Sevier County, Utah

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Sevier County (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a county in Utah, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 21,522.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat and largest city is Richfield.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pando, a clonal quaking aspen stand, that, according to some sources, is the oldest (80,000 years) and largest (106 acres, 13 million pounds) organism on Earth, is located in this county.

History

Evidence of indigenous peoples residing in Sevier County up to 5,000 BP has been unearthed.<ref>Excavations for US Interstate I-70 in the 1980s produced archaeologic data dating back 5,000 years.</ref> The Fremont culture of Native Americans occupied the area from about 2000 to 700 BP.<ref>Snow, Dean R. (2009). Archaeology of Native North America. Prentice Hall Template:ISBN.</ref> The Clear Creek site contains native petroglyphs from that period.

In Utah, the Numic- (or Shoshonean) speaking peoples of the Uto-Aztecan language family evolved into four distinct groups in the historical period: the Northern Shoshone, Goshute or Western Shoshone, Southern Paiute, and Ute peoples. This territory's central and eastern sections were occupied primarily by various bands of the Ute.<ref>David Rich Lewis, "Native Americans in Utah", Utah History Encyclopedia (accessed December 6, 2016)</ref>

The first modern sighting of the Sevier River was most likely by the Catholic fathers Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez, on their expedition to California in 1776.<ref>The Spanish Catholic clerics traveled the Great Basin to find a reported river to the Pacific Ocean. In this area, they discovered a turbulent ("severo") river that flowed northward to Yuba Lake. Thus the name "Sevier."</ref> The Old Spanish Trail was the route they mapped. Over the next century, this trail carried fur trappers, hunters, government officials, traders, and settlers.

Settlement of this area began when Richfield was first settled. Mormon settlers (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) arrived on June 15, 1864, most of whom had emigrated from Scandinavian countries. Because of the growth in this small community, the people soon petitioned Utah Territory officials about a separate county.<ref>Bishop, M. Guy. A History of Sevier County. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1997.</ref>

On January 16, 1865, the Utah Territory legislature created the county, with the area annexed from Sanpete County. It was named for the Sevier River.<ref>Van Cott, J. W., 1990, Utah Place Names, Template:ISBN</ref> The county seat was Big Spring (later named Richfield). The county borders were adjusted in 1866, 1880, 1890, and in 1921. A clarification of boundary lines corresponding to government survey lines was completed in 1931, marking the present configuration of Sevier County.<ref>Individual County Chronologies/Sevier County UT Newberry Library Template:Webarchive (accessed March 29, 2019)</ref>

Although the county was in place by 1865, much of Sevier County was abandoned in the Black Hawk War in 1867. Attempts to resettle the area were not successful until 1870. By 1874, 753 residents lived in the area.<ref>"History of Sevier County" Sevier County website (accessed 29 March 2019)</ref>

Geography

Sevier County terrain consists of semi-arid but arable rolling areas punctuated by northeast–southwest mountain ridges, usually forested.<ref name=SCU>Sevier County UT Google Maps (accessed 29 March 2019)</ref> The highest point is Fish Lake Hightop in the Central Utah Plateau, at Template:Convert ASL.<ref>Utah County High Points/Sevier County. Peakbaggers (accessed 29 March 2019)</ref> The county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.4%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Capitol Reef National Park (part)
Fishlake National Forest (part)
Fremont Indian State Park and Museum
Koosharem Reservoir Recreation Site
Manti-La Sal National Forest (part)
Sand Ledges Recreation Area
Willow Creek Wildlife Management Area

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Lakes

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Abes Reservoir
Acord Lakes
Annabella Reservoir
Bear Valley Reservoir
Big Lake
Boobe Hole Reservoir
Broadhead Lakes
Cold Spring (near Twin Ponds)
Coots Slough
Crater Lakes
Davis Hollow Reservoir
Deep Lake
Duck Lake
Emerald Lakes
Farnsworth Reservoir
Farrell Pond
Fish Lake
Floating Island Lake
Forsyth Reservoir
Gardner Hollow Reservoirs
Gates Lake
Hamilton Reservoir
Harves River Reservoir
Hepplers Ponds
Hunts Lakes
Indian Springs
Jeffery Reservoir
Jensen Spring
Johnson Valley Reservoir
Killian Spring
Koosharem Reservoir
Lake Louise
Lost Creek Reservoir
Lower Hunts Lake
Magelby Reservoir
Meeks Lake
Mill Meadow Reservoir (part)
Morrell Pond
Mud Lake
Oles Pond
Ox Spring
Paradise Valley Lake
Redmond Lake
Rex Reservoir
Rim Seep
Rocky Ford Reservoir
Saleratus Reservoir
Salina Reservoir
Sargent Lake
Scrub Flat Reservoir
Sheep Valley Reservoir
Silas Spring
Skutumpah Reservoir
Slide Lake
Snow Fence Pond
Snow Lake
Solomon Reservoir
Spring Reservoir
The Potholes
Three Creeks Reservoir
Three Lakes (two of the three)
Tidwell Pond
Twin Lake
Twin Ponds
Washburn Reservoir
Willies Flat Reservoir
Willow Creek Reservoir
Willow Lake
Wood Hollow Reservoir

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Demographics

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2020 census

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 21,522 people in Sevier County with a population density of 11.3 people per square mile (4.3/km²). Among non-Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 19,396 (90.1%) White, 65 (0.3%) African American, 313 (1.5%) Native American, 40 (0.2%) Asian, 49 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 49 (0.2%) from other races, and 557 (2.6%) from two or more races. 1,053 (4.9%) people were Hispanic or Latino.

There were 10,870 (50.51%) males and 10,652 (49.49%) females, and the population distribution by age was 6,449 (30.0%) under the age of 18, 11,325 (52.6%) from 18 to 64, and 3,748 (17.4%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 36.3 years.

There were 7,464 households in Sevier County with an average size of 2.88 of which 5,555 (74.4%) were families and 1,909 (25.6%) were non-families. Among all families, 4,491 (60.2%) were married couples, 362 (4.8%) were male householders with no spouse, and 702 (9.4%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 1,640 (22.0%) were a single person living alone and 269 (3.6%) were two or more people living together. 2,777 (37.2%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 5,752 (77.1%) of households were owner-occupied while 1,712 (22.9%) were renter-occupied.

The median income for a Sevier County household was $55,361 and the median family income was $62,058, with a per-capita income of $24,041. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $50,183 and for females $36,000. 14.3% of the population and 12.3% of families were below the poverty line.

In terms of education attainment, out of the 13,469 people in Sevier County 25 years or older, 1,206 (9.0%) had not completed high school, 4,206 (31.2%) had a high school diploma or equivalency, 5,242 (38.9%) had some college or associate degree, 1,931 (14.3%) had a bachelor's degree, and 884 (6.6%) had a graduate or professional degree.

Features

Interstate 70 runs through the county. As Richfield is about halfway between the major cities of Los Angeles, California and Denver, Colorado, it has built a hospitality industry, with motels and restaurants serving travelers.

Fremont Indian State Park is found in the Clear Creek Canyon, adjacent to I-70. It is noted for its archaeological remains from the ancient Native American Fremont culture. Its museum displays found artifacts.

Politics

Sevier County is traditionally Republican. In no national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

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" \|	House of Representatives	70	Carl Albrecht	Republican	2016<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>