St. George is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

border, it is the principal city of the St. George

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

(MSA). The city lies in the northeasternmost part of the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

, adjacent to the

Pine Valley Mountains The Pine Valley Mountains are a mountain range in Washington County, Utah, United States, spanning the county north of the city of St. George. The highest point in the range is Signal Peak at . The mountains are part of Dixie National Forest a ...

and near the convergence of three distinct geologic areas and ecoregions: the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area of ...

, and the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

. The city is northeast of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, and south-southwest of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, on Interstate 15. As of the 2020 U.S Census, the city had a population of 95,342, with the overall MSA having an estimated population of 180,279. St. George is the seventh-largest city in Utah and most populous city in the state outside of the

Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the north ...

. The city was settled in 1861 as a cotton mission, earning it the nickname "

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

". While the crop never became a successful commodity, the area steadily grew in population. Between 2000 and 2005, St. George emerged as the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States. Today, the St. George region is well known for its year-round outdoor recreation and proximity to several

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

s, Zion National Park and The Grand Canyon.

Utah Tech University Utah Tech University (UT), formerly known as Dixie State University (DSU) and similar names, is a public university in St. George, Utah. The university offers about 240 programs (4 master's degrees, 53 bachelor's degrees, 18 associate degrees, 45 ...

is located in St. George and is an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

institution.

History

Prior to the arrival of the first European settlers, the St. George area was inhabited by the Virgin River

Ancestral Puebloans The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, a ...

and later by the

Southern Paiute The Southern Paiute people are a tribe of Native Americans who have lived in the Colorado River basin of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, and southern Utah. Bands of Southern Paiute live in scattered locations throughout this territory and ha ...

tribe. The first Europeans in the area were part of the

Domínguez–Escalante expedition The Domínguez–Escalante Expedition was a Spanish Empire, Spanish journey of Spanish colonization of the Americas, exploration conducted in 1776 by two Franciscan priests, Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, to find an overl ...

in 1776. St. George was founded as a cotton mission in 1861 under the direction of apostle Erastus Snow. It was called Dixie by

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

, who was president of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). While early settlers cultivated cotton as a commodity crop, they did not succeed in producing it at competitive market rates; consequently, cotton farming was eventually abandoned. More important to the economy was tourism, which developed as the railroads began to carry visitors to the nearby Zion National Park. At the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

in 1861, Young organized the settlement of what is now Washington County.

Fearing that the war would take away the cotton supply, he began plans for raising enough in this southwestern country to supply the needs of his people. Enough favorable reports had come to him from this warm region below the rim of the
Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
, that he was convinced cotton could be raised successfully here. At the general church conference in Salt Lake City on October 6th, 1861, about three hundred families were "called" to the Dixie mission to promote the cotton industry. Most of the people knew nothing of this expedition until their names were read from the pulpit; but in nearly every case, they responded with good will, and made ready to leave within the month's time allotted to them. The families were selected so as to ensure the communities the right number of farmers, masons, blacksmiths, businessmen, educators, carpenters, as needed.

The settlement was named after

George A. Smith George Albert Smith (June 26, 1817 – September 1, 1875) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, an LDS Church apostle. In April 1877, the LDS Church completed the

St. George Utah Temple The St. George Utah Temple (formerly the St. George Temple) is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in St. George, Utah. Completed in 1877, it was the church's third temple completed, but the first in Utah, f ...

. It is the church's third and oldest continually-operating

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in the world (the temple has been closed since November 2019 for renovation). The 1992 St. George earthquake destroyed three houses as well as above- and below-ground utilities, causing about in damage. St. George was the location of the 1997 United States Academic Decathlon national finals. In January 2005, a 100-year flood occurred throughout the region, due to prolonged heavy rainfall overflowing both the Virgin and Santa Clara rivers. One person was killed and 28 homes were destroyed by the Santa Clara River.

Nuclear contamination

In the early 1950s, St. George received the brunt of the

fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

of above-ground

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

at the Yucca Flats/ Nevada Test Site northwest of Las Vegas. Winds routinely carried the fallout of these tests directly through the St. George and southern Utah area. Marked increases in the frequency of cancer in the population, not limited to leukemia, lymphoma, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, bone cancer, brain tumors, and gastrointestinal tract cancers, were reported from the mid-1950s until the early 1980s. In 1980, American popular weekly magazine ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' reported that from about 220 cast and crew who filmed in a 1956 movie, '' The Conqueror'', on location near St. George, ninety-one had come down with cancer, and 50 had died of cancer.Gerald H. Clarfield and William M. Wiecek (1984). ''Nuclear America: Military and Civilian Nuclear Power in the United States 1940–1980'', Harper & Row, New York, p. 208. Of these, forty-six had died of cancer by 1980. Among the cancer deaths were

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

, Pedro Armendáriz and

Susan Hayward Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories. After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...

, the stars of the film. However, the lifetime odds of developing cancer for men in the U.S. population are 43 percent and the odds of dying of cancer are 23 percent (38 percent and 19 percent, respectively, for women). This places the cancer mortality rate for the 220 primary cast and crew quite near the expected average. A 1962

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President H ...

report found children living in St. George, Utah, at the time of the fallout may have received doses to the thyroid of radioiodine as high as 120 to 440 rads" (1.2 to 4.4 Gy).Pat Ortmeyer and Arjun Makhijani. '' The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'', November/December 1997, via October 31, 2007, retrieval.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of 64.9 square miles (168.0 km²), of which, 64.4 square miles (166.8 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.2 km²) of it (0.72%) is water. St. George lies in a desert valley, with most of the city lying below 3,000 feet (900 m). It is situated near a geological transition zone where the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin converge. The

Beaver Dam Mountains The Beaver Dam Mountains are a long mountain range located mostly in extreme southwest Washington County, Utah, Washington County, Utah, west of St. George, Utah, St. George, with the south of the range extending into the Arizona Strip. The ran ...

/Utah Hill lie to the west, the

Red Cliffs National Conservation Area The Red Cliffs National Conservation Area is a National Conservation Area located in southwest Utah, north of St. George at the northeasternmost edge of the Mojave Desert. It is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Lan ...

and

to the north, the western edge of the Colorado Plateau and Zion National Park to the east, and the Arizona Strip to the south. The Virgin River and Santa Clara River flow through the St. George valley and converge near the western base of

Webb Hill Webb Hill is a hill located in St. George, Utah, in Washington County. The hill houses numerous radio and television tower facilities that serve the local area. The hill's geology is common with the surrounding region. In 1998, the skeletal remai ...

near the city center. The city uses street numbers rather than names, such as "East 100 South". Exceptions have been made for streets with curves or those not fitting into the traditional grid system. Some roads have names along with numerals, such as "400 East" which is also known as "Flood Street".

Climate

St. George's arid climate is significantly warmer on average than the rest of the state, and more closely resembles nearby Las Vegas. The climate is cold

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

(BWk). St. George has hot summers and cool to relatively mild winters. The monthly average temperature ranges from in December to in July. On average, there are 60 afternoons with high temperatures over , with an average window of June 29 through August 13, and 122 days with high temperatures over with the average window fluctuating between late April and early October. There are approximately 60 mornings where the low temperature drops to the freezing mark, with the historical average window between November 12 and March 14. The highest temperature statewide was , which was recorded in south St. George, near the

border on July 4, 2007, breaking the previous record-holder, at , also set in St. George on July 5, 1985. The record high minimum temperature is set on July 15, 1970 and July 3, 2013. Nighttime freezes are common during the winter due to radiational cooling. Both the record low temperature of and record low maximum temperature of were set on January 22, 1937; the record low temperature occurred again on January 26, 1937, both during the record cold month of January 1937 across the Western United States. The city has abundant sunshine year-round and averages about 300 sunny days per year, with an average of precipitation annually. The wettest "rain year" has been from July 2004 to June 2005 with at least (some days were missing) and the driest from July 1973 to June 1974 with . Record breaking wide spread flooding occurred during January 2005 when area creeks and rivers far exceeded their banks and washed out homes and some neighborhoods. The wettest month has been January 1993, when fell. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, except for a markedly drier period from April through June, which occurs after the Pacific storm season ends, but before the southwest monsoon begins, usually in mid-July. Precipitation mostly comes from the Pacific Ocean from late fall through early spring. The storm track usually lifts north of the city by mid-April. The monsoon brings localized and often intense thunderstorms from early July through mid-September. The greatest rainfall in 24 hours was on August 31, 1909. The St. George valley occasionally receives wet or slushy snowfall in the winter, but what accumulates usually melts off by the mid-to-late morning; the normal seasonal snowfall is . The earliest snowfall was measured on October 29, 1971, and the latest on April 11, 1927. The record single-day snowfall is which was set on January 5, 1974. With the city having elevations ranging from , some areas such as Diamond Valley and Winchester Hills will typically receive more snowfall and colder temperatures than the rest of the lower valley. The most recent major snow event was on December 8, 2013, when between virtually shut down the city, making it the third heaviest snowfall in the city's history. Also significant about the storm was how low temperatures dropped and remained that way for several days with daytime highs failing to reach the freezing mark, and one night time low temperature of , recorded at the airport, was the coldest in the city in over 100 years. The cold spell killed or severely damaged much of the area's non-native vegetation, such as the Mexican fan palm trees.

Demographics

the largest self-reported ancestry groups in St. George are: In 2018, the city's population was estimated at 87,178. St. George was declared the fourth fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States in 2018.
Colorado's Greeley, Florida's Palm Coast, Fastest-Growing Metro and Micro Areas
. ''U.S. Census Bureau News.'' , there were 27,552 households. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 1,135 people per square mile. , there were 32,089 housing units at an average density of per square mile. The city's racial makeup was 87.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.7%

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 1.5% Native American, 0.8%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 1.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, and 8.9% from other races. 12.8% of the population was

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. As of the 2000 census, there were 17,367 households, out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.6% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The average household size was 2.81 individuals and the average family size was 3.21. In the city, the age distribution of the population showed 28.4% under the age of 18, 13.7% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $36,505, and the median income for a family was $41,788. Males had a median income of $31,106 versus $20,861 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,022. About 7.4% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over. A significant portion of the over 65 population was "snowbirds", who live in St. George during the winter.

Religion

Approximately 78.0% of St. George's residents identify as religious; below are statistics :Bestplaces.net
/ref> * 63.4% LDS Church * 4.4%

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

* 0.6%

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

* 0.5%

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

* 0.4%

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...

* 0.3%

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

* 0.2%

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

* 0.2%

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

* 0.2%

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

* 1.0% Other

Economy

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. SkyWest is paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. The ...

is headquartered in St. George, and is the primary airline provider at the city's regional airport.

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

has a distribution center just outside the city and Family Dollar recently opened a distribution center in the Fort Pierce Industrial Park to better serve the southwest region of the U.S. The Washington County School District main offices are based in the city. The Cafe Rio restaurant chain was started in St. George in 1997. The local economy is largely based on tourism, manufacturing, and new home construction. Over a dozen

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

courses offering year-round golfing, and various world-recognized events also make for large contributors to the city's economy.

Arts and culture

The City of St. George sponsors art shows and concerts at Vernon Worthen Park. The Southwest Symphony Orchestra and Southern Utah Heritage Choir are located in St. George. The up-and-coming Downtown Arts District features "Art Around the Corner" offering outdoor sculptures and statues depicting cultural themes from around the world, and hosts the annual St. George Arts Festival each spring. Other major events include the St. George Parade of Homes; the Dixie Roundup Rodeo;

St. George Marathon The St. George Marathon is an annual marathon sporting event hosted by the city of St. George, Utah on the first Saturday in October. The first race run was in November 1977. It was originated and organized in just a few months by Sherm Miller, ...

; St. George Ironman

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

; and the

Huntsman World Senior Games The Huntsman World Senior Games is the largest annual multi-sport senior competition in the world (Most participants are U.S. citizens, but athletes from Canada, Australia, Russia, Japan and several other countries also participate). The Gam ...

Venues, museums and sites

Brigham Young Winter Home and Office The Brigham Young Winter Home and Office is a historic residence and museum located in St. George, Utah. Brigham Young was the foremost Mormon pioneer and second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), who led ...

Burns Arena Burns Arena is a multi-purpose arena in St. George, Utah. It is the home of the Utah Tech Trailblazers basketball teams.

Dixie Center The Dixie Center is a convention center located in St. George, Utah, United States. It was built in 1998, with renovations taking place in 2006. The convention center consists of a 46,500-square foot exhibit hall with 30 feet of ceiling height a ...

* Jacob Hamblin House * St. George Children's Museum * St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site *

Shopping

The city's main retail center is Red Cliffs Mall, built in 1990.

Sports

The St. George community has been the home to two minor-league independent baseball teams. The first, the

St. George Pioneerzz The St. George Pioneerzz were a minor league baseball team located in St. George, Utah. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Bruce Hurst Fi ...

(originally the Zion Pioneerzz) who played in the independent Western Baseball League from 1999 to 2001, winning the league championship in 2000. A new franchise, managed by former major league player Darell Evans, was awarded to St. George in 2007. The team, the

St. George Roadrunners The Henderson RoadRunners were an independent professional baseball team based out of Henderson, Nevada. They were members of the Western Division in the North American League and were scheduled to begin play in 2011 at Lied Field at Morse Stadi ...

, played in the independent Golden Baseball League before being taken over by the league and moved to

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

in 2010. St. George area high schools—Crimson Cliffs, Dixie, Desert Hills, Pine View, and Snow Canyon—all play in 4A state competition as part of 4A Region10 with nearby Hurricane High School in

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

and Cedar high school in Cedar City.

participates in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

. In January 2019, Dixie State announced they were reclassifying to

and joining the

. Former DSU athletes include Corey Dillon, Anton Palepoi, Reno Mahe, and

Scott Brumfield Scott Wheeler Brumfield (born August 19, 1970) is a former American football player and coach. Brumfield was an offensive guard for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was not drafted, but later signed on to the Bengals as a free-agent in 1996. He played ...

, who all later played in the NFL and

Marcus Banks Arthur Lemarcus "Marcus" Banks III (born November 19, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. Banks is tall and . He played college basketball at the UNLV with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball, Runnin' Rebels, where he was ...

Lionel Hollins Lionel Eugene Hollins (born October 19, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach and former player currently serving as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Portland ...

Keon Clark Arian Keon Clark (born April 16, 1975) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing career After a collegiate career at two different junior colleges and UNLV, Clark was selected 13th overall by th ...

, and Mo Baker were Dixie players who later played in the NBA. Utah Tech athletes are called Trailblazers (formerly The Rebels and Red Storm), and former Trailblazers

Bradley Thompson Bradley Thompson is an American television writer and producer known for episodes of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1996–1999), ''The Twilight Zone'' (2002–2003), ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' ( ...

and

Brandon Lyon Brandon James Lyon (born August 10, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and New York ...

later played in major league baseball while Bruce Hurst of Dixie High School later played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

a pitcher, and then ended up managing the now retired Zion Pioneerzz for its inaugural 1999 season (1999). St. George has hosted

Ironman Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to: *Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer *Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter *Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician *Mick Murphy ...

and

Ironman 70.3 An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting o ...

events including the 2021 Ironman 70.3 World Championships. In May 2021, the Ironman World Championship hosted by the city due to the COVID-19 and the original venue, Kona, being unable to host. This was the first time that the

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

has been hosted outside of Hawai'i.

Parks and recreation

The St. George parks division manages over 20 city parks and nearly 60 miles of paved urban trails interlinking neighborhoods, communities, parks and open space. The city also has over a dozen award-winning golf courses making the area a Southwestern golfing mecca. Major parks and sites include the Canyons Softball Complex; Little Valley Softball Complex; Pioneer Park; Tonaquint Nature Center; nationally-recognized Snake Hollow bike park; Thunder Junction All Abilities theme park; Red Hills Desert Garden - a public water-conservation garden displaying both native and exotic flora suited for the local climate; three local skate parks; Legacy Regional Park and fairgrounds is just east of the city in Hurricane. The St. George area has several public recreation centers; the St. George Rec Center; Washington City Rec Center and the Sand Hollow Aquatics Center. St. George is fast-becoming a popular rock climbing and mountain biking destination.

Government

The city of St. George has a council-manager form of government, with five representatives elected from

single-member district A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...

s. The mayor, elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

, also serves as a member on the City Council. The Council hires a city manager to deal with regular operations. , the mayor of St. George is Michele Randall. The city manager is Adam Lenhard. Council members are Jimmy Hughes, Michele Randall, Dannielle Larkin, Gregg McArthur, and Bryan Smethurst. City Council meetings are held on the first and third Thursdays of each month at the City Council Chambers. The U.S. Federal Courthouse, Washington County Justice Court, Juvenile Court and the Fifth District Courthouse are downtown.

Education

Primary and secondary education

The city of St. George is a part of the Washington County School District. St. George public high schools (10th-12th grade): * Dixie High School *

Pine View High School Pine View High School is a high school located at 2850 E 750 N in St. George, Utah, United States. The school reported 1,218 students on October 1, 2018 students in grades 10 to 12. It is a part of the Washington County School District. Zone: ea ...

* Desert Hills High School * Snow Canyon High School * Millcreek Alternative High School * Crimson Cliffs High School in

Washington City ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

(eastern suburb). Its coverage zone extends into southeast St. George. * Utah Arts Academy in

St. George, Utah St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city lies in the northe ...

(northwestern suburb) Offers an alternative education with no tuition costs to any Utah resident. The city's middle schools are located near or adjacent to the like-named high schools. Intermediate (6th-7th grade) and middle schools (8th-9th grade): * Dixie Middle School * Pine View Middle School * Desert Hills Middle School * Snow Canyon Middle School * Crimson Cliffs Middle School in Washington City * Washington Fields Intermediate in Washington City * Tonaquint Intermediate * Sunrise Ridge Intermediate * Fossil Ridge Intermediate * Lava Ridge Intermediate in Santa Clara (western suburb)

Higher education

Dixie Technical College Dixie Technical College (Dixie Tech) is a public technical college in St. George, Utah. It is part of the statewide Utah System of Higher Education. Dixie Tech was established in 2001 by the Utah State Legislature and offers certificate programs ...

with 4,920 post-secondary and 292 secondary students (as of 2018). Dixie Technical College opened a new main campus on the site of the old St. George Airport in 2018. *

Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree lev ...

, a four-year institution, of about 10,000 students () The Southern Utah Center for Computer, Engineering, and Science Students (SUCCESS) is an early college high school located on the Utah Tech University campus.

Media

Radio

Newspapers

* '' The Spectrum'', which is owned by

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History A ...

'', ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'', ''

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal'' ...

'' and ''

Las Vegas Sun The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily Subscription business model, subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays ...

'' are also widely distributed in St. George and offer home delivery. Other publications include ''St. George Magazine'', a monthly magazine covering a variety of local content, and ''View on Southern Utah'' is a magazine offering a variety of content for the southern Utah, southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona area.

Television

Like other major cities in Utah, St. George is in the Salt Lake City market, so it has only one television station licensed to the city, KMYU, a MyNetworkTV affiliate. It is carried in HD on Dish Network and DirecTV, as well as on Comcast Ch. 643 in Salt Lake City, and on Ch. 20 on local cable, TDS Communications, formerly Baja Broadband. KMYU (known as My Utah TV) is sister station to KUTV-DT, and is operated out of KUTV's offices in Salt Lake City, although the station has a news bureau with a reporter and photographer based in St. George. Also in St. George are the offices of

Cedar City, Utah Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...

–licensed KCSG Channel 14, a MeTV affiliate, which broadcasts local news. The city also receives local TV channels from Salt Lake City with broadcast translators in the St. George area. The Las Vegas NBC affiliate, KSNV-DT, has a local translator owned by Cherry Creek Radio, KVBT-LP channel 41, on which some of its programming airs two hours later than the same programming broadcast on Salt Lake City NBC affiliate

KSL-TV KSL-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus Chr ...

Infrastructure

Healthcare

St. George Regional Hospital Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital (formerly Dixie Regional Medical Center (DRMC)) is a 284-bed hospital located on two campuses in St. George, Utah, United States. St. George Regional is the major medical referral center for northwestern ...

is an Intermountain Health Care hospital and is the only 24-hour trauma center between Las Vegas and the Wasatch Front, serving the tri-state region of southern Utah, northwest Arizona and southeastern Nevada.

Utilities

St. George is served by City of St. George Power, which serves most of the city, and Dixie Power, which serves southern areas of the city.

Rocky Mountain Power PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the western United States. PacifiCorp has two business units: # Pacific Power, a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington. ...

serves parts of the greater St. George area. The municipal water department obtains its own water from wells located near Gunlock and in

Snow Canyon State Park Snow Canyon State Park is a state park in Utah, located in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The park features a canyon carved from the red and white Navajo sandstone of the Red Mountains, as well as the extinct Santa Clara Volcano, lava tubes, ...

, Mountain Springs on Pine Valley Mountain. It also purchases wholesale water from the

Washington County Water Conservancy District The Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD) is a water district covering Washington County, Utah. It was formed in 1962 by local petition. The district provides wholesale water to the cities of St. George, Washington, Hurricane, Santa ...

which is sourced from the Virgin River and purified at the Quail Creek Water Treatment Plant.

Transportation

St. George Regional Airport St. George Regional Airport is a city-owned airport in St. George, Washington County, Utah. The airport opened on January 13, 2011, a replacement for smaller land-locked St. George Municipal Airport, atop a mesa in the city, which was declare ...

is located in southeast St. George on Airport Parkway. The airport is served by

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

, and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

. As of 2020, two-way flights to Salt Lake City,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Phoenix,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and seasonal flights to Dallas–Fort Worth were available.St. George Municipal Airport
. ''FlightView''. OAG. Retrieved February 22, 2017.DeMille, David.
St. George Regional Airport adds flight to Phoenix
. ''The Spectrum''. USA Today. August 11, 2016.

Local and regional transportation

SunTran SunTran is the public transportation system serving the St. George, Utah area. It was formerly known as Dixie Area Rapid Transit or DART, which was launched and funded by Five County Association of Governments in 2003. The City of St. George i ...

is the local public transit system and operates seven fixed-routes serving most areas of St. George, Washington and Ivins. Rent-A-Bike and 'Spin' scooters are available for rated use in numerous locations city-wide. Greyhound serves St. George on its Denver-Las Vegas and Salt Lake City-Las Vegas routes. Greyhound connects with

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overal ...

in Salt Lake City. St. George is also served by the bus company Tufesa and the shuttle companies Salt Lake Express and St. George Shuttle.

Major highways

Interstate 15 runs northeast-southwest through St. George. * SR-7 (Southern Parkway) runs east-west through the southern periphery of the city. * SR-8 (Sunset Boulevard) runs east-west through west St. George * SR-34 (St. George Boulevard) runs east-west through central St. George * SR-18 (Bluff Street) runs north-south through St. George

Notable people

* Robert Adamson (b. 1985), actor ('' Lincoln Heights'') * Texas Rose Bascom (1922–1993), rodeo performer, trick roper, Hollywood actress, National Cowgirl Hall Of Fame inductee, Utah Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee *

Jay Don Blake Jay Don Blake (born October 28, 1958) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Blake was born and raised in St. George, Utah, where he attended Dixie ...

(b. 1958), professional and NCAA champion golfer * Wilford Brimley, American actor and singer * Juanita Brooks, Mormon writer, editor and historian *

Howard Cannon Howard Walter Cannon (January 26, 1912 – March 5, 2002) was an American politician from Nevada. Elected to the first of four consecutive terms in 1958, he served in the United States Senate from 1959 to 1983. He was a member of the Democratic ...

, former United States Senator from Nevada *

Asia Carrera Asia Carrera Lemmon (born Jessica Steinhauser, August 6, 1973) is an American former pornographic actress. Early life Asia Carrera was born Jessica Steinhauser in New York City to a German mother and Japanese father, the oldest of four sibling ...

, adult film star * LaVell Edwards (1930–2016), former BYU football coach *

Jada Facer Jada Mae Facer (born March 18, 2001) is an American actress and singer. She played the recurring role of Joe's daughter, Dani, on the sitcom ''Melissa & Joey'' from 2014 to 2015. She has a YouTube channel and as of March 21, 2022, she has over 1 ...

, actress and singer *

Dia Frampton Dia Frampton (born October 2, 1987) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Frampton is the lead singer of the band Meg & Dia, was the runner-up in the inaugural season of ''The Voice,'' and is perhaps most known for her presence and col ...

, runner-up in inaugural season of '' The Voice'' *

Orval Hafen Orval Hafen (November 16, 1903–October 3, 1964) was a Utah Senate, Utah State Senator and president of the Utah Bar Association. He was a key figure in the long process that by the start of the 21st-century had made St. George, Utah, St. Ge ...

, lawyer, legislator, and community advocate * Tracy Hickman, fantasy author * Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS general authority * Bruce Hurst (b. 1958), former Major League Baseball pitcher *

Doug Jolley Doug Jolley (born January 2, 1979) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in 2002, where he played three years. He would also play single seasons for the NY Jets and Tampa Ba ...

(b. 1979), NFL tight end * Steven Koecher, living in St. George at the time he disappeared. * Meg and Dia, rock group * The Piano Guys, classical music group, formed in 2010 *

Amanda Righetti Amanda Righetti (born April 4, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Grace Van Pelt on ''The Mentalist'', as well as her roles in ''Friday the 13th'', ''The O.C.'' and ''Colony''. Early life The youngest of eight children, ...

(b. 1983), actress (''

The OC ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initiali ...

'', ''

Reunion Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...

'', '' The Mentalist'') *

Gaskell Romney Gaskell Romney (September 22, 1871 – March 7, 1955) is regarded as a patriarch of the Romney family, a U.S. political family. Romney was born in St. George, in what was then the Utah Territory, the son of Miles Park Romney and Hannah Ho ...

(1871–1955), Mormon leader, father of George W. Romney, grandfather of

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

Miles Romney Miles Romney (July 13, 1806 – May 3, 1877) was a British convert to Mormonism, Mormon pioneer and early settler of the American west, including St. George, Utah. In 1837, Romney and his wife, Elizabeth, joined the Church of the Latter Day Sai ...

(1806–1877), settler, Mormon leader *

Miles Park Romney Miles Park Romney (August 18, 1843 – February 26, 1904) was a prominent American builder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born in Nauvoo, Illinois, the son of Miles Romney. He was the president of the St. George Social ...

(1843–1904), attorney, police chief *

J. Edwin Seegmiller J(arvis) Edwin Seegmiller, or Jay Seegmiller, (June 22, 1920 – May 31, 2006) was an American physician and biochemical genetics, biochemical geneticist best known for his role in discovering the biochemical basis of the Lesch–Nyhan syndrome. H ...

(1923–1986), physician and medical researcher,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

, faculty member UCSD Medical School *

Steven E. Snow Steven Erastus Snow (born November 23, 1949) has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 2001. He served as the Church Historian and Recorder from 2012 until 2019. Snow was born in St. Geo ...

, (b. 1949), lawyer, LDS general authority,

Church Historian and Recorder Church Historian and Recorder (usually shortened to Church Historian) is a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The role of the Church Historian and Recorder is to keep an accurate and comprehensive record of th ...

John "Cat" Thompson John Ashworth "Cat" Thompson (February 10, 1906 – October 7, 1990) was an American basketball player. He won the Utah state championship with Dixie High School team and finished second in the High School National Tournament in 1925. In colleg ...

(1906–1990), basketball player; member of the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature int ...

(b. 1958), country music singer, raised in St. George * Brendon Urie (b. 1987), singer-songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, lead vocalist of

Panic! at the Disco Panic! at the Disco is the solo project of American musician Brendon Urie. It was originally a pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2004 by childhood friends Urie, Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson. They recorded their firs ...

Joyce Vance Joyce Alene White Vance is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017. She was one of the first five U.S. Attorneys, and the first female U.S. Attorney, nominated by Presid ...

, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama and media legal analyst

References

External links

* * *
St. George tourism

Nuclear waste in St. George
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. George, Utah Cities in Washington County, Utah Cities in the Mojave Desert Cities in Utah County seats in Utah Pleistocene volcanism Populated places established in 1861 Old Spanish Trail (trade route) 1861 establishments in Utah Territory

History

Nuclear contamination

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Religion

Economy

Arts and culture

Venues, museums and sites

Shopping

Sports

Parks and recreation

Government

Education

Primary and secondary education

Higher education

Media

Radio

Newspapers

Television

Infrastructure

Healthcare

Utilities

Transportation

Local and regional transportation

Major highways

Notable people

See also

References

External links