West Jordan, Utah

West Jordan is a city located in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is a suburb of Salt Lake City located in the Salt Lake Metropolitan area (population 1,702,450) approximately 14 miles southwest of the city centre. As of the 2004 , the city had a total population of 92,000 earning it the place of Utah's sixth largest city.

The city began has a small settled outpost of Mormons in the mid-19th century mainly providing natural resources and defenses to the greater population centre of Salt Lake City. In present times the city finds itself connected in the concrete jungle of the Salt Lake Metropolitan area serving purpose as a suburb.

City landmarks are the historic Sugar Factory built in 1916, Gardner Village established in 1850, the Oquirrh Mountains of its western border, the Jordan River on its eastern border, and Kennecott Copper Mine, the world's largest open pit mine nestled in the Oquirrhs.

Contents

1 History 2 Geography & Climate 3 Demographics 4 External links

History

West Jordan received it’s name from Mormon settlers who entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 under the leadership of their Prophet Brigham Young. These first European Americans thought of the area to be their Zion or Holy Land and thus named the river flowing west of their first settlement, Salt Lake City, the Jordan River. Similar to the River Jordan in Palestine the Jordan River flows from a fresh water lake (Utah Lake) to an inland salt sea (the Great Salt Lake). West Jordan was founded around 1849 on the western banks of the Jordan River.

One of the first saw mills in the area was built in 1850 in the city by Archibald Gardner. Archibald Gardner was a devout Mormon who had 11 wives, 48 children, and 270 grandchildren whose legacy can still be seen in modern West Jordan. His collection of now historic mills and houses have been renovated into a specialty shopping district, Gardner Village.

Early West Jordan relied primarily on agriculture, mills, and mining activity to form the base of it’s economy. The first leather tannery west of the Mississippi River was constructed within the city in 1851. And the world’s largest open pit mine, Kennecott Copper is located on the city’s western border.

The city also played pivotal roles in early Utah’s defenses, keeping a vigilant watch over the Oquirrh Mountains during times of military conflict. During the Walker War in 1853, a conflict between the Ute Native American tribe and Mormon settlers over trade. And when the United States Army was dispatched to invade Utah to install a new territorial Governor to replace the Mormon Prophet Brigham Young.

Today West Jordan City is one of the fastest growing areas in Utah, and as now become a suburb of Salt Lake City. Sears Roebuck Co. chose the city for it’s first opening of a new concept store, Sears Grand, which opened doors in 2003 at the Jordan Landing commercial district. No longer are West Jordan’s major problems military invasions; transportation issues along with school overcrowding are now the city’s top concerns has it handles rapid population growth.

Geography & Climate

West Jordan is located at 40°36'23" North, 111°58'34" West (40.606385, -111.976217)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 80.0 km² (30.9 mi²). 80.0 km² (30.9 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 68,336 people, 18,897 households, and 16,232 families residing in the city. The population density is 853.9/km² (2,211.3/mi²). There are 19,597 housing units at an average density of 244.9/km² (634.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 88.76% White, 0.64% African American, 0.56% Native American, 2.04% Asian, 0.94% Pacific Islander, 4.76% from other races, and 2.31% from two or more races. 10.07% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 18,897 households out of which 57.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.0% are married couples living together, 10.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 14.1% are non-families. 10.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 2.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.60 and the average family size is 3.87.

In the city the population is spread out with 37.8% under the age of 18, 12.2% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 14.8% from 45 to 64, and 3.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 25 years. For every 100 females there are 100.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $55,794, and the median income for a family is $57,818. Males have a median income of $38,141 versus $26,391 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,221. 5.2% of the population and 4.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 6.1% of those under the age of 18 and 3.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

• West Jordan official website (http://ci.west-jordan.ut.us/)

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	State of Utah Governors |
State Capital:	Salt Lake City
Regions:	Dixie | Great Salt Lake | Great Salt Lake Desert | Uinta Mountains | Wasatch Front | Wasatch Back | Wasatch Range
Major Metros:	Ogden | Provo | Saint George | Salt Lake City
Suburbs:	Bountiful | Clearfield | Draper | Layton | Midvale | Murray | Orem | Roy | Sandy | Taylorsville | West Jordan | West Valley City
Smaller Cities:	Brigham City | Cedar City | Logan | Moab | Park City | Price | Richfield | Tooele | Vernal
Counties:	Beaver | Box Elder | Cache | Carbon | Daggett | Davis | Duchesne | Emery | Garfield | Grand | Iron | Juab | Kane | Millard | Morgan | Piute | Rich | Salt Lake | San Juan | Sanpete | Sevier | Summit | Tooele | Uintah | Utah | Wasatch | Washington | Wayne | Weber