The Utah State Prison was located in Draper from 1951 to 2022, near Point of the Mountain, alongside Interstate 15.

In the fall of 1849, Ebenezer Brown brought cattle to graze along the mountain stream of South Willow Creek.

By the end of 1850, residents of the small settlement consisted of Ebenezer Brown and his three children (by a prior marriage), Phebe Draper Palmer Brown and her two children (by a prior marriage), and Phebe's brother, William Draper Jr. and his large family numbering about fifteen.

During this time, the Drapers mainly farmed, and Ebenezer Brown ranched and sold cattle to immigrants heading to the gold fields of California along what became the Mormon Road.

Hostilities with the Native Americans began in 1854, and a fort was established where the local settlers lived during the winters of 1855 and 1856.

Draper remained a small farming community until the late 1990s when its population began growing exponentially from 7,257 in 1990 to an estimated 47,710 in 2018.

At the Point of the Mountain, Draper is known for being one of the most popular and best wind areas in the country for hang gliding and paragliding.

However, due to being further away from the Great Salt Lake, varied elevation, and from the downtown urban heat island effect, Draper experiences a slightly drier winter and more extremes in temperatures.

Draper falls on the border of the humid continental/subtropical climatic zones and is technically a cool/warm semi-arid desert environment, but with summer monsoonal moisture.

[15] Television Draper is part of the Salt Lake City DMA and is covered by KSL, FOX13, KUTV, and KTVX.