Originally named Fort Buenaventura, the city of Ogden was the first permanent settlement by people of European descent in the region that is now Utah. It was established by the trapper Miles Goodyear in 1846 about a mile west of where downtown Ogden is currently located. In November 1847, Fort Buenaventura was purchased by the Mormon settlers for $1,950. The settlement was then called Brownsville, but was later named Ogden for a brigade leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, Peter Skene Ogden, who had trapped in the Weber Valley a generation earlier. The site of the original Fort Buenaventura is now a Weber County park.

 
Ogden, Utah in 1874.Ogden is the closest sizable city to the Golden Spike location at Promontory Summit, Utah, where the First Transcontinental Railroad was joined in 1869. Ogden was known as a major passenger railroad junction owing to its location along major east-west and north-south routes. Railroad passengers traveling west to San Francisco from the eastern United States typically passed through Ogden (and not through the larger Salt Lake City to the south). Ogden, however, is no longer served by Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, and passengers desiring to travel from Ogden by rail must travel by bus to Salt Lake City.

In 1972, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints completed construction of and dedicated the Ogden Utah Temple in Ogden. The temple was built to serve the large LDS population in the area.

Because Ogden has historically been the second largest city in Utah it is home to a large number of historic buildings. However, by the 1980's, several Salt Lake City suburbs and Provo had surpassed Ogden in population.

The Defense Depot Ogden Utah operated from 1941 to 1997 in northern Ogden. Some of its 1,128 acres (4.6 km²) has since been converted into a commercial and industrial park called the Business Depot Ogden.

Ogden is located at 41°13′40″N, 111°57′40″W (41.227744, -111.961193),[4] at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. It lies approximately 10 miles (15 km) east of the Great Salt Lake and 40 miles (60 km) north of Salt Lake City.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 26.6 square miles (69.0 km²), all of it land. Elevations in the city range from about 4,300 feet (1,300 m) to 5,200 feet (1,600 m) above sea level.

The Ogden and Weber Rivers, which originate in the mountains to the east, flow through the city and meet at a confluence just west of the city limits. Pineview Dam is located in the Ogden River Canyon 7 miles (11 km) east of Ogden. The reservoir behind the dam provides over 110,000 acre-feet (140,000,000 m³) of water storage and water recreation for the area.

Prominent mountain peaks near Ogden include Mount Ogden to the east and Ben Lomond to the north.

Summers are hot and dry, with highs frequently reaching 95°F (35°C), with a few days per year reaching 100°F (38°C). Rain is provided in the form of infrequent thunderstorms during summer, usually between mid-July and mid-September during the height of monsoon season. The Pacific storm season usually lasts from about October through May, with precipitation reaching its peak in spring. Snow usually first occurs in late October or early November, with the last occurring sometime in April. Winters are cool and snowy, with highs averaging 37F (3C) in January. Snowfall averages about 42 inches, with approximately 21 inches (530 mm) of precipitation annually.