The New South Jordan Temple in Daybreak to be finished in 2008                                            Sunset on the Jordan River running through South Jordan.

 

South Jordan Utah

South Jordan is located in the southwestern portion of the Salt Lake Valley. It lies between the Oquirrh Mountains to the west, West Jordan to the north, the Jordan River and Sandy to the east, Draper to the southeast, Riverton to the south, and Herriman to the southwest.   It is 15 miles from Salt Lake City.

The main roads through the city are Redwood Road, Bangerter Highway, I-15 and

 

State Street at 90,000 South. 

Rapid residential development in South Jordan and the south side of the valley has spurred economical development in the city and the Daybreak community will eventually cause South Jordan to be counted as one of the largest cities in Utah.

The massive Daybreak Community has resulted in extensive recreational development in western  South Jordan. The focal point will be an artificially created lake called Oquirrh Lake which will be 85 acres in size, offering many recreational opportunities, supporting an ecosystem of its own. The lake will be filled in 3 stages and is slated to be completed in 2010.  The first stage was completed in 2006.

South Jordan’s most notable feature is the Jordan River Temple built in 1981 on Redwood Road. Another temple will be built in the Daybreak Commumity in the future, making South Jordan the only city in the world with 2 temples.

The history of South Jordan is interesting. When the pioneers first entered the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847, they settled along City Creek. The river running north and south through the valley was named Jordan River after the River Jordan in Palestine. The earliest pioneer landowner was Alexander Beckstead and his family who settled on the west side of the river, living in a dugout cut into the west bluffs above the river in 1849. The floodplain of the Jordan was level. A ditch was cut to bring the water to the crops called the Beckstead Ditch. It stretched from 12600 south to 90000 south. A brief Indian scare cause the settlers to hole up in Wright’s fort on 90000 south and 4000 west.

In 1859, Beckstead brought his wife and 7 sons and daughters south to the area of 1000 west and 11000 south to start a new settlement. Several other families joined them and made one room dugout homes with hide doors and layered roofs of brush, wood, reeds and dirt for shelter. Some families built brick rooms onto the front of their dugouts to enlarge the space. Latecomers had to camp under wagon tops while their shelters were being dug and built.

At that time, the Jordan River was a crystal clear trout stream, which was a good source of food.  The pioneers cleared and planted the fields just above the Jordan River, digging many irrigation ditches to water the crops to keep them alive.

In 1863 the area west of the Jordan River was divided into North Jordan (Taylorsville) West Jordan, South Jordan, and Herriman wards. The Rock Church on the lower road in West Jordan was the first meetinghouse. It was built in 1864 of adobe and measured 14’ by 18’.  As the congregations grew a new larger building was constructed in 1873, and also served as the school during the winter months. This building was used until 1908 when a new building was built. The cemetery was adjacent to the church. There were many skirmishes and wars between the settlers and the Ute Indians. After the Black Hawk war in 1872, the Utes were forced to live on reservations in the Uintah Basin.

A diptheria epidemic in 1881 caused many deaths among the settlers. Roads in the area were poor, rutted and rough and wagons would be mired up to their bellies in wet weather and dust would blow terrifically during dry spells. The people had dances, plays, and concerts, and baseball games for recreation.

ndatory  ducation laws were passed in 1914, the Jordan School District was created and 2 brick schools were built over the next 3 years.

The Salt Lake Interurban Railway was built in 1914, making it possible to travel from Salt lake to Payson. It was a narrow-guage railway nicknamed the “Red Heifer”. The Jordan High School was also built in 1914, and electricity came to the area.

1918 brought the “Spanish Flu Epidemic with 23,000 cases and 125 deaths in the Salt lake Valley.

In 1920 Redwood Road was constructed with a cement base making travel easier through the valley.

In 1926 a new much larger church was built on 1300 West and is still there.

In 1931 the depression hit the area very hard and many people had their farms and businesses foreclosed on. Since crop farming was not lucrative, many took up poultry, mink, or sheep.

1935 is when South Jordan was incorporated to get funding to build a water storage tank and a bond was passed to collect the necessary funds.

Because Utah was so far inland it was not in danger of attack during World War II,  and it was on a major railroad, making it a good location for the Remington Small Arms Factory, others were employed at Hill Air Force Base, Ogden Depot, Kearns Army Air Base, and Clearfield and Tooele Depots. The war also brought the price of farm produce up as well.

In 1946 the railroad line was closed due to so many cars on the road by then. In 1950 the cemetery was redone and water pipes installed to water it.

During this period of time the Jordan River had become Salt Lake Valley’s open sewer with waste being dumped into it from residences, smelters, various city sewage treatment facilities, slaughterhouses, and laundries. It really had to be cleaned up also because it was contributing to the pollution of Utah Lake in Utah County. 1974 the new city sewage system was completed contributing to the clean up of the Jordan River and Utah Lake.

Kennecott Copper began an enormous development in South Jordan called Daybreak. It will eventually be a planned community that will more than double South Jordan's population.

For more info go to www.ci.south-jordan.ut.us   and    www.city-data.com