Wayne 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 In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 2,486, making it the fourth-least populous county in Utah. 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 ...

Loa , also called loa, are spirits in the African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou and Dominican Vudú. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their iden ...

History

Due to its remoteness and harsh terrain, settlements did not appear in the future Wayne County until the 1880s. By 1892, there was enough settlement and enough interest in a separate county (due mainly to the difficulty of accessing the Piute County seat), that

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 ...

passed an act (effective date March 10, 1892) to separate the east portion of Piute into a separate county. The county was named for

Wayne County, Tennessee Wayne County is a county located in south central Tennessee, along the Alabama border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,232. Its county seat is Waynesboro. The county is named after General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, a prominent milit ...

, itself named for

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and a Founding Father of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military expl ...

. The county boundaries have remained unchanged since its creation.

Geography

The eastern border of Wayne County is delineated by the meanders of the Green River, which flows southward to discharge into 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 ...

. After the two rivers join, the combined southwestern flow forms the remaining portion of the county's eastern border. The central part of the county is drained by the

Fremont River The Fremont River is a long river in southeastern Utah, United States that flows from the Johnson Valley Reservoir, which is located on the Wasatch Plateau near Fish Lake, Utah, Fish Lake, southeast through Capitol Reef National Park to the Muddy ...

and Muddy Creek. The Fremont begins at Fish Lake in Sevier County and flows into Wayne County near its northwestern corner. It joins the Muddy near Hanksville to form the Dirty Devil River, which flows southeastward out of the county's southern border to discharge into Colorado. Wayne County terrain varies from rough forestland on the west to arid poor soil carved by drainages and rocky outcrops.''Wayne County UT'' Google Maps (accessed 24 March 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the east and south; its highest area is near its NW corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. The Green River, passing through the canyons of

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is a national park of the United States located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green Rive ...

, forms the eastern boundary. The San Rafael Desert occupies the center of the county. Thousand Lake Mountain and Boulder Mountain flank Rabbit Valley on the western end of the county, where forests contrast with the deserts to the east. The small population of the county is centered in Rabbit Valley, with one town of 200, Hanksville, located in Graves Valley north of the Henry Mountains. Wayne County is also home to

Capitol Reef National Park Capitol Reef National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in south-central Utah. The park is approximately long on its northsouth axis and just wide on average. The park was established in ...

Major highways

* * * *

Adjacent counties

* Emery County - north * Grand County - northeast * San Juan County - east *

Garfield County Garfield County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Garfield County, Colorado *Garfield County, Montana *Garfield County, Nebraska *Garfield County, Oklahoma * Garfield County, Utah *Garfield County, Washington Garfie ...

- south * Piute County - west * Sevier County (northwest)

National forests/parks

Dixie National Forest Dixie National Forest is a United States National Forest in Utah with headquarters in Cedar City. It occupies almost two million acres (8,000 km2) and stretches for about across southern Utah. The largest national forest in Utah, it ...

Fishlake National Forest Fishlake National Forest is a United States National Forest, U.S. National Forest located in south central Utah. The namesake for the forest is Fish Lake (Utah), Fish Lake, the largest freshwater mountain lake in the state. Wildlife Animals tha ...

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyo ...

Lakes

* Abes Knoll Reservoir * Alkali Lake * Bald Knoll Reservoir * Beaver Dam Reservoir * Beef Hollow Reservoir * Bicknell Reservoir * Big Hollow Reservoir * Black Point Reservoir * Blackburn Reservoir * Blind Lake (near Neff Reservoir) * Blind Lake (near Pear Lake) * Blue Lake * Bobs Hole * Brinkerhoff Pond * Buffalo Pond * Bull Roost Reservoir * Bullberry Lakes * Cameron Reservoir * Cedar Peak Lake * Coleman Reservoir * Cook Lake * Cub Lake * Curler Lake * Cyclone Co-op Reservoir * Cyclone Knoll Reservoir * Dead Horse Lake * Deadman Hollow Reservoir * Deep Creek Lake * Donkey Reservoir * Dry Lake Reservoir * East Bicknell Sand Wash Pond * East Gate Reservoir * Eightmile Reservoir * Emily Lake * Evans Reservoir * Fish Creek Reservoir * Flat Top Reservoir * Flatiron Lakes * Flossie Lake * Government Lake * Grass Lake (near Bobs Hole) * Grass Lake (near Torgerson Lake) * Green Lake * Gripe Reservoir * Hare Lake * Heart Lake * Honeymoon Lake * Hunt Reservoir * Jakes Knoll Reservoir * Jane Lake * Jay Pond * Jim Larson Reservoir * Lava Lake * Lee Lake * Left Hand Reservoir * Lightning Lake * Long Hollow Reservoir * Lost Lake * Lower Balsam Reservoir * Lower Reservoir * Meadow Gulch Reservoir * Middle Balsam Reservoir * Middle Reservoir * Mill Meadow Reservoir (part) * Miller Lake * Mitts Reservoir * Moroni Reservoir * Mud Lake * Ned Reservoir * Neff Reservoir * Ottos Reservoir * Parker Hollow Reservoir * Pass Reservoir * Pear Lake * Petes Pond * Pine Creek Reservoir * Pole Canyon Reservoir * Raft Lake * Right Fork Wildcat Reservoir * Rock Lake * Rock Point Reservoir * Round Lake (near Heart Lake) * Round Lake (near Lower Reservoir) * Sage Reservoir * Smooth Knoll Reservoir * Snow Lake * Snow Lakes * Solitaire Lake * Spray Reservoir * Square Reservoir * Tidwell Reservoir * Torgerson Lake * Twin Lakes * Upper Balsam Reservoir * Vance Reservoir * West Bicknell Pond * West Flat Top Reservoir Number 1 * West Flat Top Reservoir Number 2 * White Rock Reservoir * Wide Hollow Reservoir * Wildcat Reservoir * Woodys Reservoir

Demographics

2020 census

According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey, there were 2,486 people in Wayne 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 1.0 people per square mile (0.4/km²). Among non- Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 2,267 (91.2%)

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 ...

, 1 (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 ...

, 19 (0.8%) Native American, 16 (0.6%) Asian, 3 (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 ...

, 5 (0.2%) from other races, and 79 (3.2%) from two or more races. 96 (3.9%) people were Hispanic or Latino. There were 1,239 (49.84%) males and 1,247 (50.16%) females, and the population distribution by age was 536 (21.6%) under the age of 18, 1,334 (53.7%) from 18 to 64, and 616 (24.8%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 47.3 years. There were 1,064 households in Wayne County with an average size of 2.34 of which 711 (66.8%) were families and 353 (33.2%) were non-families. Among all families, 601 (56.5%) 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 ...

, 49 (4.6%) were male householders with no spouse, and 61 (5.7%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 307 (28.9%) were a single person living alone and 46 (4.3%) were two or more people living together. 290 (27.3%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 814 (76.5%) of households were owner-occupied while 250 (23.5%) were renter-occupied. The median income for a Wayne County household was $49,299 and the median family income was $62,069, 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 $23,184. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $50,625 and for females $34,653. 10.1% of the population and 6.8% 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 1,822 people in Wayne County 25 years or older, 190 (10.4%) had not completed high school, 346 (19.0%) 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, 848 (46.5%) 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 ...

, 374 (20.5%) 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 64 (3.5%) 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 and ethnicity

As of 2017 the largest self-identified ancestry groups/ethnic groups in Wayne County, Utah were:

Communities

Towns

* Bicknell * Hanksville *

(county seat) * Lyman * Torrey

Census-designated places

* Fremont * Teasdale

Unincorporated communities

* Caineville * Fruita *

Grover Grover is a blue Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. Self-described as lovable, cute, and furry, he is a blue monster who rarely uses contractions when he speaks or sings. Grover was originally perfo ...

* Notom

Former communities

Aldridge Aldridge is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is historically, a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from ...

* Eagle City * Giles

Politics and government

Wayne County voters are traditionally Republican. In only one national election since 1948 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

Education

There is one school district, Wayne School District.
Text list
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Coord, 38.36, -110.90, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-UT_source:UScensus1990 1892 establishments in Utah Territory Populated places established in 1892