WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
WASHINGTON COUNTY, UTAH
LOCATION
Washington County is located in the very southwest corner of Utah.
Boundary Changes
HISTORY
The Anasazi Indians inhabited this area from 200 B.C. to around 1300 A.D.Paiute Indians arrived around 1100 to 1200 A.D. and continued until today.
The Dominguez-Escalante exploration group passed through the area in 1776. This was the first contact between Europeans and Paiutes.
In 1826, Jedediah Smith and his party passed through what is now Washington County. Smith and his men followed the Virgin River through the Virgin River Narrows and on to California. In subsequent years, other explorers, trappers, and traders followed Smith's route to California, including John C. Fremont, who mapped the area in 1844.
In 1849, Brigham Young sent Parley P. Pratt and fifty men to explore the Virgin River Basin and to evaluate colonization possibilities. Elder Pratt was impressed and he encouraged future settlement. Within several years, Latter-day Saint Indian missionaries and farmers began settling the area.
The county was formed on March 3, 1852 by an act of the territorial legislature. It was named for George Washington. Harmony, one of the only settlements in the area at that time, was appointed as the first county seat. The first boundaries of Washington County stretched nearly 600 miles - the entire width of the territory. As the territory was settled the county boundaries changed several times and the county seat was later changed to St. George. The county achieved its present shape and size in 1892.
By the mid-1850s, the reality of civil war hung over the United States. Brigham Young asked the Indian Missionaries in southern Utah to see if cotton could be grown in there. When they reported in the affirmative, President Young immediately made plans to colonize the Virgin River Basin. In 1857, the Samuel Adair and Robert Covington Companies were called to settle southern Utah and to grow cotton. Nearly 40 families, mostly with cotton growing experience, arrived in Washington Utah in April of 1857. The region was dubbed "Dixie".
The town of Washington was made the seat of Washington County in 1859 by act of the Territorial Legislature. But on January 14, 1863, St. George was designated as the county seat and has remained so ever since.
PHOTOS
TBDSTATISTICS
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Population
1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2010 2020 2035 2050 |
691 3,064 4,235 4,009 4,612 5,123 6,764 7,420 9,289 9,836 10,271 13,669 26,065 48,560 79,831 or 73,161 91,244 or 86,222 or 90,354 94,609 or 95,590 99,609 or 93,388 104,508 110,476 119,188 126,312 130,529 177,570 (projected in 2010) 400,000 (projected in 2007) 500,000 (projected in 2007) |
Note: The population was reportedly 138,115 on 4/1/2010 and 160,359 on 7/1/2010.
Certified Local Governments (CLGs) in Washington County
Enterprise
Hurricane
Leeds
Rockville
Santa Clara
St. George
Washington City
WEBSITES
Official Washington County websiteWikipedia article about Washington County
A history of Washington County
A history of Washington County
A history of Washington County
A history of Washington County
A history of Washington County
A history of Washington County
I Love History entry for Washington County
List of DUP Histories of Geographic Locations in Washington County
List of historic sites in Washington County
List of historic markers in Washington County
List of historic documents from Washington County
National Association of Counties information on Washington County
Washington County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Washington County Census Statistics
Citymelt.com Complete Analysis for Washington County
KindredTrails genealogy references for Washington County
ePodunk profile of Washington County
REFERENCES
A History of Washington County From Isolation to DestinationBook by Douglas D Alder and Karl F Brooks
Utah Centenial County History Series
Published by the Zion National History Association
http://www.zionpark.org
See the information page.
History of Washington County
Book by Anne Miller Eckman; Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 2002
For her DUP Lesson for April 2002, click here
I Was Called to Dixie
Book by Andrew Karl Larson
Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1961
Library Call Number 979.248
See the information page.
Under Dixie Sun: A History Of Washington County
Book by the Washington County Chapter, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
Available for sale at the DUP Museum
Library call number 979.2
See the information page.
"What Is Dixie?"
By Dr. Douglas D. Alder
A talk about the founding and early roots of Utah's Dixie given January 29, 2010 as part of the St. George Tabernacle Lecture Series.
This audio recording was made by Carl Rich of http://www.dixietoday.com.