When the railroad came to Lehi, the small town was forever changed. On 23 August 1872, Lehi became the terminus of the Southern Utah Railroad. Passengers and goods shipped to the towns of Southern Utah were distributed from Lehi. Many people moved into the city to work for the railroad or freighting companies. Almost overnight a new business district was created in northern Lehi capitalizing on the potential commerce that came with the railroad. In October 1872, the American Fork Railroad reached Lehi and was connected to the Southern Utah Railroad. Other branches serving Tintic and other towns were available in the years to come.

Lehi Junction, (also called the “New Survey” or “other side of the creek”) was a nearly self-contained community in the northwest section of Lehi that was built around the railroad. The railroad yard was located east of 1200 West approximately where General Refractories used to be. The yard was very busy with trains coming and going. There were several structures tied to the railroads, including a water tower for filling the steam engines, a round house and engine houses which were used to repair the trains.

In October 1884, a microburst wind blew through the railroad yard at Lehi Junction. The strong wind destroyed the Salt Lake & Western engine house but was not felt in Lehi or surrounding areas. Thankfully, the building was empty at the time. On 28 July 1922, round-house foreman Thomas Yates was alone in the building when the train crew brought a string of railcars through the building. Unknown to them, the string of cars included a rail loader which was three feet taller than the round-house door. When it hit, the building was demolished on top of Mr. Yates. Thankfully, he was not killed and escaped with only some bruising.

The Union Pacific train station in Lehi Junction was the Cutler Station, named after local businessman Thomas R. Cutler. In anticipation of the railroad coming into town, Thomas R. Cutler opened the People’s Co-operative Mercantile Institution on 4 April 1872 located at 206 East State. Business did so well that he built a two-story building with a basement located at 173 East State in 1878. General stores, leeching works, freight companies, brickyards and so forth took advantage of the easy access to shipping and receiving goods.

With all the families moving into Lehi Junction, it became necessary to build a school in that area. The children had been attending the Thurman School which was around two miles away. The Franklin School, (located around 545 West State) was built in 1875. The one-room adobe school instantly became the social center of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in the area because the nearest meeting house was also around two miles away.

For more than 20 years, the Church members in Lehi Junction made the long journey to the meeting house on 100 South and 200 West to attend church. In 1893, the Church members living in Lehi Junction were organized into the North Branch and immediately began raising money to build a chapel. By 14 October 1894, their new meeting house located at 1190 North 500 West was completed enough to hold church services.

In 1881, Heber Comer built a store on the corner of 2100 North and Railroad Street. He ran the store until 1890 when he moved his enterprise into town. In 1905 Charles L. Johnson bought the Junction store. Much of his business was supplying the mining towns further down the railroad tracks. In 1916-17, he built a new brick store near the old one. This store remained in use with various owners, for nearly 40 years.

Today, (2025) there are few remaining structures from the original Lehi Junction. In 1937, the roundhouse was demolished, a year later the Cutler Station was also removed. The old Johnson Store building on Railroad Street remains as a solitary reminder of bygone days when Lehi Junction was in its prime.