Weston County is a
county in the
U.S. state of
Wyoming. As of the
2020 United States Census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, the population was 6,838.
Its
county seat is
Newcastle. Its east boundary line abuts the west line of the state of
South Dakota.
History
Weston County was created by the legislature of the
Wyoming Territory on March 12, 1890, of land partitioned from
Crook County.
Weston County was named for John Weston, a geologist and surveyor. In 1887, Jefferson Weston and Frank Mondell found rich coal deposits north of
Newcastle which caused a railroad to be built through the area.
In 1911,
Campbell County was formed from portions of Weston County and
Crook County. Since then, the boundaries of Weston County have been stable.
Geography
According to the
US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.08%) is water.
Adjacent counties
*
Crook County – north
*
Lawrence County, South Dakota – northeast
*
Pennington County, South Dakota – east
*
Custer County, South Dakota – southeast
*
Niobrara County
Niobrara County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 2,467, making it the least populous county in Wyoming. Its county seat is Lusk. Its eastern boundary abuts the west lines of the ...
– south
*
Converse County
Converse County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 13,751. Its county seat is Douglas.
History
Converse County was created in 1888 by the legislature of the Wyoming Territor ...
– southwest
*
Campbell County – west
Major highways
*
U.S. Highway 16
*
U.S. Highway 20
U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. ...
*
U.S. Highway 85
*
Wyoming Highway 116
Wyoming Highway 116 (WYO 116) is a north–south state highway located in central Weston and southern Crook counties of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It travels from WYO 450 south of Upton north to U.S. Route 14 (US 14) ...
*
Wyoming Highway 450
Wyoming Highway 450 (WYO 450) is a east-west Wyoming State Road in Campbell and Weston counties that provides travel between WYO 59 at Wright and U.S. Route 16 (US 16) at Newcastle.
Route description
Wyoming Highway 450 begins its western e ...
*
Wyoming Highway 585
Wyoming Highway 585 (WYO 585) is a north-south Wyoming State Road located in Weston and Crook counties in northeastern Wyoming.
Route description
Wyoming Highway 585 starts it south end at US 85 in Four Corners, and from there, travels ...
National protected areas
*
Black Hills National Forest (part)
*
Thunder Basin National Grassland
The Thunder Basin National Grassland is located in northeastern Wyoming in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills. The Grassland ranges in elevation from , and the climate is semi-arid. The Grassland provides o ...
(part)
Demographics
2000 census
As of the
2000 United States Census
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...
, there were 6,644 people, 2,624 households, and 1,868 families in the county. The
population density was 3 people per square mile (1/km
2). There were 3,231 housing units at an average density of 1.3 per square mile (0.5/km
2). The racial makeup of the county was 95.94%
White, 0.12%
Black or
African American, 1.26%
Native American, 0.20%
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 ...
, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 0.93% from
other races, and 1.54% from two or more races. 2.06% of the population were
Hispanic or
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. 33.0% were of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, 13.0%
English, 8.9%
Irish and 7.2%
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
ancestry.
There were 2,624 households, out of which 31.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.40% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 7.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.80% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.88.
The county population contained 24.10% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 26.30% from 25 to 44, 26.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 103.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $32,348, and the median income for a family was $40,472. Males had a median income of $34,321 versus $18,640 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $17,366. About 6.30% of families and 9.90% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 11.30% of those under age 18 and 13.60% of those age 65 or over.
2010 census
As of the
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, there were 7,208 people, 3,021 households, and 1,957 families in the county.
The population density was . There were 3,533 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.5% white, 1.3% American Indian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.0% of the population.
[ In terms of ancestry, 31.7% were ]German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, 19.3% were Irish, 18.5% were English, 6.6% were Norwegian, 6.1% were Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, and 5.6% were American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
.
Of the 3,021 households, 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.2% were non-families, and 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.81. The median age was 42.3 years.[
The median income for a household in the county was $53,853 and the median income for a family was $63,438. Males had a median income of $53,095 versus $28,724 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,463. About 5.8% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.
]
Communities
City
* Newcastle (county seat)
Town
* Upton
Upton may refer to:
Places United Kingdom England
* Upton, Slough, Berkshire (in Buckinghamshire until 1974)
* Upton, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet near Aylesbury
* Upton, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough
* Upton, Huntingdonshire, a location in Cambridge ...
Census-designated places
* Hill View Heights
* Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage".
Osage can also refer to:
* Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation
* Osage (Unicode b ...
Other places
* Buckhorn
* Clareton
* Four Corners
The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
Politics
Like all of the High Plains, and almost all of Wyoming, Weston County is overwhelmingly Republican. Since Wyoming statehood in 1890, it has been carried by a Democrat just three times. Woodrow Wilson carried the county in 1912 as a result of a split between the conservative incumbent William Howard Taft and Progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
ex-President Theodore Roosevelt, whilst in his two 1930s landslides Franklin D. Roosevelt became the other Democrat to win Weston County, although he defeated Republican Alf Landon in 1936 by just 109 votes.
Subsequent to Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
losing the county to Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
by just fifty-four votes in 1964, no Democrat has passed 35 percent of Weston County's vote. Indeed, Bill Clinton in 1996 was the last to pass twenty percent for the Democratic Party, and his wife Hillary lost Weston – and most High Plains counties – by worse than a ten-to-one margin in 2016 against Donald Trump.
The Wyoming Department of Corrections
The Wyoming Department of Corrections (WDOC) is a state agency of Wyoming that operates adult correctional facilities. It is headquartered in Suite 100 of the 1934 Wyott Drive building in Cheyenne.
History
Wyoming entered the Union in 1890. As a ...
Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp & Boot Camp
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...
is located in Newcastle. The facility was operated by the Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform until that agency was dissolved as a result of a state constitutional amendment passed in November 1990.About the Department of Corrections
Wyoming Department of Corrections. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Weston County, Wyoming
References
External links
History of Weston County
{{Coord, 43.84, -104.56, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-WY_source:UScensus1990
1890 establishments in Wyoming
Populated places established in 1890
Black Hills