Sandy
City
Sandy City Hall in September, 2009
Location in Salt Lake County and the state of Utah.
Coordinates: 40°34′21″N 111°51′35″WCoordinates: 40°34′21″N 111°51′35″W
Country	United States
State	Utah
County	Salt Lake
Founded	1871
Incorporated	1893
Government
• Mayor	Monica Zoltanski[1]
Area [2]
• Total	24.16 sq mi (62.58 km2)
• Land	24.15 sq mi (62.55 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2)
Elevation	4,450 ft (1,356 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	96,904
• Estimate  (2019)[3]	96,380
• Density	3,990.73/sq mi (1,540.84/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
ZIP codes	84070, 84090-84094
Area code(s)	385, 801
FIPS code	49-67440[4]
Website	www.sandy.utah.gov

Sandy is a city in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population of Sandy was 87,461 at the 2010 census,^[5] making it the sixth-largest city in Utah. The population is currently estimated to be about 96,380 according to the July 1, 2019 United States Census estimates.^[6]

Sandy is home to the Shops at South Town shopping mall; the Jordan Commons entertainment, office and dining complex; and the Mountain America Exposition Center. It is also the location of the soccer-specific America First Field (formerly known as Rio Tinto Stadium), which hosts Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals FC home games, and opened on October 8, 2008.

The city is currently developing a walkable and transit-oriented city center called The Cairns. A formal master plan was adopted in January 2017 to accommodate regional growth and outlines developments and related guidelines through the next 25 years, while dividing the city center into distinct villages. The plan emphasizes sustainable living, walkability, human-scaled architecture, environmentally-friendly design, and nature-inspired design while managing population growth and its related challenges.^[7]

History[edit]

 

A view of the Wasatch Range from a Sandy neighborhood.

 

America First Field

 

The Shops at South Town mall in Sandy, before 2017 redevelopment

 

Sandy Library

Early settlements[edit]

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.

The origin of its name has not been established with any certainty. Perhaps most widely believed is that Brigham Young named Sandy for its thirsty soil, but there is no historical evidence for this.^[8] Another theory is that the name came from a legendary and colorful Scotsman, Alexander “Sandy” Kinghorn, the engineer who ran the first train line to this end of the Salt Lake Valley. Though this seems bolstered by the original name (Sandy Station or Sandy’s Station), historians consider it unlikely in view of the short period between the start of the train service and the first instances of the name.^[8]

In 1863, there were only four homes between Union (7200 South) and Dunyon (Point of the Mountain): the Thayne homestead at 6600 South and 800 East, one in Crescent, one at Dunyon, and a fourth outside present-day Sandy boundaries altogether. Within a few years, Thomas Allsop, a Yorkshire farmer who had immigrated to Utah in 1853, owned almost half of present-day Sandy from County Road to Fourth East along Alta Road to Lindell Parkway. LeGrand Young owned the land between Fourth East and State Street.

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.