Carbon County was part ofEmery County, founded in 1880. The demographics along thePrice River changed with the construction of theDenver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1883 and the development of coal mines, largely in upper Emery, to fuel the railroad. TheUtah Territory Legislature was petitioned to split off the north part, and thus it established Carbon County effective March 8, 1894.[3] It was named for the elementCarbon, to emphasize the industrial nature of the area.[4]
TheGreen River flows south-southeastward along the county's eastern border. The lower central part of Carbon County is a continuation of Castle Valley inEmery County, but in Carbon, the valley is ringed with mountains - theWasatch Range to the west and northwest, and theBook Cliffs to the north and northeast.[6] The county generally slopes to the south and east; its highest point is Monument Peak on the crest of the Wasatch Mountains near the midpoint of the county's western border,[6] at 10,452 ft (3,186 m) ASL.[7] The county has a total area of 1,485 square miles (3,850 km2), of which 1,478 square miles (3,830 km2) is land and 6.1 square miles (16 km2) (0.4%) is water.[8]
There were 10,228 (50.11%) males and 10,184 (49.89%) females, and the population distribution by age was 5,227 (25.6%) under the age of 18, 11,372 (55.7%) from 18 to 64, and 3,813 (18.7%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 38.6 years.
There were 7,950 households in Carbon County with an average size of 2.57 of which 5,279 (66.4%) were families and 2,671 (33.6%) were non-families. Among all families, 3,994 (50.2%) weremarried couples, 433 (5.4%) were male householders with no spouse, and 852 (10.7%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 2,231 (28.1%) were a single person living alone and 440 (5.5%) were two or more people living together. 2,500 (31.4%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 5,665 (71.3%) of households wereowner-occupied while 2,285 (28.7%) wererenter-occupied.
The median income for a Carbon County household was $50,328 and the median family income was $63,902, with aper-capita income of $23,613. The median income for males that werefull-time employees was $54,063 and for females $32,545. 15.9% of the population and 13.1% of families were below thepoverty line.
As of the2010 United States Census, there were 21,403 people, 7,978 households, and 5,587 families in the county. Thepopulation density was 14.48 people per square mile (5.59 people/km2). There were 9,551 housing units, with an average density of 6.46 per square mile (2.49/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 92.31%White, 0.43%Black orAfrican American, 1.18%Native American, 0.58%Asian, 0.01%Pacific Islander, 3.03% fromother races, and 2.36% from two or more races. 12.42% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 7,978 households, of which 30.16% had children under 18. 54.50% weremarried couples living together, 10.65% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.97% were non-families. 25.50% of all households were made up of individuals (one person), and 11.07% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61, and the average family size was 3.14.
The population contained 30.41% under the age of 20, 6.82% aged 20 to 24, 23.73% aged 25 to 44, 25.48% aged 45 to 64, and 13.56% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.4. For every 100 females, there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 96.88 males.
Carbon County historically was the base of Democratic Party support in strongly Republican Utah with its sizable unionized mining population. It voted forBill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 by wide margins. In 1964Lyndon Johnson carried 72.7% of votes in the county. At the state level, it was no less Democratic; in the 1992 gubernatorial election, it was one of two counties (the other being Summit County) that voted for Democratic candidate Stewart Hanson over RepublicanMichael Leavitt.
Since the turn of the millennium, however, Carbon County has trended Republican. It voted forGeorge W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 while voting for the Democratic gubernatorial candidates. In 2008, John McCain won Carbon County with 52.60% of the vote, versus 44.59% for Barack Obama, making him the last Democratic nominee to win more than forty percent of the county's vote. In 2012, the county's Democratic vote fell further asMitt Romney carried 67.3% to 30.1% for Obama. In 2016, despite Utah's strong swing against the Republicans due to the presence of conservative independent Evan McMullin, Carbon County was the only county in the state to swing more Republican, asDonald Trump won 66% toHillary Clinton's 21.5% percent. In 2020, Trump again carried the county with the largest percentage (71.4%) of any Republican to date.
There are five public elementary schools in Carbon County (Bruin Point, Castle Heights, Creekview, Sally Mauro, and Wellington); two middle schools (Helper and Mont Harmon); one high school (Carbon High School). It is also the location of the charterPinnacle Canyon Academy, which serves grades K-12, as well as the Castle Valley Center for disabled children.
(1994)"Carbon County" article in theUtah History Encyclopedia. The article was written by Philip F. Notarianni and the Encyclopedia was published by the University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874804256. Archived fromthe original on December 2, 2022, and retrieved on April 6, 2024.
(1994)"Coal Mining in Utah" article in theUtah History Encyclopedia. The article was written by Nancy J. Taniguchi and the Encyclopedia was published by the University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874804256. Archived fromthe original on November 3, 2022, and retrieved on April 12, 2024.
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