Place · United States
The history of Orem
Assembled from 2 dug tiles · 25 sourced records · 1849–now · last reviewed 8 October 2026
Orem, a city in Utah Valley founded in 1877, holds ground once part of Lakeview and bordering older Provo. Its record includes a bishop who once served time for bigamy, a 1934 farmhouse platted into its own lot only in the 1980s, and transit and commerce built and lost across the decades.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Orem — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Orem
The bigamist who came back a bishopA quarter mile from where you stand, a man served time for two wives, lost both, and started over. South 740 East
1849–2024 A 1934 house on a 1980s lot
You're standing at a small house on 2000 South in Orem, on ground that only became its own legal lot in the 1980s. Davis-Ercanbrack Farmstead
1849–now
Orem in layers
closed 2019
The Mount Timpanogos Transit Center, an open-air bus station and Utah Transit Authority customer service hub for the county, closed in 2019 after FrontRunner rail service reduced its role. Wikipedia
The Davis–Ercanbrack Farmstead, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, stands about 287 meters from here as a surviving pioneer-era farm property. Wikipedia
The Joshua Davis House, a historic residence in Orem, sits about 320 meters from this spot and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Wikipedia
The Stewart–Hills House, a historic home listed on the National Register of Historic Places, stands about 290 meters from here. Wikipedia
1849
Provo, just across the valley, was settled by Mormon pioneers in 1849, decades before Orem existed as a separate town. FamilySearch
March 5, 1849
In March 1849, militia captain John Scott led about 35 men into a canyon near present-day Pleasant Grove and killed four Timpanogos men, the first violent clash between the new Mormon settlers and the valley's Ute inhabitants. Provo.com: History of Provo, Utah
1849
Before Orem took its current shape, this area was part of Lakeview, a Utah town founded in 1849, about 1.8 kilometers from here. FamilySearch
February 8–17, 1850
Over several days in February 1850, around 90 Mormon militiamen besieged Timpanogos Ute encampments on the Provo River under an extermination order from Brigham Young, a short walk south of where present-day Orem stands. Wikipedia: Battle at Fort Utah
July 17, 1853
In July 1853, settler James Ivie mortally wounded a Timpanogos man in an altercation in Utah Valley, an incident that helped trigger the Walker War between settlers and Ute people. Provo.com: History of Provo, Utah
1861
Grandview Hill Pioneer Cemetery in Provo dates to 1861, among the oldest burial grounds in the valley. FamilySearch
June 8, 1865
At the Indian Farm in Spanish Fork in June 1865, Ute leaders signed a treaty ceding their lands across the Utah Valley in exchange for a reservation in the Uinta Basin and promises that were often not kept. Provo.com: History of Provo, Utah
1877
The city of Orem traces its founding to 1877, making everything on this stretch of ground less than a century and a half old as an incorporated place. FamilySearch
circa 1899
The Carter–Terry–Call House, built around 1899, is said by its National Register nomination to reflect Orem's development from 1899 to 1941. Wikipedia
1934
The Utah County assessor records the house at E 2000 South as built in 1934, decades before the surrounding subdivision existed. Utah County Land Records (Assessor and Recorder)
1943
Christeele Acres, built in 1943 to house workers at the nearby Geneva Steel plant during World War II, still stands as 62 small houses and three duplexes built to strict federal wartime housing standards. Wikipedia
1957
LeRoy E. Cowles, who served as president of the University of Utah, died in Orem in 1957. Wikidata
1973
University Mall, the big shopping center a few streets over, opened its doors in 1973 and has anchored this stretch of Orem ever since. Wikidata
1973
Arthur V. Watkins, the senator who chaired the committee that condemned Joseph McCarthy in 1954, died in Orem in 1973 and was buried at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery. Wikipedia
April 23, 1985
In 1985 a private buyer recorded the Grape Leaf Estates Plat A subdivision, carving this ground into the lot you stand on today. Utah County Land Records (Assessor and Recorder)
March 14, 1986
In March 1986 a private buyer sold this lot, now platted as Lot 1 of Grape Leaf Estates, to a private buyer, who are still its recorded owners. Utah County Land Records (Assessor and Recorder)
1992
H. Verlan Andersen, an LDS Church official and professor, died in Orem in 1992. Wikipedia
1994
The 960-square-foot building at S 740 East went up in 1994 on Lot 2 of the newly platted University Office Park PUD, sold that year by University Office Park LLC to L&T Construction Inc. Utah County Assessor
1995–2024
The parcel changed hands from L&T Construction to First Colony Mortgage Corporation in 1995, then to a private buyer in 2012, and finally to Noble Holdings LLC in 2016 and again in 2024. Utah County Assessor
October 3, 2015
A white ghost bike photographed just off University Parkway in 2017 was placed to honor a cyclist named Stacey, killed here on October 3, 2015. Wikimedia Commons
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Questions about Orem
What is Orem known for historically?
Orem became its own city in 1877, near Provo, which was founded in 1849. Its ground includes the Carter–Terry–Call House, home of Otis Terry, Jr., who served prison time for polygamy in 1889 before becoming bishop of the Timpanogos Ward in 1903, and the Davis-Ercanbrack Farmstead, a 1934 house that did not become its own legal lot until 1985.
What happened at South 740 East in Orem?
A quarter mile from this spot stood the home of Otis Terry, Jr., who served prison time for polygamy in 1889, lost both wives, remarried in 1900, and became bishop of the Timpanogos Ward in 1903. Nearby ground later held wartime housing from 1943 and a bus transfer hub that opened in 2000 and closed in 2019.
When was the Davis-Ercanbrack Farmstead house built?
The frame-and-masonry house at E 2000 South went up in 1934, though the ground did not become its own legal lot until 1985, when a private buyer platted Grape Leaf Estates around it.
Who has owned the Davis-Ercanbrack Farmstead lot?
A private buyer bought the lot in March 1986 and remain its recorded owners, following the 1985 platting of Grape Leaf Estates by a private owner.
What other historic houses stand near this ground in Orem?
Nearby stand the Joshua Davis House and the Stewart–Hills House, a short walk east, alongside the Davis-Ercanbrack Farmstead itself.