History

Located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains thirteen miles (19 km) south of Salt Lake City, Sandy was a likely area for early settlement. The area was first used by nomadic bands of Paiute, Shoshone, and Bannock Indians who roamed along the base of the mountains as they travelled from their winter home at Utah Lake to their summer fishing grounds at Bear Lake.

Permanent settlers first moved into Sandy during the 1860s and 1870s because of the availability of land in the less crowded southern end of the Salt Lake Valley. The original plat was essentially one square mile, situated on an alluvial terrace running north and south along the eastern edge of the Jordan River drainage system and paralleling the mountain range. Brigham Young named Sandy City in 1873 for its thirsty soil.

Farmers willing to try their hand at the thirsty soil that inspired Sandy’s name took up land along State Street, which stretched from downtown Salt Lake City to Point of the Mountain. But it was mining that shaped Sandy’s first four decades. When silver mining began in Little Cottonwood Canyon, entrepreneurs recognized Sandy’s value as a supply station; soon its main street was lined with hotels, saloons, and brothels serving miners ready to spend their newly earned wages. Three major smelters were located in Sandy. They were the Flagstaff, the Mingo, and the Saturn. These made Sandy the territory’s most significant smelting center for a number of years.

The railroad was also significant in determining the course of Sandy’s history. Built in 1873, the railroad connected Sandy to Salt Lake City and facilitated the transportation of ore and other products both in and out of the area. A streetcar line in 1907 facilitated the transportation of locals to jobs in Salt Lake City; and the automobile later continued to serve that function.

When the mines failed in the 1890s, Sandy faltered, then underwent a significant economic transformation into an agricultural community. The fact that Sandy did not disappear, like so many other mining towns that dwindled with their mother lodes, was due to its location, resources, and the spirit of its inhabitants.