Pleasant Grove

The area was settled in 1850 and incorporated on January 18, 1855. It was first called Battle Creek, a name tied to an 1849 conflict between Mormon settlers and Ute people. It was later renamed Pleasant Grove, after a cottonwood grove between Battle Creek and Grove Creek.

During the Walker Indian War of the 1850s, residents built a fort covering about sixteen city blocks. Memorial cornerstones mark its former boundaries.

Pleasant Grove counted 526 people in 1860 and 2,460 in 1900. The figure was 3,195 in 1950 and 10,833 in 1980. It grew to 13,476 in 1990, 23,468 in 2000 and 33,509 in 2010. The 2020 census counted 37,726 people, at a density of 4,111 per square mile.

In 2020 the median age was 28.4. There were 11,082 households, 47.0 percent with children under 18, and 65.7 percent were married-couple households.

The city is nicknamed Utah's City of Trees. Its best-known annual event is Strawberry Days, a summer festival held in the third week of June with a parade, rodeo, carnival and pageants.

The first Strawberry Day was held on June 21, 1922, and drew an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people. It was organized by the Wasatch Club, a forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce, and named for the strawberry farming that was once a major local industry. About 250 acres were in production in 1922. Commercial growing no longer takes place in the city.

The city has a community center and the Veterans Memorial Pool. The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center is also in Pleasant Grove, and the Pleasant Grove Pioneers Parade is a local event.

The Tithing Office and the Old Bell School are historic sites. The Utah Southern Railroad, later the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, ran through the city. The line is now part of Union Pacific's Provo Industrial Lead.

Public schools are part of the Alpine School District. They include Pleasant Grove High School and Pleasant Grove Junior High School, along with elementary schools named Central, Grovecrest, Manila, Mount Mahogany and Valley View.

John Hancock Charter School and Lincoln Academy are charter schools, and Liahona Preparatory Academy is a private K-12 school.