[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 33 (Thursday, March 1, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1192-S1193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNIZING ROY CITY DIAMOND JUBILEE

 Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I would like to congratulate Roy City, 
UT for reaching the 75th anniversary of its original incorporation in 
1937.
  Roy City was first settled in 1873 by William Evans Baker. At the 
time, the area was seen as dry and desert-like, not a likely place for 
a town. Baker convinced three brothers-in-law to join him, eventually 
forming what would come to be affectionately known as ``Cousin Street'' 
because all of the residents along the road were cousins. The settlers 
came up with an industrious way to bring much-needed clean water to the 
area, digging a canal from nearby mountains. With water came a sense of 
permanence for the town.

[[Page S1193]]

  Twenty-one years after the first settlement, the area's residents 
agreed to establish a post office, which required that the town be 
given an official name. It had been called many things, from Central 
City to Sandridge to Lakeview. The decision was to be made in the wake 
of a tragic death, that of Roy Peebles, the young son of Reverend David 
Peebles. Locals decided that the town should be named after Roy, and on 
May 24, 1894, Roy had a name and a post office.
  Roy remained a quiet, sparsely populated area until the 1940s, when 
Hill Field was established nearby. Roy City suddenly grew rapidly, 
forcing an equally rapid expansion of services. For a brief period, 
overflowing classes for schoolchildren were held in the halls. A semi-
permanent solution was found in busing students across Ogden to other 
solutions, and a permanent solution was finally completed in 1965 in 
the form of Roy High School. It became the largest high school in Weber 
County, and has been ranked as one of the top ten high schools in the 
country.
  Thanks to spending by members of the military working at Hill Air 
Force Base, the Navy Supply Depot, and the Defense Supply Depot, 
businesses in Roy City expanded quickly during and after WWII. In 1953, 
the city was granted a charter to establish Utah's first branch bank, 
paving the way for branch banks to spread throughout Utah.
  In recent years, Roy City has been called ``Weber County's Fastest 
Growing City,'' boasting over 35,000 residents. It has also been 
regularly lauded as one of Utah's most fiscally well-managed cities. 
Roy City now offers its citizens a host of modern businesses, 
conveniences, and services, from biking trails to an aquatic center.
  To mark this year's special anniversary, Mayor Joe Ritchie will be 
presiding over the burial of a time capsule that is to be opened in 25 
years, exactly one century after the city's incorporation. May the last 
quarter of that journey be as productive and successful as the first 
three.

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