Wasatch County ( ) is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 sove ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

. 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 serving ...

, the population was 23,530. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

and largest city is

Heber City Heber City is a city and county seat of Wasatch County, Utah, United States. The population was 11,362 at the time of the 2010 census. It is located 43 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. History Heber City was first settled in 1859 by Rober ...

. The county was named for a Ute Native American word meaning ''

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...

'' or ''low place in the high mountains.'' Wasatch County is part of the Heber, UT Micropolitan Statistical Area as well as 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, th ...

- Provo- Orem, UT

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and ...

History

The first settlers were

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the ...

, in 1859, settling near present Heber City, Midway, and Charleston. On January 17, 1862, 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 state ...

legislature created the county, annexing areas from Great Salt Lake, Green River, Sanpete, Summit, and Utah counties. Heber was selected as the county seat. Wasatch in Ute means "mountain pass" or "low pass over high range". Heber City was named for Mormon Apostle Heber C. Kimball. The county boundaries were altered in 1880 and 1884, and then on January 4, 1915, the eastern portion was partitioned off to become

Duchesne County Duchesne County ( ) is a county in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 18,607. Its county seat is Duchesne, and the largest city is Roosevelt. History Much of Duchesne County w ...

. The Wasatch County boundaries have remained unchanged since 1915.

Geography

Heber Valley has a relatively cool climate since it is mountain-ringed, and over half the land is 7,500 feet (2,286 metres) above sea level. The average annual precipitation is about 16 inches (406 millimetres). The county is divided into two watersheds—the Colorado and the Great Basin drainage systems.''Wasatch County UT'' Google Maps (accessed 1 April 2019)
/ref> Flowing from the East are Daniels, Lake Fork, and Center creeks. From the north and northeast is the Provo River. Flowing from the west is Snake Creek. The county's highest point is the west slope of Murdock Mountain in the

Uinta Mountains The Uinta Mountains ( ) are an east-west trending chain of mountains in northeastern Utah extending slightly into southern Wyoming in the United States. As a subrange of the Rocky Mountains, they are unusual for being the highest range in the ...

, at 10,840' (3304m) ASL. Wasatch County has a total area of , of which is land and (2.5%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Route 6 *

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

* U.S. Route 189 * Utah State Route 32 *

Utah State Route 35 State Route 35 is a highway in northern Utah connecting SR-32 in Francis to SR-87 in Duchesne in a span of sixty-two miles. Route description From its western terminus in Francis, the highway runs southeast to the junction of Soapstone Basin ...

Utah State Route 113 State Route 113 (SR‑113) is a state highway in the Heber Valley in northern Wasatch County, Utah, United States, that connects U.S. Route 189 (US‑189) in Charleston with U.S. Route 40 (US‑40)/US‑189 in Heber City and forms a northe ...

Utah State Route 248 State Route 248 is a highway in northern Utah that connects Park City with Kamas. In Park City it is known as Kearns Boulevard. Route description From its western terminus in Park City, SR-248 begins at State Route 224 and heads east on Kear ...

Utah State Route 319 State Route 319 (SR-319) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. Located entirely within Wasatch County, it connects US-40/ US-189 to Jordanelle State Park. Route description SR-319 begins at US-40/ US-189 at the Mayflower interchange ...

Adjacent counties

Salt Lake County Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The cou ...

- northwest * Summit County - north *

- east * Utah County - southwest

Protected areas

* Ashley National Forest (part) * Currant Creek Campground (USFS) * Currant Creek Wildlife Management Area (part) * Deer Creek State Park * Rock Cliff Campground (Utah State Park) * Soldier Creek Recreational Area *

Uinta National Forest Uinta National Forest is a national forest located in north central Utah, USA. It was originally part of the Uinta Forest Reserve, created by Grover Cleveland on 2 February 1897. The name is derived from the Ute word ''Yoov-we-teuh'' which ...

(part) * Wasatch Mountain State Park * Wasatch National Forest (part) * Wildcat Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Lakes

* Currant Creek Reservoir * Deer Creek Reservoir * Jordanelle Reservoir * Strawberry Reservoir * Witts Lake

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

, there were 23,530 people, 4,743 households, and 3,870 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 20.0/sqmi (7.73/km²). There were 9,840 (2009) housing units at an average density of 8.37/sqmi (3.23/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.3%

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 ha ...

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 ens ...

, 0.5% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1%

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 O ...

, and 1.4% from two or more races. 13.5% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. There were 7,287 households, out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.70% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 20.1% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.18 and the average family size was 3.19. The county population contained 36.3% under the age of 20, 5.2% from 20 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.6 years. For every 100 females there were 103.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males.

2000 census

As of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the 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 enumerated during the 1990 c ...

, the median income for a household in the county was $49,612, and the median income for a family was $52,102. Males had a median income of $37,399 versus $23,571 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $19,869. About 4.20% of families and 5.20% 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 5.60% of those under age 18 and 4.00% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * Midway * Park City (part)
Text list
/ref>

Towns

* Charleston *

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

Hideout Hideout may refer to: Entertainment * ''Hideout'' (film), a 1949 American thriller film directed by Philip Ford * ''The Hideout'' (1956 film), a 1956 British crime film directed by Peter Graham Scott * ''The Hideout'' (film), a 2007 film by Pup ...

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss A ...

* Wallsburg

Census-designated places

* Timber Lakes

Unincorporated communities

* Center Creek * Deer Mountain * Mayflower Mountain * Soldier Creek Estates *

Soldier Summit A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

* Wildwood (part)

Former communities

Hailstone Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...

* Jordanelle * Keetley

Politics and Government

The county is governed by a seven-member

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

with an appointed county manager. Wasatch County has traditionally voted Republican. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2020).

Education

All areas of the county are in the Wasatch School District.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 40.33, -111.16, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-UT_source:UScensus1990 1862 establishments in Utah Territory Populated places established in 1862