In 1852, as the result of a petition from Bishop David Evans, Lehi became the sixth incorporated city in the Utah Territory. The name was chosen because the first pioneers had moved around so much, looking for the best place to settle — just like Lehi of Book of Mormon fame had wandered in the wilderness. (Settlers had actually arrived in the area as early as 1850; the town was first called Dry Creek and then Evansville.)
Most of the early inhabitants were from the British Isles, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe.
Lehi's early economy was built mostly around agriculture: wheat, oats, barley as well as cattle, sheep and poultry. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of food-related industries developed. Among them:
Molasses Mill — As early as 1863, Brigham Young felt that sorghum, grown for the production of molasses, would be a profitable crop in Central Utah. Shortly after that, the first molasses mill was built in Lehi, powered by water from the city ditch. For a time, almost every family had a small patch of cane. But after the arrival of the sugar beet, molasses gave way to sugar.
Sugar Factory — One of the most important industries in Lehi was the Sugar Factory, which was built in 1890 to extract sugar from beets. An earlier enterprise in Sugar House had been started in 1852 but had not lasted. The Lehi factory became the first successful sugar beet factory in Utah and the fourth in the nation.
Operations started in October 1891, when 20 tons of sugar were produced. Utah settlers were ecstatic that they no longer had to ship expensive sugar in from back east. LDS Church President Wilford Woodruff even came for the first sugar sacking. Sugar production continued there until 1924, when more modern plants were built elsewhere. The final dismantling of machinery occurred in 1939.
Lehi Roller Mills — In 1905 a number of Lehi businessmen formed a co-op to establish a flour mill. The first sack of flour rolled out of the plant on April 2, 1906. Much of the flour for the mill came from dry wheat farms in the Cedar Valley area.
In 1909, George G. Robinson, a miller from Delaware, leased the mill and purchased it the following year.
Lehi . . . then and now
Communications, past — First the Pony Express and then, happy, day, the telegraph. The Deseret Telegraph was installed the first line in Lehi in 1867.
Present — Now you talk to Janet on the telephone while e-mailing Auntie E and Teri is beeping through on your call waiting. Is that your cell phone ringing in your purse? It's hard to imagine having to wait for news from an actual handwritten paper letter through "snail mail" let alone wait for correspondence galloping across country by horse!
Closets, past — Closets? What closet? If you were awake, you were wearing all your clothes.
Present — Modern homes have a closet in nearly every room. Walk-in closets, linen closets, coat closets. That's still not enough space because we have a separate wardrobe for every season. And don't even get started on shoes — black and brown dress shoes, running shoes, boots, sandals, slippers. And that's just the men!
Travel, past — The first Lehi residents traveled by horse and buggy or by foot. Eventually, railroad became a popular form of transportation for people and cargo. In October, 1872, 1,300 people gathered to ride the train to Salt Lake City. The engine wasn't able to pull the 25 coach cars up the Point of the Mountain, so people had to get out and push!
Present — Now people travel by car, airplane and even space ships sometimes. TRAX has been a successful form of mass transportation. People either love it or hate it, but you never hear of them having to get out to push!