Roughly around this intersection (27th Street and Adams Ave.) Jonathan Browning built his homes and raised several families. Moving to Utah as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1850s, he continued his gunsmith trade which he had learned as an apprentice in the eastern United States. His son, John Moses Browning later built his house on this same intersection. John Moses bought the gunsmith shop from his father in 1879 running it with his younger brother Matthew. John M. soon realized the potential he had of developing new firearm designs rather than just repairing them as the fancy techniques of the eastern built guns came across his workbench. And with the connection of Ogden to the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, the door was opened to have those inventions spread and the Browning fortunes were made.

Matthew, had his hand in inventing, but he had a keen mind for business and was a central ingredient to the successful growth of John Moses’s ideas and the Browning Bros Co. Matthew built his home near John Moses, just a few doors away, showing a close connection to family. The location John Moses chose for his home intentionally connects with his roots, building in the same intersection where he and his brothers grew up. It is also fascinating as neither of the brothers built in the wealthy area of Jefferson Street, which is just northeast of this spot, despite their funds.

Although this is currently the location of Bigelow Apartments, from 1882 to 1890 2510 Washington Ave. is listed as the location for the Browning Bros. first gun shop and arms factory. Nestled next to the earlier Reed Hotel, John Moses and Matthew and several other Browning brothers began manufacturing the soon to be famous Single Shot Rifle. Each piece (except for the barrels which were shipped in on the railroad) was crafted by a Browning brother or employee and custom fit on each gun. In the first week of selling, their first 25 guns sold for $25 a piece. During their time at this location, the Single Shot Rifle patent was purchased by Winchester which continued production of the gun in 1885, and three additional Browning guns were in Winchester’s production before leaving this building.

In 1890, likely due to the expansion of the Reed Hotel, Browning Bros. Co. moved operations North to this building. This was one of the longest running locations. Advertisements often list 2461 Washington Ave. as the location for the Browning Bros Co. business. At this point, they were focusing squarely on design, delving into other fields like general sporting goods. The Brownings ran many store fronts in Ogden, not just guns and arms supplies. One of these stores provided photography supplies in 1917. The location can be seen across the street where the IRS building is now (to the left of the Bigelow Hotel). The photography store did not last much longer than one year (according to the Polk directories) but it does show how widely the Brownings explored with business. Other goods they provided over the years included supplies for bicycles, barbers, and even talking machines. From 1890 to about 1909, they used this building as a home base, designing guns in the upper floor workshops and contracting with Winchester, Colt, and the Belgium based company Fabrique Nationale.

This building is the most prominent reminder of the Browning Bros. Co. In Ogden as it still carries the company name. The time in this building lead the development of such famous guns as the US army favorite 45 caliber semi-automatic pistol and the 50 caliber Water Cooled Machine Gun, used in WWII. Matthew Browning died in 1923 and John Moses Browning died in 1926, as the principal designer and leaders of the company, this was an important landmark in the history of the company. This was the building during that time. The Browning Bros. Co. continued to work out of this building for the next three years after John Moses’s death.

Val Browning took over immediately after his father, John Moses, died. Val had been the company’s head in Belgium for several years before that, and the future of the company was under his guidance. In 1926, Val transitioned part of the company’s functions to this building, the First National Bank building, where it became the main building in 1929. Val continued to have his office here for much of his life. Matthew Browning was the president of the bank in the years before his death, so it was a familiar location. Val likely had a hand in the incorporation of the company, now titled the Browning Arms Company in 1927. The impact this company had on the World Wars and the development of machine guns lead to continued recognition on the world stage. After leading the company operations in Europe, Val could have considered relocating the company there. But he, nor many of the Browning descendants who continued to live in Ogden, forgot their roots. CONCLUSION: The Brownings and the Browning Bros. Co. cemented Ogden on the map and helped the West make its place among the inventors and factories of the eastern United States and the world. The Browning Arms Company is still operating today. Now headquartered in Morgan, Utah (just a 30 minute drive South of Ogden), the Browning Arms Company continues to invent and manufacture firearms across the globe. We hope you have enjoyed learning about the Browning family and their company and guns that changed the world.