
Kane 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 the
U.S. state of
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 ...
. As of the
2020 United States census, the population was 7,667. 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 ...
and largest city is
Kanab.
History
The county was created on January 16, 1864, by the old federal
Utah Territory (1850–1896) territorial legislature, with areas partitioned off from earlier
Washington County. It was named for Col.
Thomas L. Kane (1822–1883), a friend of the
Latter Day Saint (
Mormons
Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...
) settlers when they first arrived westward, led by patriarch
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 ...
(1801–1877), in the
1840s and
1850s. The county boundary was readjusted later, first in 1869, when a portion was returned back to Washington County; second in 1880, when
San Juan County was partitioned off and created; and third, in 1883, when additional portions were partitioned from Kane and added to
Iron
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
and back to Washington counties.
Geography
Kane County lies on the south line of the state of Utah. Its south border abuts the northern border of the state of
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. 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 ...
, reformed as
Lake Powell, forms its eastern border.
Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument covers much of the county. A rugged and inhospitable country of deserts, mountains, and cliffs make up the terrain, with breathtaking scenery in every area. Parts of
Bryce Canyon National Park and
Zion National Park extend into the northern and western portions of the county. The eastern part of the county is part of the
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
[''Kane County UT'' Google Maps (accessed 25 March 2019)]
/ref> The county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.9%) is water.
Adjacent counties
* Washington County – west
* Iron County – northwest
* Garfield County – north
* San Juan County – east
* Mohave County, Arizona
Mohave County occupies the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman ...
– southwest
* Coconino County, Arizona
Coconino County is a County (United States), county in the North Central Arizona, North-Central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff, Arizon ...
– south
Protected areas
* Bryce Canyon National Park (part)
* Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
* Dixie National Forest (part)
* Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (part)
* Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (part)
* Kodachrome Basin State Park
* Zion National Park (part)
Lakes
Source:[
* Lake Powell (along east border)
* Navajo Lake
]
Demographics
2020 census
According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey, there were 7,667 people in Kane 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 1.9 people per square mile (0.7/km2). Among non- Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 6,924 (90.3%) 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 ...
, 27 (0.4%) 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 ...
, 119 (1.6%) Native American, 59 (0.8%) Asian, 1 (0.0%) 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 ...
, 18 (0.2%) from other races, and 197 (2.6%) from two or more races. 322 (4.2%) people were Hispanic or Latino.
There were 3,808 (49.67%) males and 3,859 (50.33%) females, and the population distribution by age was 1,752 (22.9%) under the age of 18, 3,950 (51.5%) from 18 to 64, and 1,965 (25.6%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 44.9 years.
There were 3,081 households in Kane County with an average size of 2.49 of which 1,987 (64.5%) were families and 1,094 (35.5%) were non-families. Among all families, 1,663 (54.0%) 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 ...
, 110 (3.6%) were male householders with no spouse, and 214 (6.9%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 932 (30.2%) were a single person living alone and 162 (5.3%) were two or more people living together. 784 (25.4%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 2,409 (78.2%) of households were owner-occupied while 672 (21.8%) were renter-occupied.
The median income for a Kane County household was $49,486 and the median family income was $69,722, with a per-capita income of $28,142. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $41,368 and for females $34,986. 13.1% of the population and 6.0% 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 5,600 people in Kane County 25 years or older, 480 (8.6%) had not completed high school, 1,391 (24.8%) had a high school diploma or equivalency, 2,066 (36.9%) 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 ...
, 1,114 (19.9%) 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 549 (9.8%) had a graduate or professional degree.
Ancestry
The top 5 ethnic groups in Kane County are:
* English-30%
* German-10%
* Irish-9%
* Danish-5%
* Swedish-4%
Politics and government
Kane is one of the most reliably Republican counties in the nation. Of "straight-ticket" voters in the 2008 election, there were 992 Republicans and 326 Democrats. In the Utah gubernatorial election, 2004 nearly 70% of the county's vote went for Jon Huntsman, Jr. and in the 2008 election he received around 75% of the vote. Kane County is part of Utah's 2nd congressional district and thus was represented by moderate Democrat Jim Matheson for several years until 2013. The second district is now represented by Republican Celeste Maloy
Celeste Maloy (born May 22, 1981) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 2023.
A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as chief legal counsel to U.S. Representative Chris Stewart ...
.
In Presidential elections, Kane County has only been won once by a Democratic candidate when Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
carried the county in 1916. It was the only county in Utah carried by Alf Landon, the Republican opponent who lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
in the 1936 Presidential election in the most lopsided Presidential election in over a century. It has solidly favored the Republican candidate since at least 1956, when Dwight D. Eisenhower received approximately 90% of the vote. In 1964, by over thirty-nine percent, the county went for Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...
, who lost the overall in the state by over nine percent. Since 1920, only in the Democratic landslides of 1936, 1940, and 1964 did the Democratic candidate for president receive even 30% of the county's vote.[
]
Communities
City
* Kanab (county seat)
Towns
* Alton
* Big Water
* Glendale
* Orderville
Unincorporated communities
* Bullfrog
* Duck Creek Village
* Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...
* Mount Carmel Junction
Ghost towns
* Johnson
* Paria
Education
There is one school district, Kane School District.
Utah State University
Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...
also has a local campus in Kanab.
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Kane County, Utah
References
Further reading
* (1994
"Kane County"
article in th
''Utah History Encyclopedia.''
The article was written by Miriam B. Murphy and the Encyclopedia was published by the University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874804256. Archived fro
the original
on May 3, 2024 and retrieved on May 22, 2024.
External links
Kane County official website
{{coord, 37.29, -111.89, display=title}
1864 establishments in Utah Territory
Populated places established in 1864