Beaver County, Utah

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Beaver County is a county in west central Utah, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 7,072,<ref name=census20/> up from the 2010 figure of 6,629.<ref name=QF>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat and largest city is Beaver.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county was named for the abundance of beaver in the area.

History

Explorers of European descent first visited present-day Beaver County in the 1776 Domínguez-Escalante Expedition. The proposed territory of Deseret (soon changed to Utah Territory) began with the arrival of Mormon pioneers in 1847. After the immediate Great Salt Lake City area was settled, settlers moved into more outlying areas, including the future Beaver County area. The county was created by the Utah territorial legislature from a section of Iron County on January 5, 1856, before the settlement of Beaver town was founded later that year. The county was named for the animal, which was plentiful there.<ref>Van Cott, J. W., 1990, Utah Place Names, Template:ISBN</ref> The county boundary as delineated by that act included areas in present-day Colorado and Nevada. The defined boundary was altered on January 16, 1861, by the creation of two counties in present Nevada. The county area was effectively reduced on February 28, 1861, by the US Congress when it created Colorado Territory, taking all of the Beaver County areas east of 109 degrees longitude. The county's boundary was enlarged on January 17, 1861, by the addition of parcels from Millard, Sanpete, and St. Mary's counties. However, its west area was reduced by the creation of the Nevada Territory on July 14, 1862 (this adjustment was altered on May 5, 1866, by the action of the US Congress, effectively ceding all Beaver County area west of 114 degrees longitude to Nevada counties). The county area was also reduced on January 16, 1865, when Piute County was created from Beaver territory.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A quarter of the county's workers are employed by hog processor Smithfield Foods.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

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Beaver County (UT) Details

Beaver County lies on the west side of Utah. Its west border abuts the east border of the state of Nevada. The west part of the county consists of low rolling hills punctuated by isolated mountains. The east edge of the county runs to the crest of a north–south-running mountain ridge.<ref name=BCU>Beaver County UT Google Maps (accessed 13 March 2019)</ref> The terrain slopes to the west and north; its highest point is a mountain crest on its east border, at Template:Convert ASL.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.08%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Tushar Mountains lies on the eastern boundary of the county, reaching to Template:Convert in elevation and providing water for the farming communities of Beaver and Manderfield. To the west, barren desert valleys typify the scenery, separated by mountains lightly forested with junipers. Template:Citation needed

Adjacent counties

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Lincoln County, Nevada - west
Millard County - north
Sevier County - northeast
Piute County - east
Garfield County - southeast
Iron County - south

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Protected areas

Fishlake National Forest (part)
Indian Peak State Game Management Area
Minersville National Forest (part)

Demographics

Template:US Census population According to the 2020 United States census<ref name="2020CensusDHC">Template:Cite web</ref> and 2020 American Community Survey,<ref name="2020ACS">Template:Cite web</ref> there were 7,072 people in Beaver County with a population density of 2.7 people per square mile (1.1/km²). Among non-Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 5,717 (80.8%) White, 23 (0.3%) African American, 70 (1.0%) Native American, 32 (0.5%) Asian, 21 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 8 (0.1%) from other races, and 135 (1.9%) from two or more races. 1,066 (15.1%) people were Hispanic or Latino.

There were 3,758 (53.14%) males and 3,314 (46.86%) females, and the population distribution by age was 2,162 (30.6%) under the age of 18, 3,862 (54.6%) from 18 to 64, and 1,048 (14.8%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 34.4 years.

There were 2,276 households in Beaver County with an average size of 3.11 of which 1,692 (74.3%) were families and 584 (25.7%) were non-families. Among all families, 1,368 (60.1%) were married couples, 140 (6.2%) were male householders with no spouse, and 184 (8.1%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 497 (21.8%) were a single person living alone and 87 (3.8%) were two or more people living together. 900 (39.5%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 1,719 (75.5%) of households were owner-occupied while 557 (24.5%) were renter-occupied.

The median income for a Beaver County household was $66,705 and the median family income was $75,066, with a per-capita income of $24,540. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $53,514 and for females $36,696. 4.1% of the population and 2.9% of families were below the poverty line.

In terms of education attainment, out of the 3,871 people in Beaver County 25 years or older, 334 (8.6%) had not completed high school, 1,046 (27.0%) had a high school diploma or equivalency, 1,492 (38.5%) had some college or associate degree, 862 (22.3%) had a bachelor's degree, and 137 (3.5%) had a graduate or professional degree.

Politics and government

Beaver County voters have traditionally voted Republican. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate. Jimmy Carter in 1976 was the last Democrat to even come within ten points of winning Beaver County.

State elected offices
Position		District	Name	Affiliation	First elected
style="background-color:Template:Party color" \|	Senate	24	Derrin Owens	Republican	2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
style="background-color:Template:Party color" \|	Senate	28	Evan Vickers	Republican	2012<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
style="background-color:Template:Party color" \|	House of Representatives	68	Merrill Nelson	Republican	2012<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
style="background-color:Template:Party color" \|	House of Representatives	73	Phil Lyman	Republican	2018<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Board of Education	14	Mark Huntsman	Nonpartisan	2014<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Communities

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Cities

Beaver (county seat)
Milford

Towns

Minersville

Unincorporated communities

Former communities

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Recreation

The American Discovery Trail traverses the county running through both Beaver and Milford.
Elk Mountain is home to the Eagle Point Ski area.
Rock Corral Recreation Area, an area of geologic interest managed by the BLM