Editing Draper, Utah (section)

==History==
In the fall of 1849, Ebenezer Brown brought cattle to graze along the mountain stream of [[Willow Creek (Jordan River)|South Willow Creek]]. The next spring, Ebenezer moved with his wife Phebe ("Phebe Draper Palmer Brown") and their family to settle in Sivogah, the Native American name for the area, which means "Willows." By the end of 1850, residents of the small settlement consisted of Ebenezer Brown and his three children (by a prior marriage), Phebe Draper Palmer Brown and her two children (by a prior marriage), and Phebe's brother, [[William Draper Jr. (merchant)|William Draper Jr]]. and his large family numbering about fifteen. Consequently, by the end of the settlement's first year, most residents were members of the Draper Family, and William Draper Jr. was soon called to be the presiding elder for [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] in the area. During this time, the Drapers mainly farmed, and Ebenezer Brown ranched and sold cattle to immigrants heading to the gold fields of California along what became the [[Mormon Road]]. More settlers moved to Draper in the next few years. Later the area was called South Willow Creek. By 1852, 20 families lived along the creek. In 1854, the first post office was established with the name '''Draperville''' in recognition of William Draper Jr. and its other Draper residents. The town's name in later years was shortened to '''Draper'''. (William Draper Sr., father of both William and Phebe Draper, who was older at the time of his family's settlement of Draper is buried in the town<ref>{{Citation|chapter=APPENDIX C|pages=530–541|publisher=Canadian Museum of History|isbn=978-1-77282-123-9|doi=10.2307/j.ctv16rqc.29|title=1975 and 1978 Rescue Excavations at the Draper Site|year=1985}}</ref> cemetery.)

Hostilities with the Native Americans began in 1854, and a fort was established where the local settlers lived during the winters of 1855 and 1856. The fort was never completed, as the feared hostilities did not materialize, and its former location is now the site of the Draper Historical Park and the aptly-named Fort Street.<ref>[http://www.draper.ut.us/index.aspx?NID=144 History of Draper City] from draper.ut.us accessed August 30, 2015</ref><ref>Draper Historical Committee, The History of Draper, Utah, Vol. 2: Sivogah to Draper City 1849-1977, Agreka Books, 2001</ref>

In the 1940s, Draper was known as the "Egg Basket of Utah." Eggs produced in Draper were marketed from coast to coast, and the co-op furnished eggs for the military troops in the South Pacific during WWII. The poultry business was the single most important economic industry in Draper during this time. One large poultry farm was the Washburn Poultry Farm, run by Bruce D. Washburn, with over 10,000 chickens during the 1950s.

Draper remained a small farming community until the late 1990s when its population began growing exponentially from 7,257 in 1990 to an estimated 47,710 in 2018.

Draper was incorporated as a city in 1978.