Spanish Fork, Utah | |
|---|---|
 Spanish Fork city offices | |
| Motto: "Pride and Progress" | |
 Location inUtah County and the state ofUtah | |
| Coordinates:40°06′54″N111°38′18″W / 40.11500°N 111.63833°W /40.11500; -111.63833[1] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Utah |
| County | Utah |
| Settled | 1851 |
| Incorporated | January 17, 1855 |
| Named after | Spanish Fork (river) |
| Area | |
• Total | 16.21 sq mi (41.98 km2) |
| • Land | 16.21 sq mi (41.98 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,666 ft (1,422 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 42,602 |
| • Density | 2,628/sq mi (1,015/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−7 (Mountain (MST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−6 (MDT) |
| ZIP Code | 84660 |
| Area codes | 385, 801 |
| FIPS code | 49-71290[citation needed] |
| GNIS feature ID | 2411948[1] |
| Website | www.spanishfork.org |
Spanish Fork is a city inUtah County, Utah, United States.[1] It is part of theProvo–Orem metropolitan area. The 2020 census reported a population of 42,602.[3] Spanish Fork is the 20th largest city in Utah based on official 2017 estimates from the US Census Bureau.[4]
Spanish Fork lies in theUtah Valley, with theWasatch Range to the east andUtah Lake to the northwest.I-15 passes the northwest side of the city.Payson is approximately six miles to the southwest,Springville lies about four miles to the northeast, andSalem is approximately 4.5 miles to the south.[5][6]
Spanish Fork was settled in 1851 by members ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as part of theMormon Pioneers' settlement ofUtah Territory. Its name derives from a visit to the area by twoFranciscan friars from Spain,Silvestre Vélez de Escalante andFrancisco Atanasio Domínguez in 1776, who followed the stream down Spanish Fork canyon with the objective of opening a new trail fromSanta Fe, New Mexico, to theSpanish missions in California, along a route later followed by fur trappers.[citation needed] They described the area inhabited byNative 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."[7]
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 theSpanish Fork river. In December 1851,Stephen Markham, who was severely wounded outsideCarthage Jail inCarthage, Illinois while attempting to defendJoseph Smith and other church leaders from a mob in 1844, became thepresident of the first church congregation (branch) at the Lower Settlement.[8]: 823
In 1852, Latter-day Saints founded a settlement calledPalmyra 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.[8]: 631–632 A fort and a school were built at the Palmyra site in 1852.[8]: 824 With the onset of theWalker War in 1853, most of the farmers in the region who were not yet in the Palmyra fort moved in.[8]: 631 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".[8]: 256–257 Also in 1854 there was a fort founded approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the center of Spanish Fork that later was known as the "Old Fort".[8]: 823
Between 1855 and 1860, the arrival of pioneers fromIceland made Spanish Fork the first permanent Icelandic settlement in the United States.[9] The city also lent its name to the 1865 Treaty of Spanish Fork, where theUtes were forced by anExecutive Order of PresidentAbraham Lincoln to relocate to theUintah Basin.[citation needed]
Spanish Fork has a dry-summercontinental climate (Köppen:Dsa) with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers.
| Climate data for Spanish Fork Power House, Utah, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1909–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 69 (21) | 72 (22) | 81 (27) | 87 (31) | 99 (37) | 109 (43) | 108 (42) | 104 (40) | 101 (38) | 89 (32) | 79 (26) | 68 (20) | 109 (43) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 51.1 (10.6) | 59.6 (15.3) | 71.9 (22.2) | 80.2 (26.8) | 88.9 (31.6) | 97.0 (36.1) | 100.1 (37.8) | 97.8 (36.6) | 91.9 (33.3) | 81.7 (27.6) | 66.7 (19.3) | 53.7 (12.1) | 101.1 (38.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 38.3 (3.5) | 45.1 (7.3) | 56.6 (13.7) | 64.2 (17.9) | 74.3 (23.5) | 85.7 (29.8) | 93.1 (33.9) | 90.7 (32.6) | 81.1 (27.3) | 66.8 (19.3) | 50.8 (10.4) | 38.4 (3.6) | 65.4 (18.6) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 30.1 (−1.1) | 35.4 (1.9) | 44.7 (7.1) | 51.1 (10.6) | 60.0 (15.6) | 69.5 (20.8) | 77.1 (25.1) | 75.2 (24.0) | 66.0 (18.9) | 53.7 (12.1) | 40.9 (4.9) | 30.6 (−0.8) | 52.9 (11.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 22.0 (−5.6) | 25.7 (−3.5) | 32.7 (0.4) | 37.9 (3.3) | 45.6 (7.6) | 53.3 (11.8) | 61.1 (16.2) | 59.7 (15.4) | 50.9 (10.5) | 40.5 (4.7) | 31.0 (−0.6) | 22.7 (−5.2) | 40.3 (4.6) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 5.3 (−14.8) | 9.7 (−12.4) | 18.3 (−7.6) | 25.7 (−3.5) | 33.4 (0.8) | 41.1 (5.1) | 51.6 (10.9) | 50.8 (10.4) | 37.9 (3.3) | 26.7 (−2.9) | 13.9 (−10.1) | 5.2 (−14.9) | 0.8 (−17.3) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −16 (−27) | −20 (−29) | 1 (−17) | 10 (−12) | 21 (−6) | 29 (−2) | 38 (3) | 38 (3) | 26 (−3) | 8 (−13) | −6 (−21) | −19 (−28) | −20 (−29) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 2.11 (54) | 2.08 (53) | 2.16 (55) | 2.47 (63) | 2.11 (54) | 0.97 (25) | 0.57 (14) | 0.74 (19) | 1.40 (36) | 1.81 (46) | 1.80 (46) | 1.97 (50) | 20.19 (513) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 17.3 (44) | 14.1 (36) | 6.8 (17) | 4.2 (11) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.5 (1.3) | 7.4 (19) | 15.7 (40) | 66.0 (168) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 9.9 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 10.8 | 8.8 | 4.9 | 3.8 | 5.4 | 6.1 | 7.1 | 8.1 | 9.8 | 93.5 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 6.5 | 5.2 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 6.7 | 26.8 |
| Source:NOAA[10][11] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 773 | — | |
| 1870 | 1,450 | 87.6% | |
| 1880 | 2,304 | 58.9% | |
| 1890 | 2,686 | 16.6% | |
| 1900 | 3,327 | 23.9% | |
| 1910 | 3,751 | 12.7% | |
| 1920 | 4,035 | 7.6% | |
| 1930 | 3,727 | −7.6% | |
| 1940 | 4,167 | 11.8% | |
| 1950 | 5,230 | 25.5% | |
| 1960 | 6,472 | 23.7% | |
| 1970 | 7,284 | 12.5% | |
| 1980 | 9,825 | 34.9% | |
| 1990 | 11,272 | 14.7% | |
| 2000 | 20,246 | 79.6% | |
| 2010 | 34,691 | 71.3% | |
| 2020 | 42,602 | 22.8% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[12] | |||
As of the2010 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/km2). There were 9,440 housing units, at an average density of 613.0 per square mile (237.2/km2). Theethnical 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.[13] 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.[14]
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. Theper capita income for the city was $17,162. About 4.3% of families and 6.2% of the population were below thepoverty line.
Mountain Country Foods is currently Spanish Fork's largest private employer with 350 employees. Eight other businesses employ one hundred or more workers: SAPA, Klune Industries, Longview Fibre, Nature's Sunshine, Rocky Mountain Composites, J.C. Penney, Western Wats, and Provo Craft.[needs update][15]
Spanish Fork has a predominantlyLDS population. There are seventy-fourLDS wards in ninestakes in the southernUtah Valley and a temple, thePayson Utah Temple, which opened in June 2015. The majority of residents areMembers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just like all of Utah County.[16]
There are other churches in town: thePresbyterian Church established a church and mission day school in 1882. The school functioned until the state school system was inaugurated in the early part of the twentieth century. Today there are nine public elementary schools, two intermediate, and two high schools of theNebo School District.[17]
ALutheran church, established by immigrants fromIceland, was built on the east bench of Spanish Fork.[18] There is also the Faith Baptist Church, aBaptist congregation.[19]
ARoman Catholic church serves the Catholics of southern Utah Valley; many happen to be of Italian descent (seeUtah Italians),Hispanics,Filipino Americans, and someGreek Catholics from theBalkans.[18]
ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) have built atemple in Spanish Fork, run by Caru Das, the temple priest.Indian Americans form a small but noticeable community in the Spanish Fork-Provo area (especially in the neighboring town ofSpringville).[20]
In Utah Valley's historical settlement by immigrants, Scandinavians (most notablyIcelanders); as well asSwiss people;Spanish Americans,Hispanics orLatinos;English Americans,Irish Americans andScottish Americans are prevalent ethnocultural groups in Spanish Fork, and the nearby towns ofSalem andPayson.[21]
The Angelus Theatre in Spanish Fork hosts live shows, collaborating with theater companies includingGreat Hall Theatrical Experiences andCobb&Co, and other events such as live music or rock bands.[22]
Spanish Fork City hosts five large-scale events each year: Fiesta Days, Icelandic Days, the Harvest Moon Hurrah, the Festival of Lights, and the Festival of Colors.[citation needed]
The Icelandic Association of Utah was founded in 1897 and hosts Iceland Days every year. The association picked June becauseIcelandic Independence Day, or National Day, is June 17.
Spanish Fork was the first Icelandic settlement in the United States, after Icelanders who joined theChurch of Jesus Christ were expelled from that country, according to association spokesman Glenn Grossman.[citation needed] Although other nationalities helped found the town, under colonizerBrigham Young, Icelanders kept their identity and celebrate it with their culture every year during the three-day event.
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 byPeter Breinholt, a local musician.[23]
TheSri Sri Radha Krishna Temple (erected by Christopher Warden, anInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness follower[24]) celebratesHoli and is known for theFestival of Colors where thousands of people gather from all over the country.[25]
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.
Spanish Fork has a council-manager form of government.
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.[26] Today, Spanish Fork is served by theNebo School District. Public schools in this district within Spanish Fork include the following:
In addition, there is a private girls school, the New Haven School, and a K-12 charter school, the American Leadership Academy.
In September 2008, the Spanish Fork Wind Project was completed.[27] 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.[28][29] It is a utility-scalewind farm producing electricity fromwind power.[30][31]
Places adjacent to Spanish Fork, Utah | |
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Municipalities and communities ofUtah County, Utah,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
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| Other communities | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
