Provo, Utah
City
City of Provo
Downtown Provo
Flag
Motto:  “Welcome Home”
Location within Utah County
Provo Location within Utah Show map of UtahShow map of the United StatesShow all
Coordinates: 40°14′40″N 111°39′39″WCoordinates: 40°14′40″N 111°39′39″W
Country	United States
State	Utah
County	Utah
Founded	1849
Incorporated	April 1850
Named for	Étienne Provost[1]
Government
• Type	Strong mayor
• Mayor	Michelle Kaufusi (R)
• Council Chair	David Harding
Area [2]
• City	44.19 sq mi (114.44 km2)
• Land	41.69 sq mi (107.97 km2)
• Water	2.50 sq mi (6.47 km2)
Elevation	4,551 ft (1,387 m)
Population  (2020)[3][4]
• City	115,162
• Density	2,762.34/sq mi (1,066.61/km2)
• Metro	620,000
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
ZIP Codes	84601-84606
Area codes	385, 801
FIPS code	49-62470[5]
GNIS ID	1444661[6]
Website	www.provo.org

Provo (/ˈproʊvoʊ/ PROH-voh) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is 43 miles (69 km) south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU).^[7]

Provo lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south. With a population at the 2020 census of 115,162.^[3] Provo is the principal city in the Provo-Orem metropolitan area, which had a population of 526,810 at the 2010 census.^[8] It is Utah’s second-largest metropolitan area after Salt Lake City.

Provo is the home to Brigham Young University, a private higher education institution operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Provo also has the LDS Church’s largest Missionary Training Center (MTC). The city is a focus area for technology development in Utah, with several billion-dollar startups.^[9] The city’s Peaks Ice Arena was a venue for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002. Sundance Resort is 13 miles (21 km) northeast, up Provo Canyon.

In 2015, Forbes cited Provo among the “Best Small And Medium-Size Cities For Jobs,”^[10] and the Bureau of Labor Statistics found Utah County had the year’s highest job growth.^[11] In 2013, Forbes ranked Provo the No. 2 city on its list of Best Places for Business and Careers.^[12] Provo was ranked first for community optimism (2012)^[13] and first in health/well-being (2014).^[14]

History[edit]

 

Ft. Utah in 1850

The Provo area was originally called Timpanogas, a Numic (Ute people) word perhaps meaning “rock river”.^[15] The area was inhabited by the Timpanogos.^[16] It was the largest and most settled area in modern-day Utah.^[17] The ample food from the Provo River made the Timpanogos a peaceful people.^{[clarification needed][16]} The area also served as the traditional meeting place for the Ute and Shoshone tribes and as a spot to worship their creator.^{[clarification needed][18]}

Father Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, a Spanish Franciscan missionary-explorer, is considered the first European explorer to have visited the area in 1776. He was guided by two Timpanogos Utes, whom he called Silvestre and Joaquín.^[19] Escalante chronicled this first European exploration across the Great Basin Desert. The Europeans did not build a permanent settlement but traded with the Timpanogos, whom they called Lagunas (lake people) or Come Pescado (fish eaters).^[17]

In 1847, the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, which was just north of Timpanogos Mountain. At first, the Natives were friendly with the Mormons. But, as relations deteriorated with the Shoshoni and Utes because of disputes over land and cattle, tensions rose. Because of the reported stolen goods of settlers by the Utes, Brigham Young gave small militia orders “to take such measures as would put a final end to their [Indian] depredations in future.” This ended in what is known as the Battle Creek massacre, in modern-day Pleasant Grove, Utah.

The Mormons continued pushing into Timpanog lands. In 1849, 33 Mormon families from Salt Lake City established Fort Utah. In 1850, Brigham Young sent an army from Salt Lake to drive out the Timpanogos in what is called the Provo War.^[20] Escalating tensions with the Timpanog contributed to the Walker War.^{[citation needed]} Fort Utah was renamed Provo in 1850 for Étienne Provost, an early French-Canadian trapper who arrived in the region in 1825.

In 1850, the first schoolhouse was constructed in Provo, built within Utah Fort.^[21]

As more Latter-day Saints arrived, Provo quickly grew as a city. It soon was nicknamed The Garden City with a large number of fruit orchards and gardens there.^[22]

In 1872, a railroad reached Provo. It was also this year that the Provo Woolen Mills opened. They were the first large factory in Provo and employed about 150 people, initially mainly skilled textile laborers who had emigrated from Britain.^[23]

Geography[edit]

 

Rock Canyon in Provo

Provo lies in the Utah Valley at an elevation of 4,549 feet (1,387 m). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 44.2 square miles (114.4 km²), of which 41.7 square miles (107.9 km²) is land and 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), or 5.66%, is water.^[24]

The Wasatch Range contains many peaks within Utah County along the east side of the Wasatch Front. One of them, known as Y Mountain, towers over the city. There is a large hillside letter Y made of whitewashed concrete halfway up the steep mountain, built in the early part of the 20th century to commemorate BYU (original plans included construction use of all three letters). Wild deer (and less frequently, cougars, and moose) still roam the mountains (and occasionally the city streets). The geography allows for hiking, skiing, fishing and other outdoor activities.