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Orem, Utah County, Utah Genealogy

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Quick History

Orem panoramic view.jpg
 Wikipedia has more about this subject: Orem, Utah

Orem was once called the Provo Bench. Located at the base of the Wasatch Mountain range, Orem and several of it's neighboring communities constitute a community referred to as Utah Valley.
Provo and Orem’s early history are intertwined. Attempts were made to settle Orem in the 1850s but lack of water slowed down its growth. [1] After a series of canals were made, the area became populated with many fertile fruit orchards and farmlands giving the Provo Bench the early reputation as the “Garden City Of Utah”. Homesteads settled along the territorial highway which is now State Street. Instead of the grid system for laying out a city as was popular in Utah, the roads crisscrossed the rural area connecting the farms, homes and orchards. [2] A railroad line was built through the Provo Bench by Walter C. Orem. To honor him the community was named “Orem” and incorporated on May 5, 1919. With WII came the call for steel and Geneva Steel was there to fill that need.

In 1943, the Utah Farm Labor Association in cooperation with the State of Utah built a labor camp at a five-acre cite. The first occupants of the camp displaced Japanese-Americans from the Topaz Relocation Camp. They were employed in farmers in Orem and Utah County. The fall of 1944 brought in 60 Italian Prisoners of war. They built on the labor camp and worked in the local farms. They were all eventually replaced with 340 German prisoners of war who continued to work for the farmers. At the end of the war, the German POWs were released and the former prisoner-of –war camp became home for Mexican nationals looking for work in the farming community. This camp was dismantled in 1970. Orem grew in the 1970's with the University Mall and eventually Utah Valley University "UVU".

City Hall

Orem City Center.jpg

Orem City Hall
56 North State Street
Orem, Utah, 84057
Phone: 801.229.7000
Fax: 801.229.7031

Neighboring Communities

Orem with timp in background.jpg


  • Orem borders Utah lake and Vineyard to the west and the majestic Timpanogos mountains on the northeast. Timpanogos, an Indian name given to the mountain and the entire valley, means many waters. Provo spreads over the valley to the south and the small town of Lindon nestles into the North. [3]



Provo | Vineyard | Lindon

Orem Neighborhoods

References are made in histories to the neighborhood that the person lived in. Provo and Orem's boundary lines can seem confusing. Using the neighborhood can better pinpoint the location of an ancestor.

  • Aspen
  • Canyon View
  • Casade
  • Cherry Hill
  • Geneva Heights
  • Heatheridge
  • Hillcrest
  • Lakeridge
  • Lakeview
  • Northridge
  • Orem
  • Orem East
  • Orem North
  • Orem Park
  • Sharon
  • Sharon Park
  • Stonewood
  • Suncrest
  • Sunset Heights East
  • Sunset Heights West
  • Timpview
  • Windsor

Resources

Biography

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The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.


Cemeteries

  • Orem City
    1520 N. 800 E.
    Orem, Utah 84097
    Phone (801) 229-7124
Transcriptions
Transcriptions

More information about cemeteries can be found at Utah Cemeteries.

Obituaries

Provo City Library owns microfilmed copies of the newspaper dating back to 1888 (with some years and issues missing for the first forty years). Check the obituary index for your ancestor, the papers can be found at the Provo City Library. Information on requesting an obituary can be found on this Provo City Library site.

Church History and Records

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Main article: Wards and Branches of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Orem, Utah County, Utah


  • Bonneville
  • Sharon [10]
  • Timpanogos [11]
  • Vermont [12] Vermont Ward, created in 1945 by division of Sharon Ward, was a local unit of the Sharon and Orem Stakes.
  • Windsor
  • Heatheridge
  • Hillcrest Stake [13]

Directories

History

To know the history of Orem you need to research Provo. Known as Provo's Bench, Orem's early history is one with Provo's. The Provo City Library has a rich selection of items pertaining to the City's history.

  • Remembering Provo: Historical Photographs Project
  • Historic Photos
  • Provo-History on the Go
  • A History of Utah County [15]
  • A Historical Study of the Exploration of Utah Valley and the Story of Fort Utah [16]
  • Founding Fort Utah: Provo's Native Inhabitants, Early Explorers, and First Year of Settlement [17]
  • From Fort to Village: Provo, Utah, 1850-1854 [18]
  • Heart Throbs of the West [19]
  • History of Provo, Utah [20]
  • Memories That Live: A Centennial History of Utah County [21]
  • Our Pioneer Heritage [22]
  • Original and native pioneer histories, camp history, locality history, camp Orem [23] Contains history and church history of Orem; history of Camp Orem, Daughters of Utah Pioneers; history of early Orem schools; biographies of pioneers, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
  • Original and native pioneer histories, camp history, locality history [24]
  • Sagebrush to steel an Orem centennial history, 1861-1961 [25]
  • Tales from Utah Valley: Spellbinding and Sometimes Strange Selections from the Daily Herald's History Page [26]
  • The Story of Provo, Utah [27]
  • Treasures of Pioneer History [28]

Newspapers

Historical Newspapers

  • Daily Enquirer in BYU's Digital Collections
  • Provo Daily Enquirer 1881 - 1897 Utah Digital Newspapers
  • Provo Historical Newspapers has a list of different newspapers held by the Provo City Library. The newspapers are on microfilm from the various eras for Provo's history.
  • Orem Geneva Times started in 1932 The Orem Geneva Times ceased publishing in 2009.
  • Orem-Geneva times (Orem, Utah) home of Geneva Steel Plant; hub of Utah's fruit industry [29]

Societies, Museums and Libraries

Harold B Lee Library at Dusk.jpg
  • Provo City Library
    550 North University Avenue
    Provo, Utah 84601
    Phone: 801-852-6650
    Provo contains a wealth of information pertaining to Orem and it's history.

Vital Records

Birth Records

  • Register of births 1898-1905 [30]

Marriage Records

Death Records

Veterans

Websites

Sources and Footnotes

  1. ↑ Orem History
  2. ↑ “Garden City Of Utah”
  3. ↑ First Orem Chapel
  4. ↑ Heart Throbs of the West (SLC: DUP, 1939-1947) 12 vols. FS Catalog 979.2 H2 WorldCat 5762737 Provo City Library
  5. ↑ It happened in Orem a bicentennial history of Orem, Utah FS Catalog 979.224/O1 H2
  6. ↑ Anderson, Eliza B.; Original and native pioneer histories, camp history, locality history FS Catalog 176658
  7. ↑ Our Pioneer Heritage / compiled by Kate B. Carter (Salt Lake City: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1958-1977 FS Catalog 979.2 H2 20 volumesWorldCat 2685817 Provo City Library
  8. ↑ "FamilySearch Catalog Book 979.2 D3e" (Salt Lake City, Utah : Western Epics, 1966). Vol. 1 part 1 FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 1 part 2 FamilySearch Digital Library
  9. ↑ Orem City Burial Park record and index FS Catalog 979.224/O1 V3
  10. ↑ Annual genealogical report, Form E, 1945-1948 FS Catalog 26311
  11. ↑ History of Timpanogos-Orem Eleventh Ward, 1885-1976 Fiche FS Catalog 6331412
  12. ↑ Annual genealogical report, Form E, 1945-1948 FS Catalog 26311
  13. ↑ First converts Orem, Utah Hillcrest Stake, pioneers, 1847-1997 FS Catalog 979.224/O1 H2f
  14. ↑ Orem (Utah) city directories FS Catalog 979.224/O1 E4p
  15. ↑ Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel. A History of Utah County (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1999) WorldCat 40875878 Provo City Library
  16. ↑ Colton, Ray C. (1946),A Historical Study of the Exploration of Utah Valley and the Story of Fort Utah, Master's thesis, Provo, UT: Brigham Young University.
  17. ↑ Carter, D. Robert (2003), Founding Fort Utah: Provo's Native Inhabitants, Early Explorers, and First Year of Settlement, Provo, UT: Provo City Corporation, WorldCat 54094655 FS Catalog 979.224/P1 H2
  18. ↑ Carter, D. Robert. From Fort to Village: Provo, Utah, 1850-1854 (Provo: Provo City, 2008) Special WorldCat 288945458 Provo City Library
  19. ↑ Heart Throbs of the West (SLC: DUP, 1939-1947) 12 vols. FS Catalog 979.2 H2 WorldCat 5762737 Provo City Library
  20. ↑ Jensen, J. Marinus, History of Provo, Utah FS Catalog 979.224/P1 H2 WorldCat 4827506
  21. ↑ Memories That Live: A Centennial History of Utah County (Springville: Art City Publishing, 1947) FS Catalog 979.224 H2d WorldCat 498809323 Provo City Library
  22. ↑ Our Pioneer Heritage / compiled by Kate B. Carter (Salt Lake City: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1958-1977 FS Catalog 979.2 H2 20 volumesWorldCat 2685817 Provo City Library
  23. ↑ Fielding, Adell H.; Original and native pioneer histories, camp history, locality history, camp Orem FS Catalog 162026
  24. ↑ Anderson, Eliza B.; Original and native pioneer histories, camp history, locality history FS Catalog 176658
  25. ↑ Sagebrush to steel an Orem centennial history, 1861-1961 FS Catalog 979.2 A1
  26. ↑ Carter, D. Robert. Tales from Utah Valley: Spellbinding and Sometimes Strange Selections from the Daily Herald's History Page ([Provo]: Daily Herald, 2005-2007) 2 vols.{WorldCat 166257571 Provo City Library
  27. ↑ Moffitt, John C. The Story of Provo, Utah (Provo : John C. Moffitt, 1975) FS Catalog 979.224/P1 H2m WorldCat 1527794 Provo City Library
  28. ↑ Treasures of Pioneer History (SLC: DUP, 1957- ) 6 vols. FS Catalog 979.2 H2 WorldCat 4008835 Provo City Library
  29. ↑ Orem-Geneva times (Orem, Utah) home of Geneva Steel Plant; hub of Utah's fruit industry FS Catalog 2405799 FS Catalog 2405800
  30. ↑ Register of births 1898-1905 Film: FS Catalog 485244
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