City of Valley City history

Settlement began in the western area in the fall of 1848, when Joseph Harker became the first white man to settle the west side of the Jordan River, probably near present-day 600 West and 3300 South.

In 1853, the settlers built a fort with thick walls of rock and adobe to protect themselves against possible Indian attack.

Camp Sheardown State Historic Site, marking a campsite for an 1863 expedition, is just east of the city.

While many of these first families moved further south to what would become Taylorsville, a wave of new settlers to what was called Granger came beginning in 1866, developing farming communities that would later evolve into suburbs.

The community was founded in 1872 with the coming of the Northern Pacific Railway.

Valley City, city, seat (1879) of Barnes county, southeastern North Dakota, United States It lies in the Sheyenne River valley, about 60 miles (100 km) west of Fargo.

Originally called Worthington, it was renamed and incorporated as a village in 1881.

The city is the seat of Valley City State University (founded 1890). Baldhill Dam, a flood-control project on the Sheyenne River north of the city, impounds Lake Ashtabula (site of a federal fish hatchery). The North Dakota Winter Show, an agricultural event, is held annually in March.

By 1900 the farming communities of Hunter and Granger had built churches, schools and mills.

The first community foundation was organized in 1914 by Frederick Goff a retired judge and banker.

A new century brought paved roads (the first being 3500 South in 1918), automobiles, more growth, and an interurban rail line that connected people and goods from Magna on the West to Salt Lake City on the East.

Established in 1950, this organization gave the area the ability to provide a neighborhood with water allowing new subdivisions to become a reality, and the residential boom was on.

From these civic minded organizations came the Granger-Hunter Community Council in 1964.

On 1 July 1980 the city's new officials were sworn in, with Henry H. Price as mayor and Renee W. MacKay and Jerry L. Wagstaff as city commissioners.

By 1990 West Valley City was gaining respect both as a residential area and as a home for business and industry, with 25 percent of its area residential, 11 percent agricultural, 4 percent commercial, 1 percent parks, and 38 percent undeveloped.

Disclaimer: Information on this site was converted from a hard cover book published by University of Utah Press in 1994.

When the Olympics came to Salt Lake in 2002, the primary ice hockey venue was in West Valley City, a source of pride for residents.

By 2010 West Valley City was Utah’s most ethnically diverse city (45% minorities).