Millard County, Utah

Millard County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Fillmore
Year Organized: 1851
Square Miles: 6,590

Court House:

50 South Main
County Courthouse
Fillmore, UT 84631-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

after President Millard Fillmore

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Millard County is bordered on the east by the Pahvant Range. West to the Nevada border lie the broad valleys and desert mountain ranges typical of the Great Basin. The Sevier River, which begins in mountains east of Cedar City, drains into the sometimes dry Sevier Lake in central Millard. A huge granitic upthrust in the House Range, volcanic cones, and numerous fossil beds provide clues to past geologic activity and prehistoric animal and plant life.

The county is known for a Folsom Early Man site in the Sevier Desert occupied 7,000 or 8,000 years ago. In addition, the Fremont Culture which disappeared ca. A.D. 1300 lived in small villages with semi-subterranean dwellings. Historic Indian groups include Southern Paiutes, Pahvant Utes, and Goshutes. A small Indian reservation is located at Kanosh.

In October 1851 two groups left Salt Lake City for east Millard County. Some 30 families led by Anson Call made the first permanent white settlement, while territorial officials, including Gov. Brigham Young and surveyor Jesse W. Fox, selected a site for the capital, Fillmore being near the geographical center of Utah Territory. The legislature met in Fillmore a few times, but in December 1856 it voted to move the capital to Salt Lake City because Fillmore was too far from major cities.

On October 26, 1853, seven members of a transcontinental railroad survey team led by Lt. John W. Gunnison of the Topographical Engineers were killed southwest of Delta by Indians, a tragic incident in the Walker War (1853-54) that was apparently triggered by the hostile actions of a group of emigrants against the Indians.

Ranching and farming developed slowly. In the early 20th century Millard was second to Tooele in the number of sheep on its ranges, but later cattle became the major livestock interest. The establishment of the Union Pacific line through west Millard County and the founding of Delta in 1907 led to the most important agricultural development -- large-scale alfalfa seed production amounting eventually to three-fourths of the state's crop. The Yuba Dam and other water projects made this venture possible.

During World War II the federal government forcibly relocated 110,000 Japanese-Americans from their West Coast homes to special camps. Topaz, a relocation center near Delta, housed some 8,700 internees, making it the largest "city" in Millard for a few years.

Mining and smelting have contributed to economic growth with Millard producing significant amounts of fluorspar, copper, manganese, sulphur, gypsum, beryllium, and salt. The most important industrial development, however, began in the 1970s when plans were made for the Intermountain Power Project's huge coal-burning plant near Delta. Southern California buys much of the electricity generated here.

*Sources: Beehive History 14: Utah Counties. 1988. Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1182.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 17,684 km² (6,828 sq mi). 6,589 square miles (17,066 km²) of it is land and 239 square miles (619 km²) of it (3.50%) is water. The Sevier Desert covers much of Millard County, being the seafloor of ancient Lake Bonneville. Near the center of the county lies Sevier Lake, a mostly dry remnant of Lake Bonneville. Mountains rim the area, some of which harbor beautiful forests, contrasting with the deserts below, especially the Pahvant Mountains, which form the county's eastern boundary. Fillmore and other farming communities lie at the base of the Pahvant Mountains. Delta sits several miles from the banks of the Sevier River in the middle of the basin.

Neighboring Counties:

Juab County, Utah - (north)
Sanpete County, Utah - (east central)
Sevier County, Utah - (east)
Beaver County, Utah - (south)
Lincoln County, Nevada - (southwest)
White Pine County, Nevada - (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Delta	city	Incorporated Area
- Fillmore (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Hinckley	town	Incorporated Area
- Holden	town	Incorporated Area
- Kanosh	town	Incorporated Area
- Leamington	town	Incorporated Area
- Lynndyl	town	Incorporated Area
- Meadow	town	Incorporated Area
- Oak City	town	Incorporated Area
- Scipio	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."