Davis County is small — the smallest county in Utah by land — but its story runs deep. This is the short version, with links to the full history of each of the 15 cities.

The Timeline

Before 1847 — First peoples and first trappers

The Shoshone, Paiute, and Ute peoples lived along the Wasatch Front for centuries, drawn by the creeks flowing from the mountains to the Great Salt Lake. Mountain man Jedediah Smith passed through in 1826, and John C. Fremont’s expedition — with Kit Carson — mapped the region in the 1840s.

1847 — Settlement begins

Just two months after the first pioneer companies reached the Salt Lake Valley, Perrigrine Sessions drove his herds north and wintered at what became Bountiful — Utah’s second settlement. Hector Haight reached Farmington the same season.

1850 — A county named for a captain

Davis County was created in 1850 and named for Captain Daniel C. Davis of the Mormon Battalion. Farmington became the county seat, a role it holds today.

1870 — The railroad changes everything

The Utah Central line connected the county’s farm towns to Salt Lake and Ogden — and spawned whole communities, including Woods Cross, named for the rail crossing on Daniel Wood’s farm. Simon Bamberger’s railroad later brought Lagoon to Farmington in 1896.

1940 — Hill Field and the modern county

Ground broke for Hill Air Force Base in January 1940, and Davis County transformed within a decade from orchards and onion fields into one of Utah’s fastest-growing places. The WWII naval depot at Clearfield became the Freeport Center, one of the West’s great distribution hubs.

Today

Roughly 380,000 people now call Davis County home across 15 cities — each with its own story.

City Histories

Bountiful • Centerville • Clearfield • Clinton • Farmington • Fruit Heights • Kaysville • Layton • North Salt Lake • South Weber • Sunset • Syracuse • West Bountiful • West Point • Woods Cross

See It For Yourself

• Then & now: the county’s 1975 aerial imagery swipe map lets you slide between 1975 and today — addictive
• Memorial Courthouse: the 1932 historic courthouse still anchors Farmington
• Local museums: the Bountiful Museum and the Syracuse Regional Museum

County source: Davis County history.

Explore more: Davis County Trails • Events Calendar • Get the Monthly Roundup