In the mid-1970s Centerville adopted the slogan "Friendly City Beside the Great Salt Lake." Situated some twelve miles north of Salt Lake City, Centerville encompasses the area from Lund Lane on the north to Pages Lane on the south, a distance of 3.3 miles, and extends, with some minor deviations, from the mountains on the east to the shores of the lake. Population as of the 1990 census was 11,500.

Thomas Grover, and the Deuel brothers, Osmyn and William, were the first settlers, arriving in early 1848. They were soon followed by other families, and a little settlement was born. They dragged logs to build homes down the steep mountains. They lacked nails, so many of the homes were held together by wooden pegs or rawhide thongs. Later, some built their houses of adobe, made of clay and straw dried in the sun. More substantial homes were constructed from rocks washed down from the hills or found in the beds of streams.

A fort wall was commenced in 1853 to protect against Indian attack, but the project was soon abandoned. A new wall was started in 1854, made of rocks and dirt. It was six feet wide at the base, and about eight feet high. As the expected Indian attacks never materialized, this second wall also never was completed. Centerville was variously known in the early days as Deuel Creek Settlement, then as Cherry Settlement, and finally as Centerville.

The early small settlements of Utah were characterized by the unplanned mix of men and women from widely scattered places and vastly different cultures who came together for a common cause, and who generally discovered that the talents, skills, and determination that a struggling group of people needed for their survival were to be found among them.

Some had proficiency as carpenters and builders. Some were competent farmers or livestock raisers. Others were or learned to become weavers, blacksmiths, coopers, shoemakers, millers, wheelwrights, seamstresses, teachers, midwives, dentists, merchants, masons, musicians. Many were self-trained and self-taught. Others had served apprenticeships in their homeland. Some of their skills were vital to the actual physical survival of the communities. Others were valuable as respite from their difficult yet often humdrum existence.

Many housewives carded wool and spun the yarn on spinning wheels; others had looms for weaving cloth from which they fashioned clothing, bedding, tablecloths, and rag carpets. They made dyes of different colors from various plants in their yards and gardens; they made soap, using their own homemade lye; they made candles. Starch was made from potatoes. They knitted socks, stockings, mittens, gloves, and shawls.

While the women were thus busily engaged, the men made furniture and wooden cooking utensils such as butter bowls, trays, chopping bowls, ladles and spoons, potato mashers, and rolling pins. These items supplemented the few items of china, crockery, iron kettles, skillets, and dutch ovens that some had brought across the plains with them. Families lived mainly by their own production, and exchanged products with their neighbors. Every home and farm was a little kingdom to itself.

Numerous small enterprises sprang up in Centerville, such as grocery stores, a molasses mill, flour mill, sawmill, blacksmith shops, and a cooperage. There were also shoemakers, tailors, carpenters and cabinetmakers, wheelwright, rock masons, nurseries, a meat market, and even a small silkworm operation. Probably the most important business was the old Centerville Co-op, built at Main and Center in 1869. When money was scarce, housewives traded eggs, butter, and other items for store merchandise. In business for many years, the Co-op finally closed in 1940, and the building has since been used as a lumberyard, restaurant, and law offices.

The first schoolhouse was built of logs in 1851. As the community grew, more and finer schools were built, the older buildings being abandoned, torn down, or converted to different uses. Today Centerville boasts a large junior high school and four modern elementary schools.

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