American Fork wasn't always American Fork.
The first settlers named the city after a stream that fed into Utah Lake — the American Fork — but in 1853 it was formally christened Lake City.
In 1860 the charter was amended to rename the city American Fork so mail carriers would not confuse it with Salt Lake City.
The city also has been called McArthursville after Duncan McArthur, a farmer who owned land between the city and Pleasant Grove.
Prior to 1850, American Fork Creek was a favorite camping spot for roving bands of American Indians. Legend has it that the first Christian sermon delivered in Utah to American Indians was spoken on the banks of the American Fork Creek in 1776.
When trouble broke out between the settlers and American Indians, the townspeople were advised by then-LDS Church leaders Lorenzo Snow and Parley P. Pratt to move log cabins into a walled fort. That area, 100 East and Main, is known as Robinson Park.
Card-playing and waltzing were regarded as evil. Waltzes were at first banned entirely by the local church authorities.
Source: "Early History of American Fork," by George F. Shelley