When was utah established

Twelve Danish families were appointed to settle in what was originally called Flaxville, to produce thread for use in making summer clothing, household linen, and sacks for grain. Similarly, the town of Minersville, in Beaver County, was founded for the purpose of working a nearby lead, zinc, and silver deposit.

With the encouragement and assistance of the LDS Church, many tons of lead bullion were produced for use in making bullets and paint for the public works. The town of Coalville, in Summit County, was also founded as part of a church mission to mine coal. Soon after the discovery of this coal in , it was being transported to Salt Lake City for church and commercial use. Several dozen persons were called to the region in the spring of ; improved roads to connect with Salt Lake City were built; new mines were discovered; and scores of church and private teams plied back and forth between Coalville and Salt Lake City throughout the sixties.

These mines were of particular importance because of the increasing scarcity of timber in the Salt Lake Valley. During the third decade, , a total of ninety-three new settlements were established in Utah; important communities included Manila, in the northeastern corner of the state ; Kanab in southern Utah ; Randolph in the mountains east of Bear Lake ; Sandy ; Escalante ; and Price Continued expansion occurred in the Cache and Bear Lake valleys, the central and upper Sevier River area, and on the east fork of the Virgin River.

An Indian farming mission was established at what is now Ibapah in western Tooele County. The Muddy River settlements of the s, which were thought to have been in Utah, were found to be in Nevada. When Nevada demanded back taxes, many of the settlers moved to Long Valley in southern Utah, where they established Orderville in Other important new colonies were founded in such unlikely spots as the San Juan County in southeastern Utah, Rabbit Valley Wayne County in central Utah, and remote areas in the mountains of northern Utah.

Some of these were founded in the same spirit, and with the same type of organization and institutions, as those founded in the s and s: the colonies moved as a group, with church approval; the village form of settlement prevailed; canals were built by cooperative labor and village lots were parceled out in community drawings. Some of the colonies were given tithing and other assistance from the LDS Church.

The prime problem of the s was overpopulation. A new generation had grown up and had to find the means of making a living. Some worked in mines, some worked on railroads still under construction, and some migrated to Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, and Arizona.

In the remaining years of the nineteenth and early years of the twentieth century new colonies were founded in a few places that could be irrigated: the Pahvant Valley in central Utah Delta, ; the Ashley Valley of the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah Vernal, ; and the Grand Valley in southeastern Utah Moab, But most of these "last pioneers" had to look for a home in surrounding states where land was still available--Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona--or even Alberta, Canada, and northern Chihuahua and Sonora in Mexico.

There was no longer the mobilization by ecclesiastical authorities of human, capital, and natural resources for building new communities that had characterized earlier undertakings.

The migrations were mostly sporadic--unplanned by any central authority. However, two colonizing corporations organized with ecclesiastical participation were the Iosepa Agricultural and Stock Company, which founded a Hawaiian colony in Skull Valley in ; and the Deseret and Salt Lake Agricultural and Manufacturing Canal Company, also established in to promote settlement in Millard County.

The church assisted in these companies financially, held an important block of stock in each, and assured that they would be managed for community purposes. Another factor in the decline of colonization, particularly after , was the abandonment of the concept of "the gathering," under which converts were urged to gather to "Zion" to build the Kingdom of God in the West.

Converts were now urged to stay put and build up Zion where they were. All told, some permanent and 44 abandoned settlements were founded in Utah in the nineteenth century. Some of these settlements, however, did not survive the mechanization of agriculture, modern transportation, and the shift of rural population to urban communities that occurred after the Depression of the s. Colonization since World War II has consisted almost entirely of building suburbs around the larger cities.

Reclamation Service to construct a reservoir in Wasatch County. A 3-mile-long tunnel through the Wasatch Mountains was started in and finished in to bring water from the square-mile reservoir which was completed in Most of the water from the project went to irrigate Utah County farms. Another vital water project was Deer Creek Dam and Reservoir. Construction of the foot-high dam was started in The resulting 7-mile-long reservoir today provides irrigation, culinary water and water-related recreation.

The City of Orem was named after W. Orem, builder of the railroad which ran through the town. Payson was named after an early settler, James Pace. The community was previously known as Fort Peteetneet after a Ute Indian chief. Springville was once known as Hobble Creek because a member of a Mormon exploring party lost his horse's hobbles in or near the creek.

Pleasant Grove, named after a cottonwood grove near the original town site, was once known as Battle Creek since it was the site of the first conflict between Indians and settlers. Elberta was named for its Elberta peach orchards and Salem was named after New Salem, Massachusetts, but was first called Pond Town after the large pond that today is known as Salem Pond. The first library in Provo was opened in and there has been an official U. Post Office in the city since at least The Utah State Mental Hospital dates back to but was formerly known by less politically correct names.

The Mormon Church officially ended the practice of polygamy. In , Utah became the 45th state and the third to extend the vote to women. Salt Lake City was its capital. Salt Lake began to assume its present character in the early s. The State Capitol and many other historic buildings were constructed.

Electric trolleys, garaged at Trolley Square now a popular shopping mall , were installed to transport people living in the Avenues, Capitol Hill, Liberty Park, and Sugarhouse areas to downtown. The trolleys were gradually replaced in the s by buses. The last streetcar line was discontinued in Eagle Gate, which had served to mark the entrance to Brigham Young's estate, was reconstructed to allow traffic flow.

City parks were built, sewer systems and street lighting were installed, and streets were paved. Between , the city's population nearly tripled. War industries and military installations revitalized the economy. Workers and soldiers spent their money in the city's restaurants, shops, ballrooms, and theaters.

During the s several commercial and service centers were built in the suburbs, drawing business away from downtown. In the s new businesses and shopping malls were built and classic older buildings were renovated. City-wide beautification projects generated vitality and activity in the downtown community. Salt Lake continued to grow in the s. The downtown skyline changed again in the s when the Salt Palace Convention Center was rebuilt and a major office tower and new courts complex were constructed.

Redeveloped city blocks, restored building facades and new urban parks further enhanced the beauty of downtown. The Salt Lake City International Airport added a new runway, an international arrivals building, a multi-level parking structure and an hole golf course.