Tooele County ( ) is a county 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 sov ...

of Utah. 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 ...

, the population was 58,218. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organized the following year. Tooele County is part of the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...

, UT

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

. A 2008

CNNMoney.com CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's '' Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of Time ...

article identified Tooele as the

U.S. county In the United States, a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term " county" is used in 48 states, ...

experiencing the greatest job growth since 2000. The western half is mostly covered by the Great Salt Lake Desert and includes the city of Wendover (the immediate neighbor of

West Wendover, Nevada West Wendover is a small city in Elko County, Nevada, United States. The population was 4,410 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Elko micropolitan area. West Wendover is located on the eastern border of Nevada and the western edge of the Gr ...

) and Ibapah. Within the central section lies Skull Valley, between the Cedar and the

Stansbury Mountains The Stansbury Mountains are a long mountain range located in eastern Tooele County, Utah. It is named for U.S. Army Major Howard Stansbury, a topographical engineer, who led an expedition that surveyed the region. The range trends north–sout ...

. It contains a few small towns as well as the Dugway Proving Ground. The population centers are on the eastern edge in the Tooele Valley, between the Stansbury and

Oquirrh Oquirrh is a census-designated place (CDP) in Salt Lake County, Utah, located on the slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains that gave it its name. Oquirrh was once part of Kearns, UT. Through annexation, the city of West Jordan cut Oquirrh off from Kear ...

Mountains. This area contains the cities of Tooele and Grantsville and well as the unincorporated towns of

Stansbury Park Stansbury Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tooele County, Utah, United States. The population was 5,145 at the 2010 Census; it was 2,385 at the 2000 census; the 1990 census population was 1,049. Stansbury Park is located in the north ...

, Lake Point, and Erda. Tooele Army Depot is located on the southern edge of the valley. The Stockton Bar geologic feature separates Tooele Valley and Rush Valley, in which the towns of Stockton, Vernon, Faust, and

Rush Valley Rush Valley is a long north-trending valley in the southeast of Tooele County, Utah. It lies adjacent to and attached to the south of Tooele Valley; the separation point is the low point of the valley at Rush Lake, and lies at the southeast o ...

are located. Additional small towns,

Ophir Ophir (; ) is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth. King Solomon received a shipment from Ophir every three years (1 Kings 10:22) which consisted of gold, silver, sandalwood, pearls, ivory, apes, and peacocks. Biblical ...

and Mercur, are located in two canyons on the south western side of the Oquirrh Mountains.

History

Evidence of several indigenous Native American groups has been found in Tooele County, but only the western Shoshone-speaking

Goshute The Goshutes are a tribe of Western Shoshone Native Americans. There are two federally recognized Goshute tribes today: * Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, located in Nevada and Utah * Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah o ...

tribe claim the desolate lands as their ancestral home. The Goshute's traditional territory includes most of modern Tooele County. The Great Salt Lake Desert, which comprises much of the northern portion of the county, provided a major stumbling block for the ill-fated Donner-Reed Party in 1846. Its crusty sand slowed the group's wagons to such an extent that the group spent six days crossing its 80-mile length, severely sapping the group's resources and leading to their eventual disaster. In 1847, Mormon pioneers settled in the neighboring Salt Lake Valley. Initially, Tooele Valley was used as a major grazing ground for Mormon cattle owners from Salt Lake and Utah Valleys. In 1849 the first white settlers established permanent roots in the Tooele Valley. Building a

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

, the settlement was called "E.T. City" after LDS leader E.T. Benson. The territorial legislature first designated Tooele County—initially called "Tuilla"—on January 31, 1850, with significantly different boundaries. Its government was not organized at that time, and the area was attached to Salt Lake County for judicial and administrative purposes. It is speculated the name derives from a Native American chief, but controversy exists about whether such a chief lived. Alternate explanations hypothesize that the name comes from "''tu-wanda''", the Goshute word for "

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nort ...

", or from "''tule''", a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

word of

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

origins meaning "

bulrush Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants *Sedge family (Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **'' Scirpus'' **''Blysmus'' **''Bolboschoenus'' **'' Scirpoides'' **'' Isolepis'' **''Schoenoplectus'' **'' Trichophorum'' *Typha ...

". The Goshutes did not accept Mormon encroachment on their traditional homeland. The Mormons occupied the best camping sites near reliable springs, hunted in Goshute hunting grounds, and overgrazed the meadowland, leaving it unfit for sustaining the animals and plants used by the Goshutes. Mormons believed that Utah was a promised land given to them by God, and did not recognize any Goshute claim to the land. Goshutes began confiscating Mormon cattle that trespassed onto their property. In response, the Mormons ordered their armies to kill the Goshutes. In 1850, they ambushed a Goshute village, but the Goshutes were able to defend themselves without casualties. Later that year, a contingent of at least 50 men attacked the Goshute camp, killing nine and suffering no casualties. In 1851, General

Daniel H. Wells Daniel Hanmer Wells (October 27, 1814 – March 24, 1891) was an American apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the 3rd mayor of Salt Lake City. Biography Early life Wells was born in Trenton, New Yor ...

took 30 people prisoners. After they tried to escape, Wells executed them. Similar attacks occurred throughout the 1850s with Goshutes typically being on the losing side. By June 10, 1851, the county government was organized. On that date the county attachment to Salt Lake County was terminated. By 1852, Grantsville, Batesville, and Pine Canyon (later named Lincoln) were settled. In 1855 the town of Richville was designated county seat, but it soon became clear that Tooele was much larger. In 1861 the territorial legislature allowed the county to select a new seat, and Tooele was selected. In 1859 Robert B. Jarvis, a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs representative, convinced some of the nomadic bands to congregate at a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used f ...

reservation called Deep Creek. The results looked promising, but Jarvis' resignation in 1860 led support to disappear and the farm to be abandoned. Jarvis' replacement, Benjamin Davies, noted the Goshutes had lost faith in the federal government, and recommended limiting further encroachments on Goshute land, but his suggestions were largely ignored. Twenty-two overland stagecoach outposts were built in Goshute territory, often on the sites of rare natural springs. Goshute attacks on mail outposts escalated in 1860, resulting in dozens of deaths in alternating waves of raids. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, federal troops left the area leaving defense in the hands of the

Nauvoo Legion The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Sain ...

until General Patrick E. Connor arrived in

from California in 1862. Connor acted ruthlessly toward the natives. He killed over 300 Shoshone in Southern

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

in 1863. Connor's men attacked Native American camps, sometimes indiscriminately, but through 1863 stage coach companies had lost 16 men and over 150 horses to depredations. A peace treaty was signed in 1863 which included an

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephen G. (1970). ''The Theory of Interest''. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 45 Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, m ...

of goods and

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1000 in compensation of killed game in exchange for an end to the hostilities, and use of routes through the natives' territories. The treaty did not cede Goshute control of land, but a follow-up agreement made in June 1865 did. General Connor, who was

anti-Mormon Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed against the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The term is often used to describe people or literat ...

, also encouraged his troops to prospect for minerals. Connor believed that mining would bring non-Mormons to Utah Territory. After his men discovered gold, silver, lead, and zinc deposits in Tooele County in 1864 he was proven right. The Rush Valley Mining District was established by soldiers in the western Oquirrh Mountains and more than 100 claims were staked in the first year. Two new mining towns,

and Lewiston ballooned to over 6000 people each in the 1870s, exceeding the population of Tooele and all the Mormon settlements in the area. Tooele County as originally defined extended into present-day Nevada. The county's borders were adjusted in 1852, in 1854, in 1856, in 1861, and in 1862. When

Nevada Territory The Territory of Nevada (N.T.) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until October 31, 1864, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Nevada. Prior to the creation of the Nevada ...

was created in 1862, the county's borders were impacted, and when the Territory became a state (1864), Tooele County was formally divested of all its Nevada area. Two more boundary adjustments were made in 1870 and 1880, after which it has retained its boundaries to the present.

Republic of Tooele

From 1874 to 1879, non-Mormon politicians from the Liberal Party of Utah gained control of Tooele County, the first time any non-Mormons had success in Utah politics. Whimsically, they called the county the Republic of Tooele. The 1874 election marked the first success of the

Liberal Party, which was organized in 1870. The party viewed the large non-Mormon mining population in the county as a natural environment for electoral success and campaigned fiercely in Tooele's mining districts leading up to the June 1874 election. The non-Mormon appointed governor of Utah Territory,

George L. Woods George Lemuel Woods (July 30, 1832 – January 7, 1890) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Woods served as the third Governor of Oregon from 1866 to 1870. Failing to win renomination, Woods was the ...

, campaigned for the Liberals in Tooele County. Tooele County Courthouse and City Hall

The incumbent Mormon People's Party observed several Tooele polling places on election day and lodged complaints of fraud after the Liberal Party triumphed by about 300 votes out of 2,200. The People's Party alleged Liberal Party supporters had voted more than once, that many had not been residents for the required six months, and they were not taxpayers—according to territorial law, only taxpayers could vote in elections. The People's Party called attention to the 2,200 votes cast in the election although only 1,500 Tooele County property taxpayers were on record. Incumbents refused to yield control of the Tooele County recorder's office and the Tooele County Courthouse because of the alleged fraud. Governor Woods dismissed the complaints and certified the Liberal victory. Third District Court Judge James B. McKean ruled that no evidence showing illegal activity had been presented. McKean construed

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...

as within the meaning of being a taxpayer. Since no evidence was provided there were over 300

carpetbagger In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the lo ...

s or repeat votes in the election, McKean sustained the tally and authorized deputy

U.S. Marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforceme ...

to install the Liberal candidates. The recorder's office was seized when it was momentarily abandoned, but a contingent of People's Party supporters and incumbents held the county courthouse night and day. The marshals and Liberal Party candidates, outnumbered, attempted to negotiate with the armed and barricaded Mormons. Aware that a show of aggression could spark a battle, the parties were nonetheless unable to come to an agreement to hand over power. Judge McKean issued an even more strongly worded injunction, and

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as chu ...

advised his followers that they had an obligation to obey the federal courts. The county courthouse was abandoned, thus beginning about five years of Liberal Party rule. However, the Utah territorial legislature, which had the last say on the qualifications of its members, refused to seat the Liberal Party representative from Tooele County. The Liberals won an unopposed 1876 election. In 1876, the territorial legislature passed bills requiring voter registration and requiring

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

for local elections—women had been voting in territorial elections since 1870. The Liberal Party, typically supported by male miners casually interested in politics, opposed both measures. In 1878 the Liberal majority in Tooele County disappeared, and the People's Party regained control in 1879 after more than six months of Liberal procedural delays. The Republic of Tooele era was characterized by subsequent politicians as one of excessive spending. The county was left with about $16,000 debt, significantly more than it started with.

Modern Tooele

Mining continued to play an important part in Tooele County into the 20th century, but the county benefited from two major military bases located in the western portion of the county.

Wendover Air Force Base Wendover Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Utah now known as Wendover Airport. During World War II, it was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the ...

, now closed, was the training base of the Enola Gay crew, which dropped the first

atomic weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

in 1945. The Tooele Army Depot, built in 1942, formerly housed the largest store of chemical and

biological weapon A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterroris ...

s, 45 percent of the nation's, in the United States, at the Deseret Chemical Depot. Starting August 1996, the store was reduced by destruction in a controversial weapons incinerator, at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility; the last such weapon was destroyed in January 2012. Since the 1980s, much of Tooele County's economic prospects have centered around private hazardous waste disposal facilities. Between 1988 and 1993, hazardous waste landfills and incinerators have been installed at

Clive Clive is a name. People and fictional characters with the name include: People Given name * Clive Allen (born 1961), English football player * Clive Anderson (born 1952), British television, radio presenter, comedy writer and former barrister * ...

and

Aragonite Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including pr ...

.J. Matthew Shumway and Richard H. Jackson, "Place Making, Hazardous Waste, and the Development of Tooele County, Utah". ''The Geographical Review'', 98 (2008), pp. 433-455. This, coupled with

uranium mine Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50 thousand tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account ...

tailings from Salt Lake County which were disposed in Tooele County in the 1980s, the presence of the Deseret Chemical Depot, and a high-polluting magnesium facility in Rowley, have contributed to a general perception of Tooele County as a "

sacrifice zone A sacrifice zone or sacrifice area (often termed a national sacrifice zone or national sacrifice area) is a geographic area that has been permanently impaired by heavy environmental alterations or economic disinvestment, often through locally unwant ...

" for unwanted wastes. News coverage for the county is provided by the ''

Tooele Transcript-Bulletin The ''Tooele Transcript-Bulletin'' is a twice-weekly (Tuesday and Thursday) newspaper serving Tooele County, Utah and environs. The paper, originally called the ''Tooele Transcript'', was purchased by James Dunn, a Scottish farmer and poet, in 1898 ...

'' newspaper. On September 8, 2004, the

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

spacecraft crashed into the desert floor of the Dugway Proving Ground in Tooele County. The county's western portion is home to the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bure ...

, traversed by Interstate 80 and the

Wendover Cut-off The Wendover Cut-off, also called the Wendover Road or Wendover Route, is a two-lane highway in the western part of Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. Stretching from Wendover to Knolls across the Bonneville Salt Flats, a part of the Grea ...

, the former routing of the

Victory Highway The Victory Highway was an auto trail across the United States between New York City and San Francisco, roughly equivalent to the present U.S. Route 40. It was created by the Victory Highway Association, which was organized in 1921 to locate and m ...

Geography

Tooele County lies on the west side of Utah. Its west border abuts the east border of the state of Nevada. Its northeast border abuts the Great Salt Lake. Three significant mountain ranges run north–south through the county. Its east boundary line is delineated by the crestline of the Oquirrh Mountains, which separate the Tooele Valley from the Salt Lake Valley. The

parallel the Oquirrhs in the eastern part of the county, and the Cedar Mountains also run parallel to the other two through the east-central part of the county. There are also isolated prominences across the county, especially at its SW corner. The county terrain is largely arid and unused for agriculture unless irrigation water is available.''Tooele County UT'' Google Maps (accessed 25 March 2019)
/ref> The county generally slopes to the north. Its highest elevation is

Deseret Peak Deseret Peak is the highest peak in the Stansbury Mountains with an elevation of 11,035 ft. It is located in the Deseret Peak Wilderness area west of Grantsville, Utah and east of Skull Valley Indian Reservation. It is the fourth most topog ...

in the Stansburys, at 11,031' (3362m) ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (4.7%) is water. Covering vast amounts of the Great Salt Lake desert west of Salt Lake Valley, Tooele County is the second largest county in Utah and among the driest. The

Skull Valley Indian Reservation The Skull Valley Indian Reservation (Gosiute dialect: Wepayuttax) is located in Tooele County, Utah, United States, approximately southwest of Salt Lake City. It is inhabited by the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah, a federally reco ...

lies in Skull Valley, between the Cedar and Stansbury mountain ranges.

Major highways

* Interstate 80 *

Utah State Route 36 State Route 36 (SR-36) is a highway in northern Utah connecting US-6 in northern Juab County to I-80 in northern Tooele County. Route description From its southern terminus west of Eureka, SR-36 heads northwest until Vernon, where it turns n ...

Utah State Route 73 State Route 73 (SR-73) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah, connecting the Rush, Cedar, and Utah Valleys. It is a discontinuous route in two segments; one long segment connecting SR-36 to Saratoga Springs, and one short segment within ...

* Utah State Route 112 * Utah State Route 138 * Utah State Route 179 * Utah State Route 196 *

Utah State Route 199 State Route 199 (SR-199) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. Spanning , it connects SR-196 and the Dugway Proving Ground with SR-36 between Rush Valley and the Deseret Chemical Depot. Route description State Route 199 begins at the j ...

Adjacent counties

Box Elder County Box Elder County is a county at the northwestern corner of Utah, United States. As of 2018, the estimated population is 54,950. Its county seat and largest city is Brigham City. The county was named for the box elder trees that abound in the c ...

- north * Weber County - northeast (across Great Salt Lake) * Davis County - east (across Great Salt Lake) * Salt Lake County - east *

Utah County Utah County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Utah. The county seat and largest city is Provo, which is the state's third-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States Census, the ...

- east * Juab County - south *

White Pine County, Nevada White Pine County is a largely rural, mountain county along the central eastern boundary of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,030. Its county seat is Ely. The name "(Rocky Mountain) white pine" is an ...

-southwest * Elko County, Nevada - west

Protected areas

* Salt Springs Waterfowl Management Area * Timpie Springs Waterfowl Management Area * Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (part) **

Wasatch National Forest Wasatch National Forest was established as the Wasatch Forest Reserve by the U.S. Forest Service in Utah on August 16, 1906 with to the east of Salt Lake City and Provo. It became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 Grantsv ...

(part) * Deseret Peak Wilderness Area

Lakes

* Atherley Reservoir * Big Spring (near

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists of the whole Cal ...

) * Big Spring (Skull Valley) * Big Spring (near Timpie Springs) * Black Spring * Blue Lake (Salt Springs Waterfowl Management Area) * Blue Lakes (in and near Grantsville) * Chadman Spring * Cold Spring * Deep Creek Reservoir * Dry Lake (Dugway Proving Ground) * Dry Lake (East Tintic Mountains) * Grantsville Reservoir * Greasewood Pond * Great Salt Lake (partially) * Horseshoe Springs * Jacobs Hole * JB Reservoir * Jenning Springs * Kanaka Lake * Last Chance Lakes * Mill Pond * Muskrat Spring * North Table Mountain Reservoir * North Willow Lake * Oswald Reservoir * Redden Springs * Rock Bottom Pond * Rocky Spring * Rush Lake * Salt Springs * Scribner Spring * Settlement Canyon Reservoir * Simpson Springs * South Willow Lake * Staley Reservoir * Stansbury Lake * SunTen Lake I * SunTen Lake II * Swimming Hole * Timpie Springs * Valley Reservoir * Vernon Reservoir * Warm Spring (near

) * Warm Springs (near Grantsville) * Willow Patch Springs * Wilson Health Springs

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, 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 en ...

, there were 40,735 people, 12,677 households, and 10,128 families in the county. The population density was 5.87/sqmi (2.27/km²). There were 13,812 housing units at an average density of 1.99/sqmi (0.77/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.19% White, 1.28%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

, 1.70% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.18%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...

, 4.50% from other races, and 2.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.34% of the population. There were 12,677 households, out of which 47.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.00% were married couples living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.10% were non-families. 16.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 3.51. The county population contained 35.00% under the age of 18, 11.50% from 18 to 24, 29.50% from 25 to 44, 16.60% from 45 to 64, and 7.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $45,773, and the median income for a family was $50,438. Males had a median income of $37,861 versus $24,179 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,321. About 5.20% of families and 6.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.70% of those under age 18 and 7.00% of those age 65 or over.

Environmental concerns

Heavy industry and the resulting pollution of the air, soil, and groundwater has affected the region in several ways. The US Environmental Protection Agency has reported that Tooele-based

US Magnesium Renco Group is an American New York City-based holding company controlled by Ira Rennert that invests in other companies across a range of industries. History In August 2004, it was announced that Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdin ...

discharges dangerous toxins and cancerous byproducts. In 2008, the US Government considered listing the area as a

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

site. Tooele County was listed in 1989 as having the worst air in Utah, according to Federal agencies and environmental groups. The Tooele County Health Department notes that the chemical output of the heavy industry can be particularly dangerous in the winter, because the region's climate and setting create winter inversions, suspending the toxins in the air, and posing "serious health concerns". Due to the history of toxic waste disposal in the area, Tooele County and Utah residents have opposed plans to dispose of nuclear waste in the county boundaries. A high level nuclear waste site proposed to be built at the Goshute Tribe Reservation in Skull Valley faced opposition until the plan slowly fizzled out. Projects to dispose of depleted uranium at Energy Solution's Clive facility continue to cause controversy.

Politics and Government

From

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...

through

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, Tooele County tended Democratic, selecting the Democratic nominee in every election save 1956 (but being blue enough to vote for Stevenson in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes ...

). From

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

on, however, it has become powerfully Republican, voting Democratic only once in this period thus far, for Bill Clinton in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

(with a low plurality and by a narrow margin).

Communities

Cities

* Erda * Grantsville * Tooele (county seat) * Wendover

Towns

* Stockton * Vernon

Census-designated places

* Dugway *

Townships

* Pine Canyon (aka Lincoln)

Unincorporated communities

* Delle * Faust *

Gold Hill Gold Hill may refer to: Canada * Gold Hill, British Columbia United Kingdom * Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset, a steep street used in Hovis commercial United States ;Alabama * Gold Hill, Alabama ;California * Gold Hill, El Dorado County, Ca ...

* Ibapah * Lake Point * Lofgreen *

South Rim Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered ...

Terra Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...

Ghost towns

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

* Arinosa * Barro * Bauer * Benmore * Burmester *

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People * Clifton (surname) * Clifton (given name) Places Australia *Clifton, Queensland, a town ** Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong * Clifton, Western Australia Canada * Clifton, Nova Sc ...

* Flux * Iosepa * Jacob City * Knolls * Low * Mercur * Pehrson * Rowley * Salduro *

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

* Slagtown * Sunshine * Topliff * West Dip

References

External links

*
Tooele County School District

Tooele County Chamber of Commerce
{{Coord, 40.45, -113.18, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-UT_source:UScensus1990 1851 establishments in Utah Territory Populated places established in 1851 Salt Lake City metropolitan area The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah