Land in the area now known as Perry was first claimed in 1851 by Orrin Porter Rockwell and his brother Merritt, at a place now called Porter Spring. However, they only laid claim to the land and did not build a residence. Settlement by Mormon pioneers began in 1853, when William Plummer Tippets built a cabin at the settlement known as "Three Mile Creek", there being a creek three miles south of Box Elder. Another settlement known as "Welsh Settlement" was midway between Three Mile Creek and Box Elder, which joined with Three Mile Creek in 1869. In 1898 the community was renamed Perry after Gustavus Adolphus Perry and his family, who were among the early settlers. In 1854 Gustavus Adolphus Perry was made LDSbranch president at the location. It had various branch presidents from then until 1877. In 1877 it was made a ward with Orrin Alonzo Perry as bishop. In 1930 there were 341 inhabitants in Perry. It still only had enough Latter-day Saints for one ward. In the spring of 2008 the Perry Utah Stake was created by a division of the Willard Utah Stake. This stake consists of nine wards, but one of the wards in the Willard Stake is a Perry Ward as well. In June 1896 a partially completed reservoir at the mouth of Three Mile Creek Canyon overflowed, flooding much of the town, destroying homes and covering farms with mud and gravel. A second flood in 1923 caused less damage.
Geography
Perry is located in southeastern Box Elder County and is bordered by Brigham City to the north and Willard to the south. The east side of the city is bordered by Cache National Forest at the northern end of the Wasatch Range. Interstate Highways 15 and 84 run through the west side of the city, with access south of the city from Exit 357 in Willard and north of the city from Exit 362 through Brigham City. U.S. Route 89 runs through the center of the city. The city has historically been primarily rural agricultural, consisting of family dairies, cattle farms, and fruit orchards, with many fruit stands along U.S. 89 through Box Elder County to southern Idaho known as Utah's Fruit Belt. It is now primarily a suburban residential community, with some commercial along the northern border with Brigham City and along U.S. 89. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all of it land.
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 4,512 people, 1,373 households, and 1,179 families residing in the city. The population density was 564 people per square mile. There were 1,427 housing units at an average density of 178.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 94.5% White, 0.1% African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 1.8% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.6% of the population. There were 1,373 households out of which 46.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.3% were married couplesliving together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.1% were non-families. 12.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.29 and the average family size was 3.60. In the city, the population was spread out with 36.1% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 101 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.4 males. During the census of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $52,500, and the median income for a family was $57,857. Males had a median income of $41,761 versus $26,806 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,092. About 1.2% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Perry is part of the Box Elder School District. The city has one public, and one public charter, elementary school. Students attend schools in Willard and Brigham City for other grades.
