When the Mormon pioneers emerged from Emigration Canyon in July 1847, they saw before them a vast windswept valley stretching thirty miles to the southwest. Less than two years later, as communities began to spring up in various locations around the valley, a small number of settlers ventured across the Jordan River in order to establish homes and farms.

Alexander Beckstead and his family were among the original few who commenced homesteads "over Jordan" in 1849. Beckstead's first home was in West Jordan, but he permanently moved his family to South Jordan in 1859. It is interesting to note that several of the early pioneers to the area of South Jordan lived initially in earthen dugouts fashioned "under the hill" just above the Jordan River. The wilderness of South Jordan had previously been inhabited by coyotes, jackrabbits, and hardy Native Americans.

Other early settlers of South Jordan included Isaac Wardle, as well as his brother and father, John and William Wardle. Isaac had been a member of the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company of 1856. Frederick A. Cooper, Henry Tempest, John W. Winward, and George Shields settled in the same year of 1859 or soon thereafter. Robert Holt traveled to South Jordan from Dorsetshire, England in, 1863. His sons Matthew and Edward also came. Other families who came to South Jordan in the early years were those of James Oliver, Thomas Alsop, James Wood, Jesse Vincent, George Soffe, and David Jenkins. All were Mormons.

The South Jordan Branch of the West Jordan LDS Ward was organized in 1863 with James Woods as president. In 1867 he was succeeded by William A. Bills, who served for 33 years. Ann Holt was the first Relief Society president. She served for more than thirty years in that capacity and also delivered over 500 babies as a midwife in the area.

Raising livestock and growing grain and alfalfa were the chief means of livelihood for early residents of South Jordan. During the greater part of the twentieth century, the major crop in South Jordan was sugar beets. Today, the remaining agriculture consists of small plots of land where grain and hay are grown to feed horses and a few cattle.

A landmark day occurred on 14 January 1914 when South Jordan residents participated in a celebration commemorating the installation of a water system, the bringing of electricity into town, and the completion of the interurban railroad, which connected the rural farming village with larger cities to the north and south. The occasion seemed to signal a major shift from the days of horse and buggy toward the modern age.

On 8 November 1935 South Jordan became an incorporated city with a town board and board president. South Jordan City later changed to a part-time mayor with a five-member city council and a full-time city administrator.

Businesses were few while South Jordan remained a quiet farm community. There were the Jordan Merc, H&E Service, Holt's Service, and the White Fawn Flour Mill; all four are gone now. In modern South Jordan a dozen small businesses thrive along with a major grocery store, a freeway motel, and high-rise business towers. Considerable additional land has been zoned along the freeway and east of Redwood Road for business development. Public recreational facilities have been provided, with more than 233 acres of land either already developed or set aside for development as parks. Further recreational outlets in the city include a private golf course and a county-operated equestrian complex and race track, among others.

In 1993 the city included four elementary schools, South Jordan Middle School, and Bingham High School. The city was one of the wealthiest communities in Utah in 1993, with a median family income of $35,832. The population of South Jordan was 13,500 in June 1991, with approximately 1,300 people moving in each year.

The agrarian lifestyle which prevailed in South Jordan for its first century of existence has been preserved to some extent even as it became a third-class city in 1963 and as it has continued to expand in population ever since. South Jordan was reportedly the fastest growing city in the state during the early 1990s with a ten percent annual growth rate. Government and civic leaders have planned for controlled future development in order to preserve the "remarkable quality of life" and unique heritage found in South Jordan. Residing in South Jordan has been aptly termed "life just off the fast lane."