Beginning at
the boundary line of Salt Lake and Davis counties and stretching east
up the mountainside and west towards the Great Salt Lake sits the city
of North Salt Lake. On its northern border the city meets Woods Cross and Bountiful.
In 1847 Brigham
Young sent settlers north to find pastureland for cattle and to establish
settlements. Among these people were the first homesteaders in North
Salt Lake. As they left the Salt Lake area and traveled north, they
found several steaming hot
springs and ponds. These hot springs are still active on the southern
boundary of the city. To the west flowed the Jordan River, and the land
was swampy and covered with swamp grass. To the east the land slowly
climbed up the tall grass-covered lower mountainsides. This grass sometimes
hid a deep crevasse large enough to be of danger to cattle. Small natural
springs found their way from the mountains into the grassy valley below.
Many of the hillsides were rocky and sandy and not well suited for crops
or cattle; however, they did produce several sand and gravel excavations.
The first homes
built in the area were crude dugouts, which at least offered protection
from the winter storms. Later homes were made of adobe, utilizing the
natural clay deposits in the area. One of the first settlers of North
Salt Lake, John Winegar, built his home of clay from deposits by the
Jordan River. Because of the clay deposits, several brickyards were
located in the area for a short time.