C.J. Schmidt's Drugstore and Saloon Sandy, Utah, c. 1883 Sandy experienced its initial wave of permanent settlers during the 1860s and 1870s due to the abundance of available land in the sparsely populated southern region of the Salt Lake Valley. The original layout was on an alluvial terrace that extended north and south alongside the eastern perimeter of the Jordan River drainage system, running parallel to the mountain range. The origin of its name remains shrouded in uncertainty. One prevalent notion attributes the naming of Sandy to Brigham Young, who is believed to have chosen the moniker based on the arid nature of the soil. However, historical records lack substantiating proof of this claim. An alternative hypothesis suggests that the name originates in the lore of a colorful Scottish figure, Alexander "Sandy" Kinghorn, an engineer credited with establishing the inaugural railway line to this extremity of the Salt Lake Valley. This proposal gains some credibility ...