City Creek (Utah) - History

History

Vanguards of the first Mormon pioneer settlers of Utah camped by the mouth of City Creek Canyon July 22, 1847. This area is now about the intersection between State Street and North Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. The stream originally forked into a stream heading south through Washington Square and the primary branch flowing west, toward Temple Square and approximately down North Temple Street. Both forks emptied into the Jordan River.

The vanguard, led by Orson Pratt, diverted the stream to soften the soil and plant crops. By July 24 when Brigham Young's party arrived, five acres (20,000 m²) of potatoes had already been planted. Young named the creeks in Salt Lake Valley on August 22, 1847, calling City Creek such because it was in the heart of the city that the pioneers planned.

Young declared that the rights to all rivers were publicly held, and administration was initially carried out by the local LDS High Council, then by local wards (congregations). In 1850 Brigham Young himself gained sole rights to the water, although administration continued as usual. Ward Bishops transferred the responsibility of distributing water to the city council when Salt Lake City incorporated in 1851.

City Creek was channeled along its western fork, and canals were dug on either side of every street of Salt Lake City. Water was delivered by opening gates to street canals. This system, administered by Bishop-appointed water masters, delivered drinking and agricultural water to ditches in front of every residents' plot.

A piped waterworks was built to serve downtown in 1876, and the initial system was complete by June 22, 1877. However, water was unavailable in parts of the city, notably The Avenues, then called "the dry bench" because water had to be carried uphill from City Creek below. In 1878 Avenues residents petitioned the city to tax property to expand the water system, and the territorial legislature authorized the levy. A diversion to the dry bench was made in 1884, piping water to residents on 6th avenue and below. Subsequent diversions fed higher parts of the city, but it was not until 1910 that a diversion was constructed high enough to provide water to the whole city.

Water became increasingly scarce in Salt Lake City in the 1860s, especially during drought years. The Red Butte Creek, used by the eastern parts of the city, was appropriated by the US Army when Fort Douglas was built in 1862. Salt Lake also grew rapidly, prompting the city council to invest in a canal project for bringing more water from Utah Lake 35 miles (56 km) to the south. In 1882 the Jordan-Salt Lake Canal was completed, allowing Salt Lake City to access reliable agricultural water. In 1888 the city entered an agreement with surrounding farmers to exchange volumes of the low-grade Utah Lake water for the purer water trickling from other mountain streams in Salt Lake Valley.

In 1909 the creek was placed in an underground conduit down North Temple Street from outside of Memory Grove to west of the State Fairpark where the water exits into the Jordan River.