Celebrate South Salt Lake (formerly called Founder's Day) is our big birthday bash. It's the community-wide celebration of the founding of South Salt Lake. We honor our past, present, and future with residents during the celebration event. The evening includes kid's activities, live entertainment, engagement opportunities with staff from various City Departments, food trucks, and more. The night culminates with a spectacular drone light show.
Some History
It's fitting to host the founding celebration at Central Park Community Center, because before being incorporated as South Salt Lake in 1938, the area was called Town of Central Park. Jesse Fox was an early settler of the area and filed a petition to the Salt Lake County Commissioners Office for the Central Park name, which was granted on August 19, 1936. Fox named the area Central Park because he had visited Central Park in New York and through it was a beautiful place.
At the time, citizens of Central Park were in desperate need of a sewer system. In 1936 Salt Lake City agreed to annex the area, but could not guarantee a sewer system for several years. Under the leadership of Robert Fitts, the residents convened and started the work to incorporate as a township. The group was met with some opposition, but Fitts persevered and voters approved incorporation on September 28, 1938 under the name South Salt Lake. In 1939, the new sewer was constructed.