Agrippa Cooper was the first settler in Richmond in the mid-1850s. Within a few years a scattering of log cabins, dugouts, and a log fort had been built. In 1860, a sawmill and a schoolhouse were erected. The city was likely named in honor of LDS apostle Charles C. Rich, though it may also have been named for the rich local soil or for Richmond, London, the hometown of some of its English settlers. Richmond was incorporated in 1868. Holstein cows were brought to Richmond in 1904, and thrived so well that the town was recognized as Utah's Holstein center. In 1912, the Richmond Holstein Cow Show was the first in the county. Now called Richmond's "Black & White Days", the show continues into its 107th year, and features carnival rides, food vendors, and a horse pull parade. The town's first two creameries—Cache Valley Dairy and Union Creamery—each produced up to 40,000 pounds of milk per day in 1902. The creameries were absorbed by Utah Condensed Milk Company in 1904, and then reorganized as Sego Milk Products in 1920. For many years, the plant was the largest operation west of the Mississippi. In 1971, Richmond resident Arthur Morin and 11 of his children drove in a camper to Lehigh Acres, Florida, to compete as finalists in the All American Family competition. Part of the film Napoleon Dynamite was filmed in Richmond. The hillside letters "NC" are visible on a mountainside east of Richmond at
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,051 people, 619 households, and 526 families residing in the city. The population density was 696.1 people per square mile. There were 654 housing units at an average density of 222.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 97.32% White, 0.20% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 1.56% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.49% of the population. There were 619 households out of which 49.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.5% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.9% were non-families. 13.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.31 and the average family size was 3.68. In the city, the population was spread out with 37.3% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $42,138, and the median income for a family was $45,500. Males had a median income of $31,743 versus $21,778 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,312. About 5.8% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
are produced at a Pepperidge Farm facility in Richmond. In 2011, the plant was producing over 1 million cases of Goldfish annually. The Richmond city website links to several local businesses, including Rockhill Creamery, and My Favorite Gun Store.
