Cassia 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 ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. As of the 2020 Census the county had a population of 24,655. The

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 Burley. Cassia County is included in the Burley, ID Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The first Europeans explored the Milner area in Cassia County in 1811. It was trappers who initially developed the Oregon Trail, which ran on the county's northern border. The Raft River's junction with the Oregon Trail marked the split for the California Trail. While the Oregon and California trails brought hundreds of thousands of emigrants through Cassia County, it also brought settlers. A stage line through the county was established between Kelton, Utah and Boise, Idaho in 1869. A stage station existed at City of Rocks. Additional stations were spaced at increments of 10–12 miles between stations to include one at Oakley Meadows, in the Goose Creek valley two miles west of the present settlement of Oakley. William Oakley settled at the Oakley Meadows station in 1870. Cattle operations also developed starting in 1872. Settlement began at nearby Albion in 1873 with significant Mormon settlement in 1875. By 1880, Albion had a population of 257. Mormon settlement at Oakley also began on June 1, 1878, when four Mormon men each staked out 160 acres for their settlement. Settlements remained primarily agricultural with more than 38,000 head of cattle in the area by 1885. Settlement at Malta occurred prior to 1890, as the Malta precinct had 172 residents at the 1890 census. Albion State Normal School was established at Albion in 1893. The school was focused on training Idaho teachers until 1951 when its programs were transferred to Idaho State College (now Idaho State University) in Pocatello. Burley was platted and settled in 1905 after a branch of the Oregon Shortline was constructed through the town. Declo was settled under the name of Marshfield by 1909. Cassia County was created from

Owyhee County Owyhee County ( ) is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,913. The county seat is Murphy, and its largest city is Homedale. In area it is the second-largest county in I ...

on February 20, 1879, with Albion becoming the county seat. A western portion became

Twin Falls County Twin Falls County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 90,046, making it the fifth-most populous county in Idaho. The county seat and largest city is Twin Falls. Twin Falls ...

in 1907. The county assumed its present boundaries when an eastern portion became Power County on January 30, 1913. The county seat was moved to Burley in 1918. The county was named for Cassia Creek, which in turn was named either for John Cazier, a member of the

Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to Jul ...

and an emigrant train captain, or for a plant found in the area.

Government

Elected Officials

Similar to other Idaho counties, an elected three-member

county commission A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to fiv ...

heads the county government. Other elected officials include

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

, treasurer,

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

, assessor,

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

, and

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

. County Commission * District 1: Leonard Beck (chair) * District 2: Robert Kunau * District 3: Kent Searle Other Elected Officials * Clerk: Joseph Larsen * Treasurer: Laura Greener * Sheriff: George Warrell * Assessor: Martin Adams * Coroner: Craig Rinehart * Prosecuting Attorney: McCord Larsen Cassia County is in

Idaho's 2nd congressional district Idaho's 2nd congressional district is one of two congressional districts in the U.S. state of Idaho, in the eastern portion of the state. Beginning with the 2012 election, the district expanded westward and now includes most of Boise, Idaho, Boi ...

and represented by Congressman

Mike Simpson Michael Keith Simpson (born September 8, 1950) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1999. The district covers most of the eastern portion of the state, including Idaho Fa ...

. At the state level, Cassia County is in Legislative District 27, represented by Senator

Kelly Anthon Kelly Arthur Anthon (born August 4, 1974) is a Republican Idaho State Senator since 2015 representing District 27. Early life and education Anthon was born in Burley, Idaho. He was raised on a family farm near Declo, Idaho, attending public ...

of Declo, Douglas Pickett of Oakley and Clay Handy of Burley.

Politics

At every level, Cassia County is a Republican Party stronghold. All county-level offices are held by Republicans and have been for decades. Republican primaries are tantamount to election to office, as Democrats rarely field challenges for county or state legislative office. Cassia County is one of the most consistently Republican counties in the state, and in the gubernatorial election of 2010 Republican

Butch Otter Clement Leroy "Butch" Otter (born May 3, 1942) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 32nd List of Governors of Idaho, governor of Idaho from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, h ...

carried Cassia County with 76.54% to

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Keith Allred's 16.73%. In the presidential election of 2012,

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

, whose father lived for a few years in his youth in Oakley, carried Cassia County with 85.2% while

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

received 13.1%. The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Cassia County was

Franklin 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 election of 1940 edging out

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...

by around 100 votes. State legislators from Cassia County traditionally hold their seats for long periods of time. Two of the longest serving legislators in Idaho history were from Cassia County: Vard Chatburn of Albion who served in the House of Representatives from 1957 to 1986 and

Denton Darrington Denton Darrington (born April 30, 1940) is a former Republican Idaho State Senator serving from 1982 to 2012. He represented the Idaho 27th District which included all of Cassia County. Early life and career Senator Denton Darrington was born ...

in the Senate who served from 1982 to 2012. Because legislators rarely lose their seats, legislators representing Cassia County are often in leadership or chair committees. From 2012 to 2023, Representative

Scott Bedke Scott Conrad Bedke (born April 27, 1958) is an American politician serving as the 44th lieutenant governor of Idaho since 2023. A Republican, he served as a member of the Idaho House of Representatives for the 27A district. In December 2012, Bed ...

served as Speaker of the House. Bruce Newcomb of Burley also served as Speaker from 1998 to 2006. Though born in Burley, Congressman Simpson now lives in

Idaho Falls Idaho Falls is the List of cities in Idaho, fourth most populous city in Idaho and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County. It is the state's most populous city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United St ...

. The only other member of congress with ties to the county is

Henry Dworshak Henry Clarence Dworshak Jr. (August 29, 1894July 23, 1962) was a United States senator and congressman from Idaho. Originally from Minnesota, he was a Republican from Burley, and served over 22 years in the House and Senate. Early years Born i ...

who represented Idaho's 2nd congressional district and later served in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He lived in Burley and was the publisher of the ''Burley Bulletin''. A Burley elementary school is named after him.

Geography

According to the

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

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. The county's highest point is Cache Peak at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

in the Albion Mountains, and the lowest is Milner Lake, a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

on the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

, at . The northern half of the county is part of the

Magic Valley The Magic Valley, also known as South Central Idaho, is a region in south-central Idaho constituting Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Twin Falls counties. It is particularly associated with the agricultural reg ...

region of the

Snake River Plain The Snake River cutting through the plain leaves many canyons and Canyon#List of gorges, gorges, such as this one near Twin Falls, Idaho The Snake River Plain is a geology, geologic feature located primarily within the U.S. state of Idaho. ...

, and numerous mountain ranges extend north from the southern boundary and diminish as they approach the river, which flows from east to west. The Silent

City of Rocks National Reserve The City of Rocks National Reserve, also known as the Silent City of Rocks, is a List of areas in the United States National Park System#National reserves, United States National Reserve and state park in south-central Idaho, approximately nor ...

, containing exposed

granitic A granitoid is a broad term referring to a diverse group of coarse-grained igneous rocks that are widely distributed across the globe, covering a significant portion of the Earth's exposed surface and constituting a large part of the continental ...

batholith A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate ...

as old as 2.5 billion years, is located in the southern part of the county.

Adjacent Counties

* Minidoka County - north * Blaine County - north * Power County - northeast * Oneida County - east *

Box Elder County Box Elder County is a county at the northwestern corner of Utah, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the population was 57,666, up from the 2010 figure of 49,975. Its county seat and largest city is Brigham City. The county was n ...

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 ...

- southeast *

Elko County Elko County is a county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko. The county was established on March 5, 1869, from Lander County. Elko County is the fourth ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

- southwest/Pacific Time Border *

- west * Jerome County - northwest

Highways

* Interstate 84 * Interstate 86 *

US 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

* SH-27 * SH-77 * SH-81

National protected areas

Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge is located on the Snake River Plain in south-central Idaho, northeast of Rupert. It includes about of shoreline around Lake Walcott, from Minidoka Dam upstream about . Fauna Mule deer are commonly seen nea ...

(part) *

Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres (854,052 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent) and Utah (~4 percent). Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the United States Depart ...

(part)

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 22,952 people, 7,666 households, and 5,758 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 8,372 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 81.8% white, 0.8% American Indian, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 14.2% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 24.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 22.3% were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, 11.8% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 10.6% were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, and 5.1% were Irish. Of the 7,666 households, 41.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.8% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.9% were non-families, and 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.46. The median age was 32.0 years. The median income for a household in the county was $39,866 and the median income for a family was $47,995. Males had a median income of $36,402 versus $22,156 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,782. About 12.4% of families and 15.4% 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 18.7% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Cassia County is served primarily by one school district, Cassia Joint School District #151,
Text list
/ref> which was consolidated in the 1950s. Other portions are in: *

American Falls Joint School District 381 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

* Minidoka County Joint School District 331 * Murtaugh Joint School District 418 The county is in the catchment area, but not the taxation zone, for

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Together with the College of Eastern Idaho, College of Western Idaho and North Ida ...

. - See area 1 in:

Schools Located in Cassia County

High Schools *

Burley High School Burley High School is a four-year secondary school in Burley, Idaho, the largest of four traditional high schools in the Cassia County School District #151. Its official title is Burley Senior High School. Facilities The King Fine Arts Center, ...

in Burley * Cassia Alternative High School in Burley *

Declo High School Declo High School is a public high school in Declo, Idaho. It is the second largest high school operated by the Cassia County Joint School District. Declo High School draws students from the cities of Declo and Albion as well as the unincorporate ...

in Declo * Oakley High School in Oakley * Raft River High School in Malta Jr. High Schools *Burley Jr. High School in Burley *Declo Jr. High School in Declo *Oakley Jr. High School in Oakley *Raft River Jr. High School in Malta Elementary Schools *Albion Elementary School in Albion *Almo Elementary School in Almo *Declo Elementary in Declo *Dworshak Elementary School in Burley *Evans Elementary School in Burley *Mountain View Elementary School in Burley *Raft River Elementary School in Malta *White Pine Elementary School in Burley

Communities

Cities

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

* Burley * Declo *

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

* Oakley

Unincorporated communities

Almo Almo may refer to: *Almo (god), a river deity from Roman mythology * Almo, the ancient name for the River Almone near Rome (whence the name of the above deity) *Almo, Idaho, a town in the United States *Almo, Kentucky, a town in the United States * ...

* Artesian City *Basin *Beetville *Bridge *Connor *Elba *Golden Valley *Hobson * Idahome *

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

(Extends into) Minidoka County *Kenyon *Marion *

Milner Dam Milner Dam is a rockfill dam near Burley in south central Idaho. It impounds the Snake River in a reservoir named Milner Lake. The dam spans the river across two islands, with three embankments. Milner Dam was authorized for construction as a ...

(Extends into) Jerome County and

*Pella *Ruby * Springdale *Sublett *Trout *Unity *View

References

External links

County website

County Parcel Map
{{coord, 42.27, -113.61, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-ID_source:UScensus1990 Idaho counties Populated places established in 1879 Burley, Idaho micropolitan area 1879 establishments in Idaho Territory