History of Farmington in Utah

Farmington began when Mormon herder Hector C. Haight wintered cattle in its grassy lowlands in 1847-48. Five other families soon joined him to found a community at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains near a stream they named North Cottonwood. On the narrow benchlands overlooking the Great Salt Lake, settlers laid out a formal town to serve the area's four hundred people, built a log school and several mills, and in 1854-55 partially surrounded the town with a mud wall. After the Utah War, settlers spread out along the road to the north and south and created a "string town" differing in shape from most planned Mormon villages.For most of its first century, Farmington lived up to its name as an agricultural community. Its farmers specialized in raising alfalfa, grain, and livestock, including dairy herds. Millers, blacksmiths, and other craftsmen sustained the rural lifestyle. In the early twentieth century, orchardists grew cherries, peaches, apricots, and apples. Sugar beets processed in Layton became a popular cash crop for a time.