Tooele City is located thirty-two miles southwest of Salt
Lake City at the western base of the Oquirrh Mountains, which form
the eastern border of the city. To the west lies the Stansbury
Range; to the north twelve miles is the Great Salt Lake; and on the
south, a low divide, Stockton Pass, separates Tooele from Rush
Valley.
Tooele is the county's largest city, and took its name from
the valley, which Captain Howard Stansbury spelled "tuilla" on his
surveying maps in 1849-50. The name possibly originates from
Indians known to early pioneers as "Tooelians," who lived in the
area, although others claim it comes from the Spanish word for a
bulrush plant found in the area.
As early as 1847, Tooele Valley, known for its waist-high
grass, was used for grazing by herders from other valleys. The
guiding force for permanent settlement in 1849 was Ezra Taft
Benson, who had two groups in his employ, one caring for his
livestock, the other instructed to build a sawmill and gristmill on
Big Creek (Settlement) Canyon.
When Tooele was incorporated on 19 June 1853 the city covered
nine square miles. The U.S. government in 1943 purchased 25,000
acres of land five miles south of the city. With the construction
of an ordnance depot, which became the Army's largest supply center
in the West, the city expanded to 12.3 square miles; by 1990 Tooele
could claim a population of 13,825. The depot is Tooele's largest
employer; but enough workers commute from and shop in the Salt Lake
Valley that Tooele could be called a bedroom community of Salt Lake
City. However, in 1993 the future of the depot became clouded as it
was included on a Defense Department list of bases to be
closed.
Agricultural expansion of the principal crops--grain, alfalfa
and barley--was the result of the completion of the Settlement
Canyon Dam in 1966 with a l,166-acre-feet capacity. To the west,
grazing on Tooele's western desert provides winter forage for
thousands of sheep and cattle.
Historically, mining has been important in Tooele, where a
smelter operated from 1909 to 1972. Some Tooele residents commute
to Mercur, an old mining town that was revived in 1983 and today is
Utah's primary source of gold. But both agriculture and mining are
of less importance today than they were formerly.
Mormons have predominated in Tooele. The city's first mayor,
John Rowberry, was also the presiding Mormon. From two wards,
Tooele has grown to support eighteen wards and three LDS stakes. A
Methodist church was built in 1873, a Catholic Church, St.
Marguerite's, in 1910. Other congregations found in the city are
the Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Jehovah's Witnesses,
members of the Christian Faith Church, and members of the Assembly
of God Church.
Five parks are found in the city, one with a municipal
swimming pool. A wartime housing project was demolished to make
room for a nine-hole golf course. Along with a public library, the
city contains four motels and four banks. From a business district
of small shops, Tooele City has grown to include a large discount
department center and a large grocery/drug store complex. A museum
is housed in the old Tooele Valley Railroad Depot, and another,
operated by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, is located on Vine
Street in the old Tooele City Hall.
Because of the impact of the military on school enrollment,
in 1943 a junior high school was built with money provided by the
United States Defense Public Works; and a new Tooele high school
was built in 1955. Three elementary schools were also built as a
result of increased enrollment, and a school (later closed) in the
housing area of Tooele Army Depot. The oldest continuous business
in Tooele City is the Tooele Transcript (Bulletin) newspaper,
founded in 1894.