Snapshot of Davis County

Plodding through hundreds of pages of history books can be tedious and slow. Also, in this fast-moving world, people want instant facts and trivia.

• The final section of I-15 in Davis County, from Layton to Lagoon, was not completed until 1978 at a cost of $9.9 million.

• A four-lane Highway 89, between Weber County and Farmington, opened in 1960, way ahead of its time for high traffic volume.

• Farmington was originally called North Cottonwood. It was renamed Farmington in 1852.

• Although Hill Air Force Base is situated on a hill, the base was named for Maj. Ployer P. Hill, a test pilot who was killed in a crash of the prototype B-17 at Wright Field, Ohio, in 1935. Hill AFB was established in 1940.

• Hill AFB's longest runway is 13,500 feet long.

• Layton originated as an outgrowth of Kaysville. In fact, Layton residents were upset over taxation by Kaysville without any benefits. Lawsuits to the Utah Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court were concluded in 1902 when Layton finally became an unincorporated area.

• Clearfield was originally known as Sandridge. Its name was later changed to Clearfield because of its open spaces.

• The first pioneer settlement in Davis County was believed to be near present-day 300 North and 200 West in Bountiful when Perrigrine Sessions and others set up their camp near Burton Creek in September of 1848.

• By early 1851, there were 1,134 residents at 215 locations in Davis County.

• Bountiful was originally called Sessions, North Canyon and even Stoker in the early 1850s. The area's LDS members eventually ended the name confusion and suggested a Book of Mormon name, Bountiful, as a title. The name became official in February of 1855.

• Utah's first county courthouse was in Farmington. The adobe multipurpose building was completed in 1855 and torn down in 1890.

• Salt Lake wasn't the only area to be plagued by crickets. Davis County had infestations in 1848 and 1849. "The crickets came like the locusts in the days of Moses," Bountiful area settler Perrigrine Sessions said. As in Salt Lake, seagulls ate many of the crickets.