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Jesse Fox Jr. developed the area South Salt Lake referred to as Central Park around 1890. Mr. Fox chose the name after visiting New York and seeing Central Park there. He was impressed by the park and its design within an urban environment. Despite South Salt Lake being rural at the time, he decided to name the area Central Park.

In 1925 the LDS Central Park Ward was created and named after the development. In 1936, an attempted annexation by Salt Lake City failed due to concerns over funding and implementation of a sewer system. On August 14, 1936 a resolution creating the Town of Central Park was approved by the Board of County Commissioners - however, this did not last long, as voters then decided to disincorporate the town in 1937.

In a close vote, voters then approved incorporation of South Salt Lake. On September 29, 1938, still in need of a sewer system, South Salt Lake voted to incorporate as the Town of South Salt Lake, with Robert R. Fitts as the first town president. The town was also lacking many other basic amenities at the time that would be easier to implement with incorporation, such as a post office and fire department.

In 1939, the Works Progress Administration finally began construction of a sewer system, with a cost of $462,000. The original boundary of South Salt Lake was from 500 East to 300 West and 2100 South to Mill Creek on the south. On August 1, 1950 the population had increased enough for South Salt Lake to be designated as a third class city.

This changed the form of government to a mayor and city council. The town president of the time, Marlow Callahan, became the first mayor of the City of South Salt Lake. In the 1990s, South Salt Lake annexed portions of an unincorporated portion of Salt Lake County to the south, and nearly doubled in land area and population. On January 4, 2010, Cherie Wood became South Salt Lake's first female mayor.

During her administration, South Salt Lake has seen extensive redevelopment efforts. In 2012, a Chinatown development opened on a lot in the city near 3500 South and State Street. It is the only Chinatown in the Intermountain West. In addition to having many Asian-themed restaurants, it has a large Asian-themed supermarket.

In 2017, after nearly 7 years of planning, ground was broken on a new mixed-use development known as The Crossing (formerly called Market Station) between State St. and Main St. just south of 2100 South, intended to serve as South Salt Lake's "downtown". This development is oriented around mass transit, with an S-Line streetcar stop adjacent to the development, and 1 stop away from the Central Pointe TRAX Station.

The first phase includes a WinCo Foods and a townhome development. Ultimately, this downtown development is planned to have 2,500 family housing units, 1.5 million square feet of retail, 3 million square feet of office and commercial space, and additional greenspace and trails.