Grantsville, Utah

Grantsville, Utah
City
Grantsville City Office
Location in Tooele County and the state of Utah
Location of Utah in the United States
Coordinates: 40°35′45″N 112°27′55″W / 40.59583°N 112.46528°W / 40.59583; -112.46528Coordinates: 40°35′45″N 112°27′55″W / 40.59583°N 112.46528°W / 40.59583; -112.46528
Country	United States
State	Utah
County	Tooele
Settled	1848
Named for	George D. Grant
Area
• Total	19.34 sq mi (50.1 km2)
• Land	19.2 sq mi (49.7 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	4,304 ft (1,312 m)
Population (2012)
• Total	9,379
• Density	459.8/sq mi (180.9/km2)
Time zone	Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	84029
Area code(s)	435
FIPS code	49-31120
GNIS feature ID	1428338

Grantsville is the second most populous city in Tooele County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,063 on the 2011 report of the American Community Survey, a branch of the U.S. Census Bureau. The city has grown slowly and steadily throughout most of its existence, but rapid increases in growth occurred during the 1970s and 1990s. Recent rapid growth has been attributed to the nearby Deseret Peak recreational center, the Miller Motorsports Park raceway and to the newly built Wal-Mart Distribution Center located just outside the city. It is quickly becoming a bedroom community for commuters into the Salt Lake valley.

Grantsville was first known by the name Twenty Wells, due to the many sweetwater artesian springs in the area. The area of Grantsville was originally populated by the Goshute tribe. The abundance of springs made it an important site for the Goshute society. In 1848, stock owners in Salt Lake City began allowing their livestock to graze in Goshute lands. The first permanent Mormon settlers arrived in 1850 to establish one of Brigham Young's more than 350 Mormon colonies throughout Utah Territory. By then, the fortified town was known as Willow Creek. Three years later, with almost 30 families living in the settlement, it was renamed Grantsville in honor of George D. Grant, the leader of a detachment of the Nauvoo Legion militia sent to control hostile Native Americans in the Tooele Valley. Grant is also known for leading a group to rescue members of the Martin Handcart Company. The later years of the decade brought many hardships to Grantsville's citizens, including drought, grasshopper infestations, and the settlement's temporary abandonment in advance of the arrival of Johnston's Army. Ironically, the arrival of the army and its construction of Camp Floyd in nearby Cedar Valley ended up greatly benefiting Grantsville's settlers as they were then able to trade with the army for many needed provisions. By the end of the next decade, the 1860s, Grantsville had become a largely self-sufficient oasis of orchards and shade trees at the edge of the Territory's western deserts. Brigham Young himself visited Grantsville on several occasions, both officially and unofficially, and dedicated the first permanent church building in 1866. The building stands today, though it is no longer owned by the Church. The Lincoln Highway passed through the city in 1925 after it was realigned to the north, spurring business along Main Street.