Lehi, Utah

History

A group of Mormon pioneers settled the area now known as Lehi in the fall of 1850, at a place called Dry Creek, in the northernmost part of Utah Valley. It was renamed Evansville in 1851, after David Evans, a local bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other historical names include Sulphur Springs and Snow's Springs.

The land was organized into parcels of 40 acres (160,000 m²), and new settlers received a plot of this size until the entire tract was exhausted. There was little water to irrigate the rich soil, so it became necessary to divert a portion of American Fork Creek. Evansville consumed up to one-third of the creek's water as authorized by the Utah Territorial Legislature.

The settlement grew so rapidly that in early 1852, Bishop David Evans petitioned the Utah Territorial Legislature to incorporate the settlement. Lehi City was incorporated by legislative act on February 5, 1852. It was the sixth city incorporated in Utah. The legislature also approved a request to call the new city Lehi, after a Book of Mormon prophet of the same name.

The downtown area has been designated the Lehi Main Street Historic District by the National Park Service, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 26.7 square miles (69.1 km²), of which 26.3 square miles (68.2 km²) is land and 0.35 square miles (0.9 km²), or 1.28%, is water.

Transportation

I-15 runs through Lehi, with four exits (at Lehi Main St, 2100 North/1200 West, Timpanogos Highway/SR-92, American Fork Main Street/Pioneer Crossing) located in the city. The Utah Transit Authority operates a bus system that reaches into the city. Work on the FrontRunner South commuter rail began in August 2008 and the Lehi station opened for service on December 12, 2012. The Lehi station is located near Thanksgiving Point.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,028 people, 5,125 households, and 4,602 families residing in the city. The average population density was 936.2 people per square mile (361.6/km²). There were 5,280 housing units at an average density of 259.8 per square mile (100.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.68% European American, 0.25% African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.43% Pacific Islander, 1.33% from other races, and 1.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.99% of the population.

There were 5,125 households out of which 61.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 80.0% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.2% were non-families. 8.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.70 and the average family size was 3.94.

In the city, the population was spread out with 41.0% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 11.1% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $53,028, and the median income for a family was $55,664. Males had a median income of $40,739 versus $25,931 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,074. About 5.0% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.2% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.

Lehi Roller Mills

Lehi Roller Mills was founded in 1906 by a co-op of farmers. George G. Robinson purchased the mill in 1910, and it has since remained in the Robinson family, currently run by George's grandson, R. Sherman Robinson.

At the turn of the 21st century, Lehi Roller Mills was among thousands of such family-owned mills operating in the United States. Fewer than fifty remain today. High demand keeps the mill grinding around the clock, six days a week, and the mill produces some 100,000 pounds of flour each day. However, in 2012 the Mills filed for bankruptcy with the intention of continuing to operate during the proceedings.

Lehi Roller Mills was immortalized in the 1984 film Footloose. It was featured as Ren McCormack's (Kevin Bacon) workplace and as the site of the dance.

The iconic turkey and peacock flour paintings of Lehi Roller Mills were painted on the silos about 1930 by Stan Russon of Lehi, Utah. He used a rope and pulley system to manually raise and lower himself to be able to paint.

At the time the film was made, Lehi Roller Mills was surrounded by nothing but vacant fields. In one scene, the Reverend Shaw Moore (John Lithgow) and his wife Vi Moore (Dianne Wiest) keep a wary eye on the proceedings while standing in a field some distance away. The area is now home to a variety of fast food restaurants and a shopping center.

The Lehi Roller Mills were listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Thanksgiving Point

Thanksgiving Point is a nonprofit museum complex and estate garden founded in 1995. It consists of five main attractions: Thanksgiving Point Gardens, Thanksgiving Point Golf Course, the Museum of Ancient Life, the Museum of Natural Curiosity and Farm Country. Approximately 1.45 million people visit Thanksgiving Point each year. It is also a location for Megaplex Theaters and has several restaurants and gift shops. It is the site for the region's only Tulip Festival, an annual Scottish Festival, annual Cornbelly's Halloween attraction, and Highland Games.

The complex is a 501(c)(3) organization, with operations funded by private donations, venue and event admissions, and profits from shops and restaurants.

Economy

Lehi has been transitioning from an agricultural economy to a technological economy. This first started with the lengthy construction of a DRAM microchip plant by Micron Technology which eventually evolved into a NAND flash memory business called IM Flash Technologies which was founded by both Micron and the Intel Corporation with headquarters in Lehi. Currently, 1 out of every 14 flash memory chips in the world is produced in Lehi.

Adobe Systems based one of its U.S. buildings in Lehi, Utah. It is home to about 900 employees. According to the Adobe website,"The team in Utah is focused on engineering, product development, sales, marketing, and operations for the industry-leading Adobe Marketing Cloud."

IASIS Healthcare is building Lehi's first hospital, to be completed in 2015. The company broke ground for the medical center in February 2014. The 23-acre campus will house a 40-bed, full-service facility with an emergency department, intensive care unit, medical imaging, cardiac lab, surgical suites and labor and delivery.

Ancestry.com moved its headquarters from Provo, Utah to Lehi, Utah in May 2016. The headquarters building is located in The Corporate Center at Traverse Mountain.

Microsoft has an engineering department specializing in the next version of its MDOP (Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack), code-named "Park City." Initially employing 100, Microsoft has built a second building to house its staff. Microsoft Southwest District is located at 3400 N. Ashton Blvd., Suite 300 Lehi, Utah 84043.

Other Thanksgiving Park tenants are Infusionsoft, Workfront, Vivint Solar, Agel Enterprises, and ProPay Inc.

Multi-level marketing companies XanGo and Nature's Sunshine Products also have offices in Lehi.

Education

Lehi Public schools are part of the Alpine School District. Vern Henshaw is the Superintendent of Schools.

Challenger school is located in Lehi, Utah (Traverse Mountain area).

Notable people