A Name that Includes All of Us
By Jim Bird - 24 July 2026
Dear Editor,
I am a resident of Huntsville, the previously unincorporated part — which is also to say, a resident of Ogden Valley. I am writing to encourage the City Council, and my fellow valley residents, to keep our city's name as it is: Ogden Valley.
Since the late 1800s, communities have grown up independently across this wide geographic area — Huntsville, Eden, Nordic Valley, Liberty, and Wolf Creek. Each carries its own history and identity, and the people who live here are deeply connected to those local names. That is not going to change, regardless of what the City Council decides.
And that is the heart of the matter. Whether our city is called Ogden Valley, or Eden, or anything else, I will still tell people I live in Huntsville. My neighbors in Eden will still say they live in Eden. People in Nordic Valley, Liberty, and Wolf Creek will do the same. Local identity runs deep — it predates incorporation and will outlast any name change.
The real question, then, is not which name people will use day to day. The question is: what does the official name say about who we are together?
Ogden Valley answers that question well. It is a name that has described this entire area for generations, encompassing all of our communities without elevating one above the others. Consider that this very newspaper — the Ogden Valley News — has long used that name to serve and unite every corner of the valley. If the name works for a publication that belongs to all of us, it works for a city that does too.
Changing it to Eden — the name of one community within a larger whole — sends the opposite message. It may not be the intent, but the effect is exclusion. Residents of Huntsville, Liberty, Nordic Valley, and Wolf Creek would find themselves living in a city named after somewhere else.
We became a city just six months ago. This is exactly the moment to choose a name that holds all of us together. If the Council does pursue a name change, I would urge them to choose something that belongs to the whole valley — not a single town or landmark. Our shared history and geography deserve a name that no one community can claim as its own.
Ogden Valley already does that. I hope the Council will keep it.
Sincerely,
Jim Bird,
Huntsville
By Jim Bird - 24 July 2026
Dear Editor,
I am a resident of Huntsville, the previously unincorporated part — which is also to say, a resident of Ogden Valley. I am writing to encourage the City Council, and my fellow valley residents, to keep our city's name as it is: Ogden Valley.
Since the late 1800s, communities have grown up independently across this wide geographic area — Huntsville, Eden, Nordic Valley, Liberty, and Wolf Creek. Each carries its own history and identity, and the people who live here are deeply connected to those local names. That is not going to change, regardless of what the City Council decides.
And that is the heart of the matter. Whether our city is called Ogden Valley, or Eden, or anything else, I will still tell people I live in Huntsville. My neighbors in Eden will still say they live in Eden. People in Nordic Valley, Liberty, and Wolf Creek will do the same. Local identity runs deep — it predates incorporation and will outlast any name change.
The real question, then, is not which name people will use day to day. The question is: what does the official name say about who we are together?
Ogden Valley answers that question well. It is a name that has described this entire area for generations, encompassing all of our communities without elevating one above the others. Consider that this very newspaper — the Ogden Valley News — has long used that name to serve and unite every corner of the valley. If the name works for a publication that belongs to all of us, it works for a city that does too.
Changing it to Eden — the name of one community within a larger whole — sends the opposite message. It may not be the intent, but the effect is exclusion. Residents of Huntsville, Liberty, Nordic Valley, and Wolf Creek would find themselves living in a city named after somewhere else.
We became a city just six months ago. This is exactly the moment to choose a name that holds all of us together. If the Council does pursue a name change, I would urge them to choose something that belongs to the whole valley — not a single town or landmark. Our shared history and geography deserve a name that no one community can claim as its own.
Ogden Valley already does that. I hope the Council will keep it.
Sincerely,
Jim Bird,
Huntsville