Orem
| Orem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Location in Utah
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | 1877 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | Utah | ||
| County : | Utah County | ||
| Coordinates : | 40 ° 18 ′ N , 111 ° 42 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Mountain ( UTC − 7 / −6 ) | ||
| Residents : | 97,499 (as of 2016) | ||
| Population density : | 2,039.7 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 47.8 km 2 (approx. 18 mi 2 ) of which 47.8 km 2 (approx. 18 mi 2 ) are land |
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| Height : | 1455 m | ||
| Postcodes : | 84000-84099 | ||
| Area code : | +1 801 | ||
| FIPS : | 49-57300 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1444110 | ||
| Website : | www.orem.org | ||
Orem is a city in Utah County in the US state of Utah , on the east bank of Utah Lake below the Wasatch Mountains . The city of nearly 100,000 inhabitants (estimate 2016 US Census Bureau ) and an area of 47 square kilometers includes just north of the county seat Provo and provides with this the core of the Provo-Orem- metropolitan area ( Provo-Orem metropolitan area ), the includes the region around Utah Lake.
Orem was founded in 1919 as a local authority and is named after Walter C. Orem, who, as President of the Salt Lake and Utah Electric Interurban Railroad, built the railroad from Salt Lake City south into the Utah Lake valley in 1914 . Orem is home to Utah Valley University .
The Provo-Orem metropolitan area was named the most liveable city in the USA by Gallup in 2012/13 .
history
When the first whites arrived, the land below the Wasatch Mountains belonged to the territory of the Ute Indians . The first white settlers were Mormon pioneers who, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), developed the region for agriculture. But they first settled on the rivers from the Wasatch Mountains to Utahl Lake and founded the towns of Provo on the Provo River , American Fork on the American Fork River and Pleasant Grove on the small Battle Creek around 1850 .
The shoreline of the Utah Lake, north of Provo at an average altitude of 1,455 m, was known as the Provo Bench and remained uninhabited for a long time. It is located in front of the exit of the Provo Canyon from the Wasatch Mountains, but the Provo River flows south in front of the mountains into the urban area of Provo. The Cordner family is said to have been the first to spend an entire winter in the area in 1877. The sandy soil with a good water supply was ideal for growing fruit, especially apples, so that the region was opened up with orchards and individual, loosely distributed farmhouses. Only six of the first houses before 1892 have survived, three of them largely in their original condition, including the house of the Bunnell family, who are said to have introduced the Red Delicious apple variety to Orem and Utah.
The Provo Canyon offered excellent conditions for the use of hydropower , a first small power plant about 5 km into the canyon was built in 1898 to supply the gold and mercury mines in Mercur on the other bank of Utah Lake with energy. As the needs of the mines increased, a second, much larger power plant was built at the exit of the canyon in 1904. Most of the mines in Mercur closed around 1913, the last not closed until 1930. As the power plant sought new buyers for its electricity, what would become the Orem's farms of less than 1,000 people at the time became some of the earliest utility users in Utah. The power plant is still in operation today, the technical equipment has been replaced several times, but the building has remained almost unchanged since 1904.
As a result, the Salt Lake and Utah Electric Interurban Railroad was founded by Walter Orem, who wanted to connect the agricultural areas with the capital Salt Lake City by means of an electrically operated railway so that the goods could be delivered to the city more quickly. The railway built four stops and stations in the area of the later Orem, two of which were equipped with warehouses and loading ramps especially for goods traffic. The boom in agricultural production and trade through rail traffic allowed the founding of the town of Orem with around 1200 inhabitants in 1919, and when looking for a name, the choice fell on the founder of the railway company. As a local authority, Orem was able to organize the investments for a drinking water supply, which was financed for 110,000 dollars in exchange for the issue of local government bonds.
During the Second World War, many younger men from Orem were drafted into the army and the farms lost their labor. As a result, a prisoner of war camp was set up in Orem in 1943 . In the meantime, until prisoners from the European theater of war could be brought to Utah, a subcamp of the Topaz internment camp was set up in Orem for the internment of Japanese Americans . Around 200 Japanese and Japanese-American Americans abducted from the west coast, many of whom had already worked in agriculture, particularly fruit and vegetable growing, came to Orem to work for farmers in the city and region. In autumn 1943 they were replaced by Italian prisoners of war, who in turn were released and brought home when the war with Italy ended and around 240 German prisoners of war were deployed in Orem instead. Orem wasn't the only place in Utah where prisoners of war were brought; further south in Salina around 250 other Germans lived and worked. After the end of the war and the return of the prisoners, the camp was not closed, but served as living space for a few hundred Mexicans who came to the region as immigrants and agricultural workers. The last barracks were only demolished in 1970.
Also during the Second World War, a steel mill was built on the shores of Utah Lake, northwest of Orem, in 1942/43, which used the coal and ore deposits in the region and initially worked for the armaments industry. It closed in 2001 and the systems were sold to China in 2004 and transported away.
Orem today
The former orchards have now been almost completely converted into large suburban settlements. Orem belongs to the continuous agglomeration from Lehi to Provo. It has merged with Provo in the south, with Lindon in the north, and the small industrial estate Vineyard around the former steelworks in the northwest . With the conversion of agricultural land into residential areas, the population of Orem grew rapidly since about the 1970s. From Brigham Young University in Provo beginning was the 1970s from a technology initiative, among other things, establishing the WordPerfect Corporation , now a subsidiary of Corel Corporation , resulted in Orem. They and other companies gave the city and region a high-tech image. In the years that followed, two large and several small malls were built , attracting customers from all over the region. The residents are above average commuters and work in the economic centers of the region, especially Provo. Only 0.1% of the population work in agriculture. Orem's population is slightly below the Utah County's economic average, with median income per household in Orem being $ 47,500 compared to $ 56,000 in Utah County. The city's level of education, like all of Utah, is above the national average, with 35.3% college graduates about the county's average of 34.7%.
Orem performs central functions in the region. The city is the seat of Utah Valley University , the second largest university in Utah (as of 2011). Also located in Orem, the Orem Community Hospital of Intermountain Healthcare Group and the Hospital Corporation of America belonging Timpanogos Regional Hospital .
The city is accessed by the Interstate Highway 15 and the parallel US Highway 89 in a north-south direction. The US Highway 189 , through the Wasatch Mountains east to US Highway 40 leads south from branches in Provo and touches the city of Orem only.
sons and daughters of the town
- LaVell Edwards (1930-2016), football coach and player
- Shauna Rohbock (* 1977), bobsleigh driver and soccer player
- Jennifer Hamson (* 1992), volleyball and former basketball player
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gallup: Provo-Orem, Utah, Leads US Communities in Well-Being , March 24, 2014
- ↑ The history of the site is largely based on City of Orem: Historical Sites ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Sagebrush Archeology, Inc: Olmstead Hydroelectric Plant (PDF file; 44 kB). On: WaterHistory.org
- ^ Dave Anderton: Judge approves sale of Geneva Steel land . In: Deseret Morning News , November 23, 2005
- ↑ Kenneth L. Cannon: Orem . In: Utah Historical Encyclopedia
- ↑ a b c Census.gov: Orem ( Memento from July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 39 kB)
- ↑ US Census Bureau: Utah County - Income , as of 2000
- ↑ US Census Bureau: Utah County - Education , as of 2000
- ↑ Utah Valley University: About UVU ( Memento of the original from August 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
