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West Valley City, Utah

West Valley City, Utah
City
City of West Valley City
The Maverik Center in West Valley City, home of the Utah Grizzlies ice hockey team.
The Maverik Center in West Valley City, home of the Utah Grizzlies ice hockey team.
Official seal of West Valley City, Utah
Seal
Nickname(s): degla
Location in Salt Lake County and the state of Utah.
Location in Salt Lake County and the state of Utah.
Coordinates: 40°41′21″N 111°59′38″W / 40.68917°N 111.99389°W / 40.68917; -111.99389Coordinates: 40°41′21″N 111°59′38″W / 40.68917°N 111.99389°W / 40.68917; -111.99389
Country United States
State Utah
County Salt Lake
Government
 • Mayor Ron Bigelow
Area
 • Total 35.5 sq mi (91.8 km2)
 • Land 35.4 sq mi (91.7 km2)
 • Water 0.1 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation 4,304 ft (1,312 m)
Population (2012)
 • Total 132,434
 • Density 3,700/sq mi (1,400/km2)
Time zone Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
Area code(s) 385, 801
FIPS code 49-83470
GNIS feature ID 1437843
Website www.wvc-ut.gov

West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 129,480 at the 2010 census, making it the second-largest city in Utah. The city incorporated in 1980 from a large, quickly growing unincorporated area, which was variously known as Granger, Hunter, Chesterfield, and Redwood. It is home to the Maverik Center and USANA Amphitheater.

The earliest known residents of the western Salt Lake Valley were Native American bands of the Ute and Shoshoni tribes.

The first European people to live in the area were the Latter-day Saints (Mormons). The Euro-Americans arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The area was first staked out by settler Joseph Harker and his family in the area they named as "over Jordan" (referring to the land west of the Jordan River, which runs through the valley).

The Granger area was settled by Welsh Latter-day Saints who had come to Utah with Dan Jones in 1849. Irrigation systems and agriculture were developed in the area, and it was Elias Smith who proposed the area's name on account of its successful farming. At other times high alkali content made farming difficult, but there were enough Latter-day Saints to form a separate Granger Ward in 1884. Granger and vicinity had about 1,000 people in 1930.

Hunter was not settled until 1876. This settlement was started by Rasmus Nielsen, Edward Rushton, August Larsen and about seven others along with their families. Irrigation began in 1881 and the main crop was fruit trees.

The city began to experience rapid growth in the 1970s, when the area that is now West Valley City consisted of the four separate communities of Hunter, Granger, Chesterfield, and Redwood. These four unincorporated areas merged in 1980 to form the present-day city. During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, West Valley City was the official venue for men's and women's ice hockey.


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