ABOUT PLEASANT GROVE

HISTORY

On July 19, 1850, William H. Adams, John Mercer and Philo T. Farnsworth, Mormon pioneers sent by Brigham Young, arrived at the area now known as Pleasant Grove and staked out farms in what is now the southwest corner of the city. A small community was established September 13, 1850, consisting of George S. Clark and his wife, Susannah Dalley Clark, Richard and Ann Elizabeth Sheffer Clark, John Greenleaf Holman and Nancy Clark Holman, Lewis Harvey and his wife Lucinda Clark Harvey, Johnathan Harvey and Sarah Herbert Harvey, Charles Price and wife and child, Widow Harriet Marler and children, John Wilson, Ezekiel Holman, and possibly one or two others, relatives of those mentioned. Pleasant Grove was officially incorporated as a town January 18, 1855, by which time the settlement had grown to 623 people.

The original name of the city was Battle Creek. It was named for a battle which took place there in 1849 between Mormon settlers and a small band of Ute Indians. The settlers later decided they needed a more uplifting name and began calling their town Pleasant Grove after a grove of cottonwood trees located between Battle Creek and Grove Creek, near the current-day intersection of Locust Avenue and Battle Creek Drive. A monument with a plaque describing this battle is located at Kiwanis Park, at the mouth of Battle Creek Canyon.

During the Walker Indian War in the 1850s, citizens built a fort with walls two or three feet thick and six feet tall that occupied an area the size of sixteen city blocks. The settlers in the area at the time built homes inside the fort. While the fort no longer stands, memorial cornerstones were erected by local historians. The northeast monument was erected near the intersection of 100 North and 300 East streets. The northwest monument was erected four blocks west of that point at 100 West Street and the southeast monument erected four blocks south at 300 South Street. The southwest monument would have been located near 300 South 100 West, the area is now occupied by a large parking lot and retail store.

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Today Pleasant Grove, Utah boasts a population of more than 35,000 people. It is a vibrant community with citizens active in volunteer service and raising their families. They take pride in the beautification of their neighborhoods, parks and schools. Several traditional events occur annually such as Strawberry Days—a unique summer festival, running since 1921 featuring a rodeo, parades, a carnival, pageants and other activities, and the Heritage Jubilee—a celebration of the city’s founding, now going on 165 years!

Pleasant Grove City is primed for commercial growth and in recent years has welcomed large national and international businesses to its landscape, such as doTERRA and Close To My Heart. Its prime location and available properties along the I-15 corridor are situated nicely in Northern Utah County where the international tech-sector is exploding! With two major universities in the county—Utah Valley University and Brigham Young University—educational and recreational opportunities abound. Utah, itself, has been voted Best State for Business for five of the last six years by Forbes Magazine. The City and its residents are contributing to that business success. Pleasant Grove City is open for business growth!