Spanish Fork, Utah

History

Spanish Fork was settled in 1851 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as part of the Mormon Pioneers' settlement of Utah Territory. Its name derives from a visit to the area by two Franciscan friars from Spain, Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez in 1776, who followed the stream down Spanish Fork canyon with the objective of opening a new trail from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Spanish missions in California, along a route later followed by fur trappers. They described the area inhabited by Native Americans as having "spreading meadows, where there is sufficient irrigable land for two good settlements.... Over and above these finest of advantages, it has plenty of firewood and timber in the adjacent sierra which surrounds it—many sheltered spots, waters, and pasturages, for raising cattle and sheep and horses."

In 1851, some settlers led by William Pace set up scattered farms in the Spanish Fork bottom lands and called the area the Upper Settlement. However, a larger group congregated at what became known as the Lower Settlement just over a mile northwest of the present center of Spanish Fork along the Spanish Fork river. In December 1851, Stephen Markham, who was severely wounded outside Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois while attempting to defend Joseph Smith and other church leaders from a mob in 1844, became the president of the first church congregation (branch) at the Lower Settlement.

In 1852, Latter-day Saints founded a settlement called Palmyra west of the historic center of Spanish Fork. George A. Smith supervised the laying out of a townsite, including a temple square in that year. A fort and a school were built at the Palmyra site in 1852. With the onset of the Walker War in 1853, most of the farmers in the region who were not yet in the Palmyra fort moved in. Some of the people did not like this site and so moved to a different site at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon, where they built a structure they called "Fort St. Luke". Also in 1854 there was a fort founded approximately 2 mi south of the center of Spanish Fork that later was known as the "Old Fort".

Between 1855 and 1860, the arrival of pioneers from Iceland made Spanish Fork the first permanent Icelandic settlement in the United States. The city also lent its name to the 1865 Treaty of Spanish Fork, where the Utes were forced by an Executive Order of President Abraham Lincoln to relocate to the Uintah Basin.

Geography

Climate

Spanish Fork has a dry-summer continental climate (Köppen: Dsa) with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers.{{weather box | Jan record high F = 69 | Feb record high F = 72 | Mar record high F = 81 | Apr record high F = 87 | May record high F = 99 | Jun record high F = 109 | Jul record high F = 108 | Aug record high F = 104 | Sep record high F = 101 | Oct record high F = 89 | Nov record high F = 79 | Dec record high F = 68 | year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 51.1 |Feb avg record high F = 59.6 |Mar avg record high F = 71.9 |Apr avg record high F = 80.2 |May avg record high F = 88.9 |Jun avg record high F = 97.0 |Jul avg record high F = 100.1 |Aug avg record high F = 97.8 |Sep avg record high F = 91.9 |Oct avg record high F = 81.7 |Nov avg record high F = 66.7 |Dec avg record high F = 53.7 |year avg record high F = 101.1

|Jan avg record low F = 5.3 |Feb avg record low F = 9.7 |Mar avg record low F = 18.3 |Apr avg record low F = 25.7 |May avg record low F = 33.4 |Jun avg record low F = 41.1 |Jul avg record low F = 51.6 |Aug avg record low F = 50.8 |Sep avg record low F = 37.9 |Oct avg record low F = 26.7 |Nov avg record low F = 13.9 |Dec avg record low F = 5.2 |year avg record low F = 0.8

| Jan record low F = -16 | Feb record low F = -20 | Mar record low F = 1 | Apr record low F = 10 | May record low F = 21 | Jun record low F = 29 | Jul record low F = 38 | Aug record low F = 38 | Sep record low F = 26 | Oct record low F = 8 | Nov record low F = -6 | Dec record low F = -19 | year record low F =

Demographic

As of the 2010 census, there were 34,691 people, 9,069 households, and 7,885 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,252.7 people per square mile (871.6/km). There were 9,440 housing units, at an average density of 613.0 per square mile (237.2/km). The ethnical makeup of the city was 90.9% European American, 0.4% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.7% Pacific Islander, 4.4% some other ethnicity, and 2.5% from two or more ethnicities. Hispanic or Latino of any ethnicity were 10.6% of the population. As for ages, the population was quite young with 40.9% being under the age of 18, 53.6% aged 18–64 and 5.5% over the age of 65.

At the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the city was $62,805, and the median income for a family was $64,909. The per capita income for the city was $17,162. About 4.3% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line.

Economy

Icelandic Days

The Icelandic Association of Utah was founded in 1897 and hosts Iceland Days every year. The association picked June because Icelandic Independence Day, or National Day, is June 17.

Spanish Fork was the first Icelandic settlement in the United States, after Icelanders who joined the Church of Jesus Christ were expelled from that country, according to association spokesman Glenn Grossman. Although other nationalities helped found the town, under colonizer Brigham Young, Icelanders kept their identity and celebrate it with their culture every year during the three-day event.

Harvest Moon Hurrah

The Harvest Moon Hurrah is sponsored by the Spanish Fork Arts Council and takes place on a Saturday in September closest to the date of the full moon. Activities include children's crafts and activities, a giant paint-it-yourself mural, storyteller, old-fashioned family photos, caricature artist, clown and balloon animals, hay rides with live bluegrass band, and live entertainment. The 2009 Hurrah was headlined by Peter Breinholt, a local musician.

Festival of Colors

The Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple (erected by Christopher Warden, an International Society for Krishna Consciousness follower) celebrates Holi and is known for the Festival of Colors where thousands of people gather from all over the country.

Fiesta Days

Each year Spanish Fork hosts the "Fiesta Days". The event is held every July, and is centered around the Pioneer Day Celebration. There are a number of entertainment events, including a rodeo, craft fair, parade, duck race, and a fireworks show on the 24th.

Government

Spanish Fork has a council-manager form of government.

Education

Main article: Nebo School District

In 1862, Spanish Fork built its first school house. That one room edifice served the city's educational needs for nearly 50 years. In 1910, Spanish Fork built the Thurber School on Main Street. Although it's not used for daily K-12 classes anymore, it still functions as a city office building. Today, Spanish Fork is served by the Nebo School District. Public schools in this district within Spanish Fork include the following:

• Spanish Fork High School
• Maple Mountain High School
• Landmark High School (alternative school)
• Spanish Fork Junior High School
• Diamond Fork Middle School (formerly known as Diamond Fork Junior High School)
• Brockbank Elementary
• Canyon Elementary
• Larsen Elementary
• Park Elementary
• Rees Elementary
• Riverview Elementary School
• East Meadows Elementary
• Sierra Bonita Elementary
• Maple Ridge Elementary In addition, there is a private girls school, the New Haven School, and a K-12 charter school, the American Leadership Academy.

Infrastructure

Alternative energy

In September 2008, the Spanish Fork Wind Project was completed. This project, a 9-turbine wind energy project, can produce up to 18.9 megawatts at full production, and the nine turbines can power up to 6,000 typical homes. It is a utility-scale wind farm producing electricity from wind power.

Notable people

• Isaac Asiata, football player
• D. Elden Beck, educator
• Scott Brumfield, football player
• Kate B. Carter, Utah pioneer historian
• Zebedee Coltrin, Utah pioneer
• Kaycee Feild, bareback bronc rider
• Jaren Hall, football player
• Gail Halvorsen, U.S. Air Force candy bomber
• Ab Jenkins, politician and racing driver
• Lucky Blue Smith, male model
• Stephen M. Studdert, Advisor to three U.S. Presidents
• Hefa Leone Tuita, dancer

References

References

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