West Valley City

wvc-ut.gov

Considered the ‘west side’ of Salt Lake, WVC is the second-largest city in Utah. Prior to its incorporation as a city, it was commonly known by the communities of Hunter, Granger, Chesterfield, and Redwood. It is home to the Maverick Events Center and home of the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL (hockey). It is also home to the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, Stonebridge Golf Course, Westridge Golf Course, Rocky Mountain Raceway, USANA Amphitheatre, Hale Centre Theatre, and the Valley Fair Mall.

Joseph Harker and his family were the first Mormon pioneers to go “over Jordan.” The area was largely agricultural for over one hundred years. The Granger area was originally settled by Welsh Latter-day Saints who had come to Utah with Dan Jones in 1849. Once irrigation systems were put in place farming worked in the area and it was Elias Smith who proposed the area’s name on account of its successful farming industry. At other times high alkali content made farming difficult, but there were enough Latter-day Saints to form a separate Granger Ward in 1884. Granger and vicinity had about 1000 people in 1930. Ted Bundy’s arrest in Granger on August 16, 1975 led to his exposure as a serial killer. Hunter was not settled until 1876. This settlement was started by Rasmus Nielsen, Edward Rushton, August Larsen and about seven others along with their families. Irrigation began in 1881 and the main crop was fruit trees.

The city began to experience rapid growth in the 1970s, when the area that is now West Valley City consisted of the four separate communities of Hunter, Granger, Chesterfield, and Redwood. These four unincorporated areas merged in 1980 to form the present-day city. During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, West Valley City was the official venue for men’s and women’s ice hockey, as this was the highest altitude of any speed skating ever in the history of all winter Olympics. Records were annihilated due to the consistency of the actual ice surface.

The city is located on the northwest side of the Salt Lake Valley, between Salt Lake City on the north, South Salt Lake on the east, Magna Township on the west, and Taylorsville and Kearns Township on the south. The Oquirrh Mountains loom over the city to the west, while the Jordan River marks the eastern boundary. It is possibly the most diversely populated area of the entire Salt Lake Valley. Most housing is typical of designs and construction of the 1970’s and 1980’s.

TRAX Green line runs to West Valley City and it is accessible via I-215 and the Bangerter highway.

Places to eat: Jims or Virg’s (diners), Fat Fish, El Paisa, Café Silvestre.

Zip Codes: 84044, 84104, 84119, 84123, 84126, 84128, 84131, 84081, 84118, 84120, 84125, 84127, 84130, 84170