Utah County was historically home to Native Americans. The first permanent white settlers in Utah Valley were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sent south from their original settlement in Salt Lake City by their leader Brigham Young in approximately 1849. On January 28, 1850, the territorial legislature, called General Assembly of the State of Deseret, declared that Utah Valley would be Utah County and they named Provo as its county seat. For the next two years, county record-keeping was inconsistent as there were no permanent officials instated. However, on February 7, 1852, Preston Thomas was appointed as probate judge and instituted order amongst the government's record keeping. Certain "selectmen" including a probate judge, clerk, recorder, sheriff, and treasurer, were also appointed.

From 1857 to 1861 the Salt Lake City area was used as a base for military troops, which upset many of the Latter-day Saint settlers there and caused a movement of the population south into Utah County. Utah County has been the site of various development projects such as the Deer Creek Dam and Reservoir, which provides irrigation and water to nearby communities. In the early twentieth century the county was the main provider of steel for WWII, with Geneva Steel being one of the few main employers in the area. Major cities in Utah County include Orem, Provo, Draper, Payson, American Fork, Lehi, Pleasant Grove, Saratoga Springs, and Spanish Fork.

Lucius N. Scovil was born on March 18, 1806, in Middlebury, New Haven, Connecticut to parents Joel Scovil and Lydia Manville. He married Lury Snow on June 18, 1828, and they had nine children together. In 1835, Snow and Scovil moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where they were both baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by the Prophet Joseph Smith on July 2, 1836. In October, Scovil was ordained an Elder and in November he was called on his first mission to Delaware County, Ohio. He came home because of rumors of mob violence, which would eventually drive him, his family, and other members of the Church to Missouri and Illinois. Scovil served a second mission in England and immigrated to the West with his family after his mission. In Utah, he became the Superintendent of Public Works for Provo and served as a probate judge for Utah County. Scovil married six other wives: Alice Greaves Hurst, Emma Whaley, Hannah Marie Marsden, Sarah Elizabeth (Libby) McArthur, Rebecca E (Celia) Brown, and Jane Fales.

Scovil died on February 14, 1889, in Springville, Utah.