History and Facts of Utah Counties

UT State Facts

Deseret: 1849-1850
Territory: Sep 9, 1850
Statehood: Jan 4, 1896
Counties: 29
Borders: AZ, CO, ID, NV, NM and WY

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Today’s Utah counties did not always exist in the present form. They went through many different changes in the space of a few short years. Utah Counties were first formed while part of the State of Deseret, and after that the Utah Territory.

Table of Contents hide

1 Utah Territorial Counties

2 Utah Counties Today

3 Fun Facts about Utah Counties

3.1 Counties by Year

3.2 County Size Facts

3.3 County Population Facts

3.4 Utah City Facts

4 Boundary Changes of Utah Counties from 1849-1960

5 List of Utah Counties

6 List of Old Former / Extinct Utah Counties

6.1 COUNTY County, Utah

Utah Territorial Counties

The State of Deseret was established in 1849 and disestablished in 1850. The provisional state encompassed most of the territory that had been acquired from Mexico the previous year as the Mexican Cession.

There were originally 7 counties established under the provisional State of Deseret in 1849: Davis, Iron, Sanpete, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah, and Weber Counties.

The Territory of Utah, as part of the Compromise of 1850, was organized on September 9, 1850 with the first territorial legislature meeting from 1851–1852.

The first legislature re-created the original counties from the State of Deseret under territorial law as well as establishing 3 additional counties: Juab, Millard, and Washington.

All other counties were established between 1854 and 1894 by the Utah Territorial Legislature under territorial law except for the last two counties formed, Daggett and Duchesne. They were created by popular vote and by gubernatorial proclamation after Utah became a state.

The State of Utah was created as a the 45th state on January 4, 1896.

Utah Counties Today

Today, Utah is divided into 29 counties. States bordering Utah are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming.

Fun Facts about Utah Counties

Counties by Year

Salt Lake County, Sanpete County, Tooele County, Utah County and Weber counties was the original 5 counties created on March 03, 1852.
Daggett County was the last county created on March 04, 1919.

County Size Facts

San Juan County (7,820 sq mi) is the largest county in Utah.
Davis County (299 sq mi) is the smallest county in Utah.

County Population Facts

Daggett County (1,059) is the least populated county in Utah.
Salt Lake County (1,029,665) is the most populated county in Utah.

Utah City Facts

Utah’s 10 largest cities (2017 est.) are:

Salt Lake City (194,188) is in Salt Lake County
West Valley City (135,546) is in Salt Lake County
Provo (116,199) is in Utah County
West Jordan (111,937) is in Salt Lake County
Orem (97,839) is in Utah County
Sandy (94,556) is in Salt Lake County
Ogden (85,497) is in Weber County
St. George (79,995) is in Washington County
Layton (73,963) is in Davis County
South Jordan (65,523) is in Salt Lake County

Boundary Changes of Utah Counties from 1849-1960

This Interactive Map of Utah Counties show the historical boundaries, names, organization, and attachments of every county, extinct county and unsuccessful county proposal from 1849 to 1960.

List of Utah Counties

County	Created From	Named For	County Seat
January 10, 1866	Iron County	The many beavers in the area	Beaver
January 05, 1856	Weber County	The many Box Elder trees in the area	Brigham City
January 05, 1856	Weber County	The caches of furs made by Rocky Mountain Fur Company trappers	Logan
March 08, 1894	Emery County	The vast coal beds in the county	Price
March 04, 1919	Uintah County	In honor of Ellsworth Daggett (1810–1880), the first Utah Surveyor General	Manila
March 03, 1852	Original county of State of Deseret	In honor of Daniel C. Davis (1804–1850), the captain of Company E in the Mormon Battalion	Farmington
March 07, 1913	Wasatch County	Origin is uncertain; likely origins are a Ute word translated “dark canyon”, the French and Indian War site of Fort Duquesne (the county’s initial settlement was also a fortress), the corrupted name of an area Indian chief, or the name of French fur trapper and explorer	Duchesne
February 12, 1880	Sanpete County	In honor of George W. Emery (1830–1909), Governor of the Utah Territory from 1875–1880	Castle Dale
March 09, 1882	Iron County	In honor of James A. Garfield (1831–1881), the 20th President of the United States (1881) until his death by assassination six and a half months later	Panguitch
March 13, 1890	Emery County	Grand River, since renamed to the Colorado River	Moab
January 31, 1850	Original county of State of Deseret	The iron mines west of Cedar City	Parowan
October 05, 1850	Original county of Territory of Utah	Native American word translated “thirsty valley”	Nephi
January 16, 1864	Washington County	In honor of Thomas L. Kane (1822–1883), U.S. Army officer who spoke in favor of the Mormon migration and settlement of Utah	Kanab
October 04, 1851	Original county of Territory of Utah	In honor of Millard Fillmore (1800–1874), 13th President of the United States from (1850-1853)	Fillmore
January 17, 1862	Davis County	In honow of Jedediah Morgan Grant (1816–1856), an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Morgan
January 16, 1865	Beaver County	Piute tribe of Native Americans who lived in the area	Junction
January 29, 1868	Cache County	In honor of Charles C. Rich (1809–1883), an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	Randolph
March 03, 1852	Original county of State of Deseret	Great Salt Lake, the largest terminal lake in the Western Hemisphere	Salt Lake City
February 17, 1880	Kane, Iron, and Piute Counties	San Juan River, a 400-mile tributary of the Colorado river located in southern Colorado and Utah	Monticello
March 03, 1852	Original county of State of Deseret	Possibly from a Ute Chief named San Pitch	Manti
January 16, 1865	Sanpete County	Sevier River, a 280-mile mile river in central Utah	Richfield
January 13, 1854	Salt Lake and Green River Counties	The high elevations in the county, which includes 39 of Utah’s highest peaks	Coalville
March 03, 1852	Original county of State of Deseret	Either from the Goshute Tribe Chief Tuilla or the Tules plant that grew in the marshes	Tooele
February 18, 1880	Wasatch County	Uintah band of the Ute tribe who lived in the area	Vernal
March 03, 1852	Original county of State of Deseret	Yuta, the Spanish name for the Ute tribe	Provo
January 17, 1862	Utah and Sanpete Counties	Native American word meaning “mountain pass”, also the name of the Wasatch Range	Heber City
March 03, 1852	Original county of Territory of Utah	In honor of George Washington (1732–1799); commanding general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, a Founding Father, and the first President of the United States (1789-1797)	St. George
March 10, 1892	Piute County	In honor of Wayne Robinson, the son of Utah state legislator Willis Robinson, who was killed by a horse while both men traveled to a legislative session	Loa
March 03, 1852	Original county of State of Deseret	Weber River, a 125 miles tributary of the Great Salt Lake	Ogden

List of Old Former / Extinct Utah Counties

At least thirty-two counties that were established by Utah law no longer exist. These defunct counties were either (1) Judicial counties, (2) Counties established by declaration of the Constitutional Convention of 1868-69, (3) Counties established by legislative act but never organized and later abolished by legislative act (4) Counties established outside the present boundaries of Utah or (5) Counties whose names have been changed.

The below counties formerly within the area of the State of Utah no longer exist:

Carson County was established on 17 Jan 1854 by the Utah Territory; it was abolished on 02 Mar 1861. Area now in Nevada
Cedar County was established on 05 Jan 1856 ; it was abolished on 17 Jan 1862
Desert County was established on 03 Mar 1852 ; it was abolished on 17 Jan 1862
Greasewood County was established on 05 Jan 1856 ; it was abolished on 17 Jan 1862
Great Salt Lake County was established on 03 Mar 1852 ; it was renamed on 29 Jan 1868 Salt Lake County
Green River County was established on 03 Mar 1852 ; it was abolished on 16 Feb 1872
Humboldt County was established on 05 Jan 1856 ; it was abolished on 02 Mar 1861. Area now in Nevada
Malad County was established on 05 Jan 1856 ; it was abolished on 17 Jan 1862 . Area now in Box Elder County
Richland County was established on 16 Jan 1864 ; it was renamed Rich County on 29 Jan 1868.
Rio Virgin County was established on 18 Feb 1869 ; it was abolished on 16 Feb 1872
St. Mary’s County was established on 05 Jan 1856 ; it was abolished on 02 Mar 1861
Shambip County was established on 12 Jan 1856 ; it was abolished on 17 Jan 1862 . Area now in Tooele County

COUNTY County, Utah

Created on DATE from LAND. COUNTY County was renamed to COUNTY County on November 7, 1907.