A group ofMormon pioneers settled the area now known as Lehi in the fall of 1850 at a place calledDry Creek in the northernmost part ofUtah Valley. It was renamedEvansville in 1851 after David Evans, a local bishop inthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other historical names includeSulphur Springs andSnow's Springs.[6]
The settlement grew so rapidly that, in early 1852, Bishop 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 aBook of Mormonprophet of the same name.[7] The first mayor of Lehi was Silas P. Barnes, from 1853 to 1854.[8]
According to theUnited 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.[10]
As of the American Community Survey (ACS) Demographic and Housing Estimates of 2023,[13] there were 90,229 people living in the city. The estimated racial makeup of the city was 81.7%European American, 0.5%African American, 0.2%Native American, 2.0%Asian, 1.5%Pacific Islander, 2.0% fromother races, and 12.1% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 12.1% of the population. An estimated 50.2% of the population was male with 49.8% female. The median age as of 2023 was 26.6.
According to the 2010 Census,[14] there were 12,402 households, out of which 61.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.4% were husband-wife families living together, 3.2% had a male householder with no wife present, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.3% were non-families. 9.0% of all households were made up of individuals (living alone) and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.81 and the average family size was 4.08.
As of 2018, the median income for a household in Lehi was $74,200, and the median income for a family was $88,278. Theper capita income for the city was $25,894, including all adults and children. The unemployment rate for Lehi was 3.0%. The job growth rate was at 2.6% and was expected to grow 54.8% over the next 10 years.[15]
Lehi has been transitioning from an agricultural economy to a technological economy. This first started with the lengthy construction of a DRAM microchip plant byMicron Technology, which eventually evolved into a NAND flash memory business calledIM Flash Technologies that was founded by both Micron and theIntel Corporation with headquarters in Lehi. In 2013, 1 out of every 14 flash memory chips in the world was produced in Lehi.[16] On June 30, 2021, Texas Instruments announced that they would be purchasing this facility.[17]
Adobe Systems based one of its U.S. buildings in Lehi, which 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-leadingAdobe Marketing Cloud."
IASIS Healthcare built Lehi's first hospital, which opened in June 2015. The company broke ground for the medical center in February 2014. The 23-acre campus houses a 40-bed, full-service facility with anemergency department,intensive care unit,medical imaging, cardiac lab, surgical suites, and labor and delivery.[18]
Vivint operates a five-story office building in Lehi where the majority of its engineering work takes place.[citation needed]
Ancestry.com moved its headquarters fromProvo to Lehi in May 2016. The headquarters building is located in The Corporate Center at Traverse Mountain. Its competitorMyHeritage also has an office in Lehi.[citation needed]
Microsoft has an engineering department specializing in the next version of its MDOP (Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack), code-named "Park City."[19] Initially employing 100, Microsoft has built a second building to house its staff.[20][21]
Lehi Roller Mills was featured in the movieFootloose.
Lehi Roller Mills was founded in 1906 by aco-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. The mill produces some 100,000 pounds offlour each day.[24]
The 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.[citation needed]
Lehi Roller Mills was featured in the 1984 filmFootloose as Ren McCormack's workplace and as the site of the dance. At the time the film was made, Lehi Roller Mills was surrounded by nothing but vacant fields. In one scene, the Reverend Shaw Moore and his wife Vi Moore 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.[25]
Thanksgiving Point is a nonprofit museum complex and estate garden founded in 1995. It consists of six main attractions: the Ashton Gardens, Thanksgiving Point Golf Course, theMuseum of Ancient Life, the Museum of Natural Curiosity, Farm Country, and the Butterfly Biosphere.[29] Approximately 1.45 million people visit Thanksgiving Point each year. It is also a location forMegaplex Theaters and has several restaurants and gift shops. It is the site for the region's onlyTulip Festival, an annual Scottish Festival, annual Cornbelly's Halloween attraction,[30] andHighland Games.
The complex is a501(c)(3) organization with operations funded by private donations, venue and event admissions, and profits from shops and restaurants.[31]
The Veterans Memorial Building currently houses Hutchings Museum.
The Hutchings Museum is a museum located near the center of Lehi. It was first established in 1955 in what is now the Lehi Arts Building. The museum later moved its current location in the Veteran Memorial Building at 55 N Center St, Lehi, UT. The collection was donated to the city by John and Eunice Hutchings, who were amateur collectors and naturalists.[citation needed]
Originally designed to be a memorial for the veterans inWorld War I, the Veteran Memorial Building later expanded to host a library, courthouse, jail, police station, and fire station, among others.[32]
The Hutchings Museum's exhibits include a large range of displays and artifacts featuring Native American culture, geology and paleontology, ornithology, live animals, and both local city and regional history.[33]
Some of the Museum's most notable artifacts include a gun that reportedly belonged toButch Cassidy, a large collection of rocks and minerals, and several pieces of Native American pottery.[34] The museum has online articles, photos, videos, 3-D scans of artifacts, and a virtual tour.[34]
Mountainland Technical College (MTECH) is a public technical training institution located in Lehi that serves high school seniors (through dual enrollment) and adult students. The Lehi campus offers training and education in automotive, culinary arts, healthcare, information technology, and a growing number of other industry-specific programs. It also partners with many area employers to provide customized training for their employees through the Custom Fit program.[37]
Challenger School, a private school system with 27 campuses in the United States—six of them on the Wasatch Front—operates a school in the Traverse Mountain area of Lehi that serves preschool through eighth grade.[38]
I-15 runs through Lehi, with five exits (at American Fork Main St/SR-145, Lehi Main St/SR-73, 2100 North/SR-194, Triumph Blvd, and Timpanogos Highway/SR-92) located in the city.[39] TheUtah Transit Authority operates a bus system that reaches into the city. Work on theFrontRunner Southcommuter rail began in August 2008, and theLehi station opened for service on December 12, 2012.[40] The Lehi station is located nearThanksgiving Point.
^Lehi City Corporation.Memories of Wilford Brimley. Lehi, UT: Lehi City, 2013. https://www.lehi-ut.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/MemoriesofWilfordBrimley.pdf
Lehi Centennial Committee (1950),Lehi Centennial History, 1850-1950; A History of Lehi for One Hundred Years, Lehi, Utah: Free Press Publishing Company.
Mellor, Carl J. (1995),Historic Lehi: Pony Express Trail, Stagecoach Route, United States/Mormon War, Porter Rockwell, Lehi, Utah: Lehi Chamber of Commerce.