Grantsville is the second most populous city in Tooele County,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. It is part of the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 12,617 at the 2020 census. The city has grown slowly and steadily throughout most of its existence, but rapid increases in growth occurred during the 1970s, 1990s, and 2010s. Recent rapid growth has been attributed to being close to Salt Lake City, small town community feel, lower housing costs than Salt Lake County, the nearby Deseret Peak recreational center, the

Utah Motorsports Campus Utah Motorsports Campus is a race track facility located in Grantsville, Utah, Grantsville near Tooele, Utah, Tooele, Utah, United States. It operated under the name of Miller Motorsports Park from April 2006 until October 2015. The course has h ...

raceway, and the newly built

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

distribution center located just outside the city. It is quickly becoming a bedroom community for commuters into the

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Utah, Murray, Sandy, Uta ...

History

The area of Grantsville was originally populated by the

Goshute The Goshutes are a tribe of Western Shoshone Native Americans. There are two federally recognized Goshute tribes today: * Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, located in Nevada and Utah * Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of ...

tribe. Grantsville was originally called "Willow Creek", and has also been called "Twenty Wells" due to the natural wells that give fresh water to the area. Grantsville was settled by

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter-day Saints, who Human migration, migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the ...

in 1850, with the arrival of the brothers-in-law James McBride and Harrison Severe, with their wives and families. The present name, after Col. George D. Grant, a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was adopted c. 1853. A post office called Grantsville has been in operation since 1864. The Anderson–Clark Farmstead has outbuildings dating back from 1880, and was first owned by the pioneer James McBride.

Geography

Grantsville is bordered on the south by South Mountain, which separates Rush Valley from Tooele Valley. To the north is Stansbury Island, and on the east are the

Oquirrh Mountains The Oquirrh Mountains ( ) is a mountain range that runs north–south for approximately 30 miles (50 km) to form the west side of Utah's Salt Lake Valley, separating it from Tooele Valley. The range runs from northwestern Utah County– ...

and the

Great Salt Lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, partic ...

, and on the west side the Stansbury Mountains. SR-138 passes through the city, heading northwest to intersect with

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

and east to Stansbury Park. The climate is hot during the summer and cold and snowy during the winter. Although Grantsville can be affected by

lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...

from the Great Salt Lake, most of the time, it is too far southwest. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.22%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, there were 12,617 people, and 3,855 households in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 335.65 people per square mile (129.59/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.6% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.1% some other race, and 5.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 7.3% of the population. Recorded in the 2020

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

: There were 3,855 household units, out of which 68.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.0% had a male householder with no spouse present, and 14.4% had a female householder with no spouse. 7.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average family size was 3.69. The median age was 27.9 years. 8.1% of the population was 65 years and older. 6.8% of the population was veterans. The median income for a household in the city was $84,293. 5.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. 24.9% of the population has a Bachelor's Degree or higher. The School Enrolled Population Enrolled in Kindergarten to 12th Grade is 79.0%. Employment: 72.8% of employees are private company workers, 16.8% government workers, 5.9% private not-for-profit workers, 3.4% self-employed in not owned business, and 1.1% self-employed in own business.

Education

Grantsville is in the Tooele County School District and has three elementary schools (Grantsville, Twenty Wells, and Willow), Grantsville Junior High School, and Grantsville High School. There are also a few preschools. Due to a fire on July 13, 2009, Grantsville Elementary School was forced to close until a new elementary school was built. The new school opened for the 2011–2012 school year.

Events

The Old Folks Sociable is the traditional social event of the year. The Old Folks Sociable idea started in 1875 when professional photographer Charles Savage and LDS Church Presiding Bishop Edward Hunter inaugurated "Old Folks Day" to honor fathers and mothers. The first Old Folks Sociable held in Grantsville was on January 6, 1884. This annual event is believed to have been canceled only twice in its 125-year history. The Old Folks Sociable honors all residents and former residents who are 75 years older. Grantsville High School, home to the Old Folks Sociable, becomes a gathering place for high school class reunions and family reunions. The Sociable is also a celebration of Grantsville's heritage. For residents and former residents, it is a walk down memory lane. Events include a 5K run, a car show, a program, a reception for honored guests, a dinner, and a dance. All residents and former (eighteen years and older) are invited to attend. The Old Folks Sociable is held each year during the month of March."Glimpses of Grantsville," ''Tooele Transcript Bulletin'' (Utah), March 27, 2008.

Notable people

* Parley P. Christensen, American attorney and politician * Joshua Reuben Clark Jr., former U.S. ambassador to Mexico * William Jefferies Jr., English Mormon pioneer and early settler of the American frontier * Jack Johnson (tackle), professional American football player * Merrill Nelson, American politician * Lula Greene Richards, a poet and the first female periodical editor in Utah Territory * Marianne C. Sharp, first counselor in the general presidency of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1945-1974

References

External links

Grantsville City Website
{{authority control Populated places established in 1848 Cities in Utah Cities in Tooele County, Utah Salt Lake City metropolitan area 1848 establishments in the United States