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For those who may be unfamiliar with the County, we offer a brief
introduction. Davis County is Utah's smallest county in land area. It
is a narrow strip of land only 223 square miles but is the third largest
county in population. An estimated 248,000 residents live in the
County's fifteen communities. Frequented by Shoshone Indians
during historic times, the area was among the first settled by
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who
arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The lush lake-bottom
pastures, fertile soils of the bench lands, and streams flowing out of
the high Wasatch Mountains on the east attracted early settlers,
who established small farms and close-knit communities. These
early settlers established schools, built homes and churches, and
created productive farms and shops.
Named after the early pioneer leader, Daniel C. Davis, the County
was established as a territory in 1850. The territorial legislature
created Davis County in 1852 and designated its County seat at
Farmington, midway between boundaries at the Weber River on the
north and the mouth of the Jordan River on the south. Westward,
the County includes a portion of the Great Salt Lake and its largest
island, on which Antelope Island State Park is now located.
During its first half-century, Davis County grew slowly. It supported a
hardy pioneer people engaged in irrigation agriculture and stock
raising. The Utah Central Railroad (now the Union Pacific) crossed
the County from Ogden on the north to Salt Lake City on the south
in 1870 and offered welcome transportation links to bring in
manufactured products. This was the beginning of a transition in the
County's history that led to mechanized agriculture and a surge of
commerce, banking, and local business, along with improved roads,
new water systems, and the electrification of homes and
businesses. After the turn of the century, the County's 8,000
residents joined in a chorus of boosterism that encouraged growth,
but by 1940 the population was barely 16,000. The small family
farms and local businesses could support no greater increase.
Consequently, many of the younger generation left for new
settlements in northern Utah and nearby Idaho and Wyoming.
As the age of the automobile and interurban railways created
greater mobility, many County citizens looked to Ogden and Salt
Lake City for employment and cultural enrichment. Market gardens,
dairy farms, beef cattle, orchards, and fields of grain and sugar
beets continued to sustain local farmers. World War II then
introduced a new way of life in Davis County. The establishment of
Hill Air Force Base in northern Davis County and other defense
installations nearby created a surge of civilian employment. Hill AFB
quickly became and remains the state's largest employer.
Diversification brought rapid post-war growth. The County doubled
in population between 1940 and 1950, and doubled again in the
next decade. Between 1960 and 1980, the population doubled
again, from 65,000 to 147,000. By 1990 the population had reached
188,000 and the 2000 census recorded 238,994. Being the fastest
growing of the four major urban communities along the Wasatch
Front, Davis County is projected to build out with a population of
about 360,000 by the year 2030.
Accompanying this growth has been a diversification of population
and a new prosperity. Davis County now enjoys a wide mix of
people representing many ethnic, cultural, and religious
backgrounds. The County has moved from its traditional agricultural
dependency to an interlocking network of suburban communities
around a core of original towns with a closeness in proximity to
downtown Salt Lake City. The communications age has tied Davis
County to the world. Its citizens today are part of an economic and
social pattern that reaches far beyond the County's tiny
geographical limits.
Today, many nationally known commercial, industrial, recreational,
and service companies provide diversified employment
opportunities for residents of Northern Utah. The Freeport Center is
the largest distribution center in the United States with more than
nine million square feet of covered storage and five million square
feet of open storage occupied by more than 125 nationally
renowned companies.
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