A woman with long hair and a long dress poses for her portrait at the A. W. Compton studio in Brigham City, Utah. Her dress has an interesting pattern which clashes with the studio’s carpet. The woman has a far away look in her eyes. Brigham City was founded by Mormon pioneer William Davis who first explored the area in 1850. Brigham Young, the church president, assigned Lorenzo Snow to create a self sufficient city at the site in 1853. Two years later, the town was named Box Elder. Brigham Young gave his last public sermon there and in 1877 the city was renamed in his honor. The photographer of this image was Alma Walter Compton. Utah State University has a collection of 90,000 photographs from the Compton Studio which was operated by three generations of the Compton family beginning in 1884. The collection is said to provide an illustrated history of agriculture, business, social life and education for the town of Brigham City over a span of nearly one hundred years. The Alma Compton House, located in Brigham City, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 