Mike Winder, The West Valley City Historical Society
In the fall of 1848, Joseph and Susanna Harker became the first pioneers "Over Jordan" as they crossed to the west side seeking a new home in the valley. Other families soon followed, and by the 1880s, canals brought irrigation water, allowing farming settlements to spread out toward the Oquirrh Mountains. The agrarian communities of Hunter, Granger, Redwood, and Chesterfield began to take shape. The decades after World War II saw enormous growth, new neighborhoods, and the Valley Fair Mall. When the area finally incorporated as West Valley City in 1980, it was immediately one of Utah's...
In the fall of 1848, Joseph and Susanna Harker became the first pioneers "Over Jordan" as they crossed to the west side seeking a new home in the vall...