Fort Harmony, Adventure, and Northrup were abandoned, and Santa Clara, St. George, Washington, Harrisburg, Heberville, Grafton, and Duncans Retreat were nearly destroyed by theGreat Flood of 1862 that followed 44 days of rainfall in January and February 1862.[10]New Harmony,Springdale andRockville were founded in 1862 by settlers flooded out of Fort Harmony, Adventure, Northrup and other places in the vicinity. Harrisburg was relocated.
Shoal Creek later called Hebron, was a ranching community established in 1862 west of the county.Leeds was settled in 1867, andSilver Reef was a mining town begun in 1875 and abandoned by 1891 due to the collapse in silver prices.[9]
The old federalUtah Territory's territorial legislature created Washington County on March 3, 1852, in the southern border area of the Territory, adjacent to the then old federalNew Mexico Territory of 1850-1912. It was not fully organized at that time, and so it was attached toIron County, which was adjacent to the north for temporary administrative and judicial purposes in itscounty seat town and courthouse ofParowan, for its first four years. This continued until February 23, 1856, when the organization was completed, Saint George was listed as the newly designatedcounty seat and site of a courthouse, and the attachment to Iron County was terminated. The county boundaries were altered a dozen times after that; but its boundaries have retained their present configuration since March 10, 1892, four years beforestatehood was achieved in 1896.[11]
Washington County lies in the southwest corner of Utah. Its south border abuts the northern border of the state ofArizona, and its west border abuts the east border of the state ofNevada. Its terrain is rough and arid, with a little area devoted to agriculture. It is a mixture of mountains and flat stretches.[12] The terrain slopes to the south and west; thelowest point in the state of Utah is located in theBeaver Dam Wash in Washington County, where it (seasonally) flows out of Utah and intoArizona, at 2,178 ft (664 m) ASL.[13] The county's highest point isSignal Peak in the Pine Valley Mountains, at 10,369 ft (3,160 m) ASL.[14] The county has a total area of 2,430 square miles (6,300 km2), of which 2,426 square miles (6,280 km2) is land and 3.6 square miles (9.3 km2) (comprising 0.1%) is water.[15]
Washington County is made up of three major geographic areas; theColorado Plateau in the east-northeast, theGreat Basin in the northwest, and theMojave Desert in the south-southwest.
Most of the population is centered in the south-central part of the county near the Arizona border aroundSt. George. Most national shopping, dining, and hospitality chains are located here, along with several local businesses. The climate of this section of the county is typical of theMojave Desert in which it lies; its annual rainfall is 8 inches, and it is the lowest elevation in Washington County, making it particularly hot and dry compared to the rest of the county. Most homes are located insubdivisions characteristic of a growingurban sprawl. In Downtown St. George, several local restaurants and stores call the area home, and despite its small size, it tends to attract many locals and tourists alike. To combat the sprawl (which threatens many nature reserves and increases congestion), growth and promotion are projected inward to the central area of St. George, with many new infill developments being planned and constructed. The center of the city, or downtown, also containsUtah Tech University, the only four-year college within a 50-mile (80 km) radius.Dixie High School is also located in the downtown area.
Most commercial and industrial lots exist in the eastern portion of the Greater St. George Area in eastern St. George andWashington. Rapidly expanding suburbs also exist there, especially in an area known as Washington Fields. Large irrigated farms have been sold to commercial and residential developers to make way for the anticipated need for more housing and business.Pine View High School is in this section and serves the east side and Washington. To accommodate the rapidly expanding population, an additional high school (Crimson Cliffs High School) has been built in the Washington Fields area.
The western portion of the urban area contains the suburbs of Santa Clara and Ivins, and the neighborhoods of Green Valley, Dixie Downs, Sunset, and Tonaquint. Due to this area's proximity toSnow Canyon State Park, this has resulted in the construction of many resort-style communities and gated subdivisions such as Entrada, Kayenta, and the Palisades, with homes often exceeding $1,000,000 in price. However, there are still many other neighborhoods and older houses that tend to be more affordable. This section is served bySnow Canyon High School.
The southern portion of the city contains the neighborhoods of Southgate, Bloomington, Bloomington Hills, SunRiver, Desert's Edge (near the airport), and Hidden Valley and is served byDesert Hills High School. Limitations on development in this area exist due to terrain, and as such, it contains less population than its east and west counterparts. TheSR-7 freeway, also known as Southern Parkway, has been built as a beltway to accommodate future growth in the southeastern portion of St. George and Washington. The partially constructed freeway also connects toSt. George Regional Airport, and in the future, will provide a vital connection to the community ofHurricane, which will thereby provide quicker and more efficient access to Zion National Park, thus providing an alternative route to Interstate 15.
Despite its scenic location amid red sandstone, lava fields, and the backdrop of thePine Valley Mountains, the northern area of St. George is almost entirely undeveloped due to the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, which protects a variety of endangered wildlife and unspoiled desert. The only communities in northern St. George are The Ledges and Winchester Hills in the west, and Green Springs, near Washington, in the east. While the community of Winchester Hills has existed for many decades, The Ledges is a newer development met with significant controversy. A few houses in the gate portion feature what many consider to be multimillion-dollar views of Snow Canyon State Park and are visible from inside the state park. This has led many to believe that the beauty of Snow Canyon is in jeopardy due to the City of St. George's willingness to sell the land around the park to private companies. In reality, only three houses are visible inside the canyon, although more visible lots exist to be built upon. On the opposite end of the city is Green Springs, an upscale multimillion-dollar development that consists of a golf course and many distinct gated and non-gated housing communities.
On the east side of the metropolitan area lies the cities ofHurricane andLa Verkin. Because this locale is disconnected from the rest of the area by undeveloped swaths of land, it is still usually considered distinct from urban St. George, though this may change in the future due to anticipated development that will connect these cities. This area is more farm-based and rural than St. George, but is still experiencing rapid expansion in commercial, industrial, and residential development like the rest of the region. It is served byHurricane High School.
While the entire county, due to its large size, is considered part of the St. George Metropolitan Area, most land in the county is rural.
In the middle and north of Washington County, a sparse population exists. The center-county communities ofCentral andPine Valley are popular resort communities and contain many cabins and recreational parks due to their locations inDixie National Forest and thePine Valley Mountains.Veyo andDammeron Valley, also near the center of the county, are primarily ranching towns, with most houses situated on large plots of land. This central area of Washington County is generally more wet and humid than the rest of the county due to its high elevation and high precipitation. In Pine Valley, precipitation often exceeds 20 inches per year.
The northern portion of Washington County is semi-arid and dry, albeit less so than in the southern portion. The only incorporated town in this area isEnterprise with a population of just over 1,700. Enterprise is the home of the only secondary school outside of the Greater St. George Area, Enterprise High School. The town contains a small grocery store and multiple gas stations but is very quaint and rural when compared to the urban area of St. George.
Western Washington County is home toGunlock; also a ranching town, and a small Native American reserve namedShivwits, occupied by theShivwits Band of Paiutes. This area of the county is also the location of the lowest area of the state, Beaver Dam Wash.
Eastern Washington County is also sparsely populated. However, the towns ofRockville andSpringdale are filled with major hotels and resorts, despite their small sizes. This is due to their extreme proximity to Zion National Park, one of the most visited national parks in the United States. Springdale, in particular, contains many kitschy shopping and dining options. Most of the income in these two towns is fueled by tourism alone.
There are 18 officialwilderness areas in Washington County that are part of theNational Wilderness Preservation System. Most are entities managed by theBureau of Land Management, but some are integral parts of the above-listed protected areas. Two of these extend into neighboring counties (as indicated below). Many of the BLM wildernesses are not much more than small appendages of Zion Wilderness in Zion National Park:
Washington County, Utah – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
There were 89,115 (49.43%) males and 91,164 (50.57%) females, and the population distribution by age was 47,542 (26.4%) under the age of 18, 92,818 (51.5%) from 18 to 64, and 39,919 (22.1%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 37.6 years.
There were 62,416 households in Washington County with an average size of 2.89 of which 46,724 (74.9%) were families and 15,692 (25.1%) were non-families. Among all families, 38,423 (61.6%) weremarried couples, 2,728 (4.4%) were male householders with no spouse, and 5,573 (8.9%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 12,372 (19.8%) were a single person living alone and 3,320 (5.3%) were two or more people living together. 20,177 (32.3%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 45,539 (73.0%) of households wereowner-occupied while 16,877 (27.0%) wererenter-occupied.
The median income for a Washington County household was $61,747 and the median family income was $72,683, with aper-capita income of $29,886. The median income for males that werefull-time employees was $50,029 and for females $36,844. 10.0% of the population and 7.2% of families were below thepoverty line.
Washington County has traditionally voted Republican; it voted forFranklin D. Roosevelt in all four of his elections but as of 2020 has not been carried by any Democratic presidential candidate since.
(1994)"The Cotton Mission" article in theUtah History Encyclopedia. The article was written by Georgene Cahoon Evans and the Encyclopedia was published by the University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874804256. Archived fromthe original on March 22, 2023, and retrieved on April 13, 2024.
(1994)"Washington County" article in theUtah History Encyclopedia. The article was written by Linda Thatcher and the Encyclopedia was published by the University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874804256. Archived fromthe original on March 21, 2024, and retrieved on March 27, 2024.
