Washington is a city in south central Washington County,

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 and is a part of the St. George Metropolitan Area. The area is also known as Utah's Dixie because the

Mormon Mormons are a religious and 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 death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

pioneers who settled the St. George area came to the area to raise cotton, which was milled at the cotton mill in Washington. The population was 27,993 as of

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. Washington is a fast-growing

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, and is the second largest city in Washington County. The city was named after

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. The city administration has tried to encourage the use of the name "Washington City" in recent years.

History

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 nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded durin ...

sent a group of 28 families to the area to attempt to grow

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

. The "cotton mission" was led by former Mississippi cotton plantation owner Robert Dockery Covington, who along with some of the early settlers from the southeastern United States, were former slavemasters. The area was nicknamed Utah's Dixie;

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 have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

was a nickname for the southeastern states.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of 32.5 square miles (85.2 km²), of which 32.5 square miles (85.1 km²) is land and 0.07 square mile (0.1 km²) (0.10%) is water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 8,186 people, 2,614 households, and 2,117 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,199 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.31%

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 ...

, 0.37%

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 ...

, 1.71% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.10%

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 ...

, 2.15% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.69% of the population. There were 2,614 households, out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.4% 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 ...

living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.0% were non-families. 16.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.37. In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.1% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,341, and the median income for a family was $39,003. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $20,434 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $14,032. About 7.5% of families and 7.9% 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 ...

, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 1.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The City of Washington has five city council members: Councilwoman Kim Casperson, Councilman Craig Coats, Councilman Bret Henderson, Councilman Kurt Ivie, and Benjamin L Martinsen. Mayor Kress Staheli was elected in 2021 and has been mayor since January 2022. Washington uses a city manager to run the day-to-day activities. As of 2021, the city manager is Jeremy Redd, who was appointed in 2020.

Education

High schools

* Pine View High School. A majority of Washington residents attend schools within the Pine View cone site. Residents in old town Washington, the Buena Vista and Green Springs neighborhoods, and the northern section of Washington Fields have attended Pine View - which is just across the city boundary in neighboring St. George - since it opening in 1983. * Crimson Cliffs High School. Its coverage zone extends into

* St George Academy in Washington City College Prep Charter High School that serves St George and surrounding communities.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in the Mojave Desert Cities in Utah Populated places established in 1857 Cities in Washington County, Utah 1857 establishments in Utah Territory