Uintah County, Utah facts for kids

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This page is about the Utah County. For the Wyoming County, see Uinta County, Wyoming. For the city in Weber County, see Uintah, Utah.


Uintah County, Utah
Map
Map of Utah highlighting Uintah County
Location in the state of Utah
Map of the USA highlighting Utah
Utah's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded 1880
Seat Vernal
Largest City Vernal
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
4,501 sq mi (11,658 km²)
4,480 sq mi (11,603 km²)
22 sq mi (57 km²), 0.5%
PopulationEst.
 - (2015)
 - Density
37,928
7.3/sq mi (3/km²)
Time zone Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Website: www.co.uintah.ut.us
Named for: Ute Tribe

Uintah County /juːˈɪntə/ is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 census the population was 32,588. Its county seat and largest city is Vernal. The county was named for the portion of the Ute Indian tribe that lived in the basin.

Uintah County is the largest natural gas producer in Utah, with 272 billion cubic feet produced in 2008.

The Vernal, UT Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Uintah County.

History

Archeologic evidence suggests that portions of the Uinta Basin have been inhabited by Archaic peoples and Fremont peoples. By the time of recorded history its inhabitants were the Ute people. The first known traverse by non-Indians was made by Fathers Dominguez and Escalante (1776), as they sought to establish a land route between California and Spanish America.

By the early nineteenth century, occasional fur trappers entered the Basin. In 1831-32 Antoine Robidoux, a French trapper licensed by the Mexican government, established a trading post near present-day Whiterocks. He abandoned the effort in 1844.

In 1847 the Great Salt Lake Valley, still a property of Mexico, was first colonized by Brigham Young and his followers. In 1861 Young dispatched an exploring party to the Uinta Basin; they reported that "that section of country lying between the Wasatch Mountains and the eastern boundary of the territory, and south of Green River country, was one vast contiguity of waste and measurably valueless." Young made no further effort to colonize the area.

In 1861 US President Abraham Lincoln created the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, reserved for the use and habitation of Utah and Colorado Indians. In the 1880s the Uncompahgre Reservation was created in the southern portion of present-day Uintah County. Ashley Valley was not part of either Reservation, and by 1880 enough ranchers and farmers had settled there that the Territorial Legislature created Uintah County (most of which had previously been part of Wasatch County, with the county seat at Ashley (now an abandoned area some three miles (5 km) of present-day Vernal).

Gilsonite was discovered in 1888 at Bonanza, in central Uintah County. This was on Reservation land, but miners pressured the US government to remove some 7000 acres (11 square miles; 28 km²) for mining use. Mining and its associated activities (including relative lawlessness) rapidly boomed in that area.

The northern boundary of Uintah County originally extended to the north border of Utah. In 1918 the extreme northern portion (lying north of the Uinta Mountain watershed divide) was split off to form Daggett County, Utah.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,501 square miles (11,660 km2), of which 4,480 square miles (11,600 km2) is land and 22 square miles (57 km2) (0.5%) is water.

Uintah County is centered in the Uintah Basin, which runs from western Colorado on the east to the Wasatch Mountains on the west, and from the Uinta Mountains on the north to the Roan Plateau on the south. This basin was formed by a prehistoric lake ("Uinta Lake") during the late Tertiary period.

The county's geography ranges from high mountain terrain (Uinta Mountains) to the fertile Ashley Valley (site of the county seat), to a rugged and desolate canyonland which includes the Dinosaur National Monument, to desolate and largely uninhabited hills in the south ("The Bookcliffs" to locals; officially Roan Plateau).

Mines

Adjacent counties

National and State protected areas

  • Ashley National Forest (part)
  • Dinosaur National Monument (part)
  • Ouray National Wildlife Refuge
  • Red Fleet State Park
  • Steinaker State Park

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1880 799 —
1890 2,762 245.7%
1900 6,458 133.8%
1910 7,050 9.2%
1920 8,470 20.1%
1930 9,035 6.7%
1940 9,898 9.6%
1950 10,300 4.1%
1960 11,582 12.4%
1970 12,684 9.5%
1980 20,506 61.7%
1990 22,211 8.3%
2000 25,224 13.6%
2010 32,588 29.2%
Est. 2015 37,928 16.4%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790–1960 1900–1990
1990–2000 2010–2014

As of the census of 2000, there were 25,224 people, 8,187 households, and 6,541 families residing in the county. The population density was 6 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 9,040 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.73% White, 0.11% Black or African American, 9.38% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.05% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. 3.54% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,187 households out of which 44.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.70% were married couples living together, 10.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.10% were non-families. 17.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.05 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the county, the population was spread out with 34.60% under the age of 18, 10.70% from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, 19.30% from 45 to 64, and 9.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 99.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,518, and the median income for a family was $38,877. Males had a median income of $33,966 versus $21,199 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,571. About 12% of families and 15% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18% of those under age 18 and 10% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Airport

Located just outside Vernal, the Vernal-Uintah County Airport provides daily scheduled air service to Salt Lake City, Utah via Salt Lake City International Airport. Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) service is also available.

Attractions

Special events

Games, Anime, and More (G.A.M.) is a biannual fan convention. It is a multi-genre convention having video games, card games, cartoons, costumes, tournaments, tabletop gaming, and similar activities. The G.A.M. Convention is held during March and August in Uintah County, Utah. In 2015 it was the first anime convention held in Vernal, Utah as well as the first gaming convention held there, making it the first convention of its type in Vernal. In 2016 it was held in Naples, Utah for the first time, making G.A.M. the first convention of its type in the city of Naples.

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated places


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