first floor. The second floor consisted of the library, assembly rooms, public waiting rooms, and the offices of the regional forester, law, grazing, public relations, and land forest management divisions. Offices of the government engineer, the greenhouse, and intermountain forest and range experimental station occupied the third and fourth floors.
The Forest Service Building contrasts strongly with its residential context, and has consequently served as a local landmark for many decades. The structure was completed in 1934 and still serves the needs of the Forest Service, remaining basically unchanged, maintaining a high degree of architectural integrity." - National Register Nomination
The building continues to serve the U.S. Forest Service as the Ogden Ranger District Office and as the Forestry Sciences Laboratory. The building is in very good condition.