Emery County is a
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in east-central
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. As of the
2020 United States census, the population was 9,825. Its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
is
Castle Dale, and the largest city is
Huntington.
History
Prehistory

Occupation of the San Rafael region dates back thousands of years to include people of the Desert Archaic Culture who were followed by those of the
Fremont culture who inhabited present-day Emery County through the sixth through thirteenth centuries AD. Evidence of these civilizations is extant in numerous pictograph and petroglyph panels, such as those in Temple Mountain Wash,
Muddy Creek, Ferron Box, Black Dragon Canyon, and
Buckhorn Wash - all sites listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. Indigenous Ute people also occupied sites in Castle Valley.
Old Spanish Trail
The first non-indigenous persons to view Castle Valley were Spanish Traders and Explorers. The first of record was
Silvestre Vélez de Escalante Silvestre is a Spanish and Portuguese given name or surname, or a French surname. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Cindy Silvestre (born 1993), French kickboxer
* Franck Silvestre (born 1967), retired French footballer
* Isac Sil ...
; in 1776, he crossed northern Utah through the Uintah Basin. Spanish traders and explorers soon found a more southerly route, and their path became known as the
Old Spanish Trail. It began at
Santa Fe, to
Durango, Colorado
Durango is the home rule city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis College ...
, crossed the
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
(then known as Grand River) near present-day
Moab
Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...
, then to the
Green River-crossing where Green River is now located, thence westerly to Cedar Mountain. It went on the South side of Cedar Mountain, across Buckhorn Flat, passed the Red Seeps to Huntington Creek, crossing about a mile below where the present bridge crosses; thence to Cottonwood Creek. It crossed the Ferron Creek where Molen now stands. It passed through the Rochester Flats about east of present-day
Moore and crossed the
Muddy Creek about due east of the present town of
Emery.

It then went over Salina (Salt Creek) Canyon. It then turned south and went through Parowan, Mountain Meadows, Las Vegas Nevada, Barstow California, and to the coast.
[Jorgensen, John. ''History of Castle Valley Prior to Mormon Settlement''. 1990] This Trail had to traverse Castle Valley to skirt the steep-walled canyons of the San Juan, Colorado, Green, Dirty Devil, and San Rafael Rivers.
Slavery was the principal trade between Santa Fe and the Utah region. The trading of Indian women and children to the Spanish, although illegal, was the purpose of the Spanish coming into the area to become Utah. The other use of the trail was to herd livestock, mostly horses, from California to Santa Fe. Since the slave trade was illegal, the traders kept neither records of their activities nor the extent of their travels and explorations. Travelers along the Old Spanish Trail gave Castle Valley its names, as the travelers marveled at the imposing rock formations.
Early explorers
The first Americans to come to Castle Valley were fur trappers, including the "lost trappers", James Workman and William Spencer, who had been separated from their trapping party by
Comanche
The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...
Indians and had wandered to the Moab crossing of the Colorado River hoping that they would find Santa Fe. They met a Spanish caravan of forty or fifty people going to California. They joined the caravan and traveled through Castle Valley in 1809 and went on to California. In 1830, William Wilfskill came to Castle Valley along the Spanish Trail. He and his party were fur trappers but found little in the area to keep them here.
[
Following the trappers in the late 1840s and early 1850s, government explorers came to the valley seeking usable overland routes across the continent. ]Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...
was the first of these famous men. He was looking for a direct route for the mail to be carried overland from St. Louis to California. Carson carried through Castle Valley to the nation the news of gold being found in the Sierra Nevada in 1848.[Roberts, David (2001), A newer world: Kit Carson, John C. Fremont and the claiming of the American west, New York: Touchstone .]
In 1853 John W. Gunnison, an Army Topographical Engineer came through Castle Valley, plotting a railroad route. He was commissioned for this assignment by the US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...
. He left detailed descriptions of his travels and carefully laid out his route through Castle Valley. Gunnison's route first met the Spanish Trail at the Green River crossing. He followed this trail for a short distance west of the Green River, but when the Spanish Trail entered a rugged rocky region (Sinbad Reef) he charted a route around this feature.
The third government explorer was John C. Fremont
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, in the winter of 1853–54. The cold weather heavily impacted his trip. They suffered from a lack of food and from the inhospitable landscape. There was no relief from their difficulties until they left Castle Valley and made their way to the small Mormon settlement of Parowan.[
]
Arrival of pioneers
In 1875 livestock growers from Sanpete County brought cattle and sheep into Castle Valley to graze, and several recognized the settlement potential of the region. With a shortage of sufficient land and water in Sanpete County and a strong desire by LDS Church leaders to acquire unoccupied land in the region before non-Mormons did, young families began moving into Castle Valley in the fall of 1877 to homestead in the future sites of Huntington, Ferron, Castle Dale, and Orangeville.
In late August 1877, 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 h ...
, 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 Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church), issued an order to the Sanpete LDS Stake president seeking "... at least fifty families olocate in Castle Valley this fall." The order led to the last Mormon colony settled under the direction of Brigham Young. One week later on August 29, Young, the Great Colonizer, died. During his 30 years as leader of the LDS Church, Young had overseen and directed the establishment of almost 400 towns and villages. The settlement of Emery County was his last.
Soon after the issuance of Young's order, several bands of settlers moved out from the Sanpete region and headed for Castle Valley (Emery County). They settled along Huntington Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Ferron Creek. The following spring (1878), several more families arrived. In the spring of 1878, Elias Cox and Charles Hollingshead set up a sawmill in Huntington Canyon to support the colony. On Ferron Creek, settlers plowed lands and began the construction of a ditch for irrigation. Most early settlers in Castle Valley claimed easily watered bottom lands along the creeks and rivers, and by 1879, most of the best lands had been taken up.[Wm. Joe Simonds; The Emery County Project; ]Bureau of Reclamation
The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...
History Program
The Utah Territorial Legislature created Emery County on February 12, 1880. The description included the future Carbon County area. It was named for George W. Emery, the Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...
governor whose term was ending as the act was being debated. The 1880 census showed 556 people and 84 farms in Emery County, but this figure is likely short as many prominent settlers were inadvertently left off the county rolls. By 1890, the population of Emery County had risen to 2,866. Between 1880 and 1900, many significant canals were constructed, including the Huntington Canal (1884), Emery Canal (1885), Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
Canal (1885), and the Wakefield Ditch (1880). Many of the early canals are still in service.[ The county boundaries were altered in 1880 and 1890. In 1894 the north portion of the county was partitioned off to create Carbon County. The county boundaries remained intact after that, except for a small adjustment in the city of Green River in 2003.
In the early 1880s, the ]Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...
contemplated possible routings through the Emery County region. Early plans to locate the railroad through the heart of Emery County were thwarted when the route over the Wasatch Range
The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Gr ...
was too steep. The route was moved to the NE part of the county, bypassing most settlements. Most of the county thus missed on economic opportunities brought by the railroad, but Green River, on the east county border, quickly boomed after the rails arrived.[
]
Twentieth century
Emery County population passed 4,600 by 1900, with 450+ farms and under cultivation. Irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
systems were being expanded to bring new lands into production, bringing problems that would plague the region for several decades. Water rights conflicts frequently arose, and water theft
Water theft is illegal tapping of water supply systems. Together with losses from water leaks in the piping, water theft is one of the major factors contributing to non-revenue water.
Thames Water estimated losses by theft to amount to 2 to order ...
, known as "midnight irrigation," became common. Most disputes were settled by decree, but a few were contested by violence.
The underlying soils in Emery County consist of ancient seabed
The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as seabeds.
The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...
s which contain high levels of salts. Poor drainage and over-irrigation cause the salts to collect on the surface, rendering large land areas unsuitable for agriculture. The problem first appeared in the 1890s, and in 1903, a Department of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
report stated that over 30% of the developed farmland in Emery County had been abandoned due to degradation.
With expanded irrigation development came expanded settlement as several new towns were established. In addition, the coal industry, which had consisted of small mines to cover local demand, had significantly expanded, with several large-scale operations starting in the county. The US entry into The Great War created a minor boom in Emery County as agricultural prices rose and manpower shortages caused wages at the mines to rise. Following the war, prices dropped significantly, leading to hard times throughout much of the 1920s. Things improved somewhat during the later years of the decade, but an even more significant collapse came with the onset of the Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
in the early 1930s. In addition, severe drought in 1931 and 1934 intensified the economic hardship in the county.
The 1930s were difficult for Emery County residents. The county population dropped by 5% from 1920 to 1930, although it remained somewhat steady after that. Agricultural prices dropped 40% from their 1929 level, and coal production dropped by half. Water shortages and land degradation
Land degradation is a process where land becomes less healthy and productive due to a combination of Human impact on the environment, human activities or natural conditions. The causes for land degradation are numerous and complex. Human activitie ...
continued to be problems. In 1935, only out of produced crops.
The residents did benefit from several depression-relief programs, including the Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...
(CCC), which established several CCC camps in the county. Company 959 established a camp in Joes Valley in May 1933. The camp moved several times in the following years before establishing a permanent camp near Ferron in 1935. A second camp was established at Castle Dale in 1935, and another camp was established at Green River in 1938. During its tenure in Emery County, the CCC built roads, bridges, and trails, as well as building ranger stations and other projects on public lands. Many enrollees settled in Emery County after their discharge from the Corps.
Following the end of World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Emery County veterans returned to find relative economic prosperity. County farm income in 1946 was double that of 1940, and the coal mines were operating at fairly high levels. During the post-war years, the county matured and modernized as modern water and sanitation systems were constructed, roads were improved, and many of the luxuries enjoyed by people in less rural areas, like telephones, reached Emery County. While many things in Emery County improved, some things did not. The agricultural sector still suffered from inconsistent water supplies and a lack of significant long-term water storage. And in the mid-1950s, the region again experienced near-drought conditions. It was during this period that a water reservoir in Joes Valley was completed.[
Riding the crest of national economic growth during the 1970s, Emery County's population grew significantly as a result of the construction of large coal-fired power plants in Castle Dale and Huntington by Utah Power & Light Company (]PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp is an electric power company based in the Lloyd Center Tower in Portland, Oregon with operations in the western United States.
PacifiCorp has two business units: Pacific Power, a regulated electric utility with service territory thro ...
) and the expansion of coal mines to fuel them.
Recent
On August 6, 2007, at 2:48 A.M., UtahAmerican Energy's Crandall Canyon Mine, west north-west of Huntington collapsed, trapping 6 workers inside. The mine, located just off State Route 31, is about southeast of Fairview, and south of Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
(). The workers were approximately from the mine entrance and underground. The collapse registered recorded seismic waves
A seismic wave is a mechanical wave of acoustic wave, acoustic energy that travels through the Earth or another planetary body. It can result from an earthquake (or generally, a quake (natural phenomenon), quake), types of volcanic eruptions ...
in magnitude 3.9 to 4.0, by seismograph
A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground displacement and shaking such as caused by quakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The out ...
stations of the University of Utah
The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
.
Emery County, the state's No. 2 coal-producing county, was also the site of a fire that killed 27 people in the Wilberg Mine in December 1984.
Geography
The Green River flows southward along the east side of the county. The Price River flows southeastward through the northeastern corner of the county to its discharge point into the Green on the county's eastern border. The San Rafael River rises in the northwestern part of the county and cuts its way across the county's central areas before discharging into the Green, several miles south of the city of Green River.[''Emery County UT'' Google Maps (accessed 29 March 2019)]
/ref> The county terrain is rough flat areas broken by mountain ranges and ridges and carved by water erosion, generally sloping to the south and east. The county's highest point is ASL, in the Central Utah Plateaus on the county's main north border. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. The Wasatch Plateau
The Wasatch Plateau is a plateau located southeast of the southernmost part of the Wasatch Range in central Utah. It is a part of the Colorado Plateau.
Geography
The plateau has an elevation of and includes an area of . Its highest point is So ...
, a mountainous area, sits along the western boundary. The main population of the county lives along the base of these mountains. The San Rafael Swell
The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, United States about west of Green River. Measuring approximately , the swell consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone that wa ...
occupies most of the area to the east.
The western side of the county is the most populated and contains numerous small communities residing in an agricultural valley that roughly parallels the Manti National Forest to the west. Streams originate in the Wasatch Plateau in the forest, and their headwaters are stored in several reservoirs. Agricultural areas depend on these reservoirs and waterways for survival, and some farmland communities struggle with excess salinity. The east side of the county is dry with rough terrain. Green River, the largest community on this side of the county, is more closely tied to the communities and economy of Grand County. Emery County's maps show the importance of the forest lands to the local communities as there are few significant groundwater aquifers in the area.
Emery County contains three areas: the mountainous Wasatch Plateau to the west; Castle Valley, where the major settlements are located; and the desert of the San Rafael Swell, the San Rafael Reef, Cedar Mountain, and the remote stretches on the east.
The San Rafael River, the lifeblood of the county, originates in the Wasatch Plateau, where the headwaters are stored in several reservoirs for agricultural and industrial use. It flows into Castle Valley in three branches—Huntington Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Ferron Creek—which unite to form the San Rafael River after they pass the communities and adjacent farmland. It then twists its way through the rock and desert to its junction with the Green River.
Geographical names feature Native American, Spanish and English influences. Two Ute Indian names: Wasatch, a gap in the mountains; Quitchupah, a place where animals fare poorly. Wasatch is the name of the plateau between the Sanpete Valley and the Castle Valley. Quitchupah is a small creek south of Emery. The Spanish name is still used in San Rafael, which means Saint Ralph. During Spanish times, the name Rafael was also given to the present Ferron Creek. In 1873, A.D. Ferron, the surveyor sent by Washington to perform cadastral surveys of eastern Utah, named this creek, but before this time, it was the Rafael. The Ute Indians called it the Cabulla, which refers to the small edible part of cactus pear. Huntington Creek was originally called San Marcus; Ute Indians called it Sivareeche, and the Spanish called it Mateo. The Indians called Castle Valley Tompin-con-tu or rock house land, which relates to the present Castle Valley. The Spanish named the valley St. Joseph's Valley.[
]
Archaeology
Range Creek rises in Emery County and has recently been shown to have pristine remains of the Fremont culture. The State of Utah owns the site and is currently identifying the remains and developing a long-term conservation plan.
Major highways
Source:[
* United States Interstate I-70
* United States US-191
* Utah State Highway UT-10
* Utah State Highway UT-24
* Utah State Highway UT-29
* Utah State Highway UT-31
]
Adjacent counties
* Carbon County - north
* Uintah County - northeast
* Grand County - east
* San Juan County - southeast
* Wayne County - south
* Sevier County - southwest
* Sanpete County - northwest
Protected areas
* Cedar Mountain Recreation Area
* Goblin Valley State Park
* Green River State Park
* Huntington State Park
* Manti-La Sal National Forest (part)
* Millsite State Park
Lakes
Source:[
* Aldys Hole
* Antelope Valley Number Three Reservoir
* Barewire Pond
* Baseball Pond
* Big Hole
* Big Hole Pond
* Big Pond
* Black Dragon Reservoir
* Blue Flat Reservoir
* Blue Pond
* Broken Pond
* Buckhorn Reservoir
* Buckmaster Reservoir
* C C C Pond
* Canyon Pond
* Cat Pond
* Chris Pond
* Cinderella Reservoir
* Cistern Tanks
* Cleveland Reservoir
* Cloyds Pond
* Clyde and Neils Pond
* Cow Flat Reservoir
* Cow Tanks
* Desert Lake
* Desert Reservoir Number 2
* Dinner Pond
* Diversion Hollow Debris Basin Reservoir
* Dog Hollow Reservoir
* Dog Ponds
* Drought Relief Reservoir
* Dry Pond
* Dry X Reservoir
* Dugway Reservoir
* Dutch Flat Reservoir
* Electric Lake
* Emery Plant Reservoir
* Farnsworth Tanks
* Forked Post Pond
* Goodwater Reservoir
* Greasewood Tank
* Guymon Pond
* Hadden Pit
* Hadden Reservoir
* Horse Bench Reservoir
* Horse Heaven Reservoir
* Huntington Lake
* Huntington Reservoir
* Hyde Draw Reservoir
* Indian Hollow Debris Basin Reservoir
* J J Reservoir
* Jim Wilson Reservoir
* Job Corps Pond
* Joes Holes
* Joes Valley Reservoir
* Johansen Pond
* Jorgensen Pond
* Kiahtipes Reservoir
* Kirby Pond
* Lews Hole
* Little Blue Pond
* Little Holes
* Lone Tree Reservoir
* Long Point Number 3 Reservoir
* Lynns Pond
* Merrials Pond
* Midway Reservoir
* Miller Flat Reservoir (partially)
* Millsite Reservoir
* Molen Tanks
* Moonshine Waterhole
* Mormon Tanks
* Mounds Reservoir
* Mussentuchit Reservoir
* Ninemile Reservoir
* Olsen Reservoir
* Orsons Pond
* Oscars Pond
* Petes Hole
* Pilling Pond
* Potters Ponds
* Rattlesnake Reservoir
* Red Point Reservoir
* Reid Neilson Reservoir
* Road End Reservoir
* Road Hollow Reservoir
* Rochester Reservoir
* Rock Reservoir
* Round Knoll Pond
* Russel Pond
* Saleratus Reservoir
* Sand Bench Reservoir
* Sand Pond
* Saucer Basin Reservoir
* Short Canyon Reservoir
* Sids Holes
* Sids Reservoir
* Sinkhole Reservoir
* Slaughter Slopes Reservoir
* Smith Pond
* Snow Lake
* South Ferron Reservoir
* South Sand Reservoir
* Southeast Mounds Reservoir
* State Pond
* Straight Hollow North Debris Basin Reservoir
* Straight Hollow South Debris Basin Reservoir
* Summit Pond
* Swazy Hole
* The Big Pond
* Three Coves Reservoir
* Trail Reservoir
* Twin Ponds
* Wedge Pond Number 1
* Wedge Pond Number 2
* Wedge Pond Number 4
* West Clawson Reservoir
* Wests Reservoir
* Woodpile Pond
* Wrigley Springs Reservoir (partially)
* Zwahlen Wash Debris Basin Reservoir
]
Demographics
2020 census
According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey, there were 9,825 people in Emery County with a population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...
of 2.2 people per square mile (0.9/km2). Among non- Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 8,811 (89.7%) White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2 (0.0%) African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 55 (0.6%) Native American, 36 (0.4%) Asian, 7 (0.1%) Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...
, 16 (0.2%) from other races, and 193 (2.0%) from two or more races. 705 (7.2%) people were Hispanic or Latino.
There were 4,965 (50.53%) males and 4,860 (49.47%) females, and the population distribution by age was 2,869 (29.2%) under the age of 18, 5,187 (52.8%) from 18 to 64, and 1,769 (18.0%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 38.3 years.
There were 3,535 households in Emery County with an average size of 2.78 of which 2,625 (74.3%) were families and 910 (25.7%) were non-families. Among all families, 2,168 (61.3%) were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
, 165 (4.7%) were male householders with no spouse, and 292 (8.3%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 779 (22.0%) were a single person living alone and 131 (3.7%) were two or more people living together. 1,257 (35.6%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 2,833 (80.1%) of households were owner-occupied while 702 (19.9%) were renter-occupied.
The median income for an Emery County household was $57,772 and the median family income was $71,556, with a per-capita income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...
of $24,372. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $62,786 and for females $33,143. 12.0% of the population and 7.8% of families 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 ...
.
In terms of education attainment, out of the 6,350 people in Emery County 25 years or older, 358 (5.6%) had not completed high school, 1,909 (30.1%) had a high school diploma
A high school diploma (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...
or equivalency, 3,081 (48.5%) had some college or associate degree
An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...
, 687 (10.8%) had a bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
, and 315 (5.0%) had a graduate or professional degree
A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...
.
Ancestry
As of 2015, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Emery County, Utah are:
Economy
Livestock and farming were the mainstays of Emery County's economy for much of its history. The opening of large coal mines and the construction of large power plants in Castle Dale and Huntington in the 1970s changed the economy, and the population grew sharply. High wages in this sector initially created high average incomes, but depressed markets for coal and coalbed methane, along with improvements in mining technology, have slowed or postponed this sector for some time.
As a result, unemployment has remained higher than that of the State since 1990. The County still contains extensive natural resources that could be tapped, but the jobs produced from new mining activity may be at a similar level as those replaced by technology.
A proposed nuclear power plant, the Blue Castle Project, is set to begin construction near Green River in 2023.
Education
Emery County School District operates public schools in the county.
* Emery High School
* Green River High School
* Canyon View Middle School
* San Rafael Middle School
* Ferron Elementary
* Cleveland Elementary
* Huntington Elementary
* Cottonwood Elementary
* Book Cliff Elementary
* Castle Dale Elementary
Media
The Castle Valley Review
(Monthly)
Emery County Progress
(Weekly)
Transportation
Airports
* Green River Municipal Airport (U34) = Green River
* Huntington Municipal Airport (69V) - Huntington
Events
* Cleveland Days
* Elmo Horse and Buggy Days
* Emery (town) Days
* Emery County Fair
* Ferron Peach Days
* Green River Melon Days
* Huntington Heritage Days
* San Rafael Swell Mountain Bike Festival
* Joe's Valley Bouldering Festival
Attractions
* Joe's Valley Reservoir
* San Rafael Reef
The San Rafael Reef is a geologic feature located in Emery County in central Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a ...
* San Rafael Swell
The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, United States about west of Green River. Measuring approximately , the swell consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone that wa ...
* Buckhorn Draw Pictograph Panel
* The Wedge
* Huntington Reservoir
* Cottonwood Canyon
* Goblin Valley State Park
* Rochester Rock Art Panel
* The historic Emery LDS Church
Politics and government
Like most of Utah, Emery County is reliably Republican. In only one national election since 1964, the county selected the Democratic Party candidate.
Communities
Cities
* Castle Dale (county seat)
* Ferron
* Green River
* Huntington
* Orangeville
Towns
* Clawson
* Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
* Elmo
Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person, he hosts the last full 15-minute segmen ...
* Emery
Unincorporated communities
* Hiawatha
Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he ...
(part)
* Lawrence
* Molen
* Moore
Former communities
* Connellsville
* Desert Lake
* Mohrland
* Victor
* Wilsonville
* Woodside
In popular culture
* The scenes for planet Vulcan in the 2009 film ''Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' were filmed near Green River.
* Scenes in which Tim Allen battles a giant rock monster called "Gorignak" in the 1999 film ''Galaxy Quest
''Galaxy Quest'' is a 1999 American satirical science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. It stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mit ...
'' were filmed at Goblin Valley State Park.
* The music video for 2008 single, "Human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
", by The Killers
The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...
, was filmed in Goblin Valley.Human Music Video
on YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. Universal Music Group. October 22, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
Gallery
Image:CastleDaleUtah.jpeg, Castle Dale
Image:Emery Town Chapel.JPG, Emery
Image:FerronUtah.jpeg, Ferron
Image:ClevelandUtah.jpeg, Cleveland
See also
* List of counties in Utah
There are 29 County (United States), counties in the U.S. state of Utah.
In 1849, the provisional State of Deseret established seven counties: Davis County, Utah, Davis, Iron County, Utah, Iron, Sanpete County, Utah, Sanpete, Salt Lake Count ...
* Emery County Cabin
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Emery County, Utah
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{authority control
1880 establishments in Utah Territory
Populated places established in 1880