St. George, Utah

Brigham Young Winter Home and Office in St. George

Prior to the arrival of the first European settlers, the St. George area was inhabited by the Virgin River Anasazi and later by the Southern Paiute tribe. The first Europeans in the area were part of the Domínguez–Escalante expedition in 1776.

St. George was founded as a cotton mission in 1861 under the direction of Apostle Erastus Snow. It was called Dixie by Brigham Young, who was president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While early settlers cultivated cotton as a commodity crop, they did not succeed in producing it at competitive market rates; consequently, cotton farming was eventually abandoned. More important to the economy was tourism, which developed as the railroads began to carry visitors to the nearby Zion National Park.

At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Brigham Young organized the settlement of what is now Washington County.

Fearing that the war would take away the cotton supply, he began plans for raising enough in this southwestern country to supply the needs of his people. Enough favorable reports had come to him from this warm region below the rim of the Great Basin, that he was convinced cotton could be raised successfully here. At the general church conference in Salt Lake City on October 6th, 1861, about three hundred families were "called" to the Dixie mission to promote the cotton industry. Most of the people knew nothing of this expedition until their names were read from the pulpit; but in nearly every case, they responded with good will, and made ready to leave within the month's time allotted to them. The families were selected so as to ensure the communities the right number of farmers, masons, blacksmiths, businessmen, educators, carpenters, as needed.[6]

The settlement was named after George A. Smith, an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[7]

Notable events

The St. George Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was completed in 1877.

In April 1877, the LDS Church completed the St George, Utah Temple. It is the Church's third temple. It is the oldest continually operating LDS temple in the world. (As of November 2, 2019, The St. George Temple has been closed for renovation.)

The 1992 St. George earthquake destroyed three houses as well as above- and below-ground utilities, causing about US$1 million in damage.[8][9]

St. George was the location of the 1997 United States Academic Decathlon national finals.

In January 2005 a 100-year flood occurred throughout the region, due to prolonged heavy rainfall overflowing the Virgin River and Santa Clara River (Utah). One person was killed and 28 homes were destroyed by the Santa Clara River.[10][11]

Several hundred petroglyphs are visible on the Tempi'po'op Trail in the Santa Clara Reserve

The red hills of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve north of St. George.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 64.9 square miles (168.0 km²), of which, 64.4 square miles (166.8 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.2 km²) of it (0.72%) is water. St. George lies in a desert valley, with most of the city lying below 3,000 feet (900 m). Wildlife and vegetation are typical of the Mojave Desert in which it lies. It is situated near a unique geological transition zone where the Mojave, Colorado Plateau, and Great Basin all converge. The Beaver Dam Mountains, commonly referred to as Utah Hill, lie to the west, the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and Pine Valley Mountains to the north, the western edge of the Colorado Plateau and Zion National Park to the east, and the Arizona Strip to the south. The Virgin and Santa Clara rivers flow through the St. George valley and converge near the western base of Webb Hill.

Geology

Red to yellow brown rock formations are common around St. George.

In southwestern Utah, soil and rock formations are red in appearance due to the presence of iron oxide, although portions of the older section of the city, particularly the southern part near the Virgin River, lie on floodplain alluvium, but much of St. George proper is built directly upon Jurassic, Triassic, and Permian period sedimentary bedrock.

The following formations, listed in chronological order, are within the city limits.

• Kaibab Limestone (Permian): Gray fossiliferous limestone, exposed at the center of the Virgin River anticline along Horseman Park Drive and in the low hills to the south of South Bloomington Hills.
• Moenkopi Formation (Triassic): Chocolatey-red and white banded mudstone, shale, limestone, and siltstone containing thick layers of gypsum, exposed at Bloomington, South Bloomington Hills, and the south side of Webb Hill.

Eubrontes, a dinosaur footprint in the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, southwestern Utah.

• Shinarump Conglomerate (Triassic): Yellow to brown cliff-forming sandstone and conglomerate containing fossilized oyster shells and petrified wood. Forms the cliff faces north of Bloomington, on Webb Hill, and along the Virgin River south of 1450 South Street. This is actually the lowest member of the Chinle formation.
• Chinle Formation (Triassic): Purple, white, gray and locally green bentonitic shale weathering to clay. Because of the softness of the strata, structures built on this formation run a higher risk of settling or slippage. The Chinle formation underlies large portions of St. George, including North Bloomington Hills, much of Green Valley, and much of the east side of the city around Riverside Drive and Pine View High School.
• Moenave Formation (Jurassic): Red and orange sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone. There is some confusion about distinguishing between the Springdale sandstone member of the Moenave formation and the overlying Navajo sandstone, which is similar in appearance, in the St. George area. It is now generally assumed the red cliffs north of downtown (north of Red Hills Parkway) and at the Dixie Red Hills golf course are part of the Moenave formation. Other exposures include cuts into the east and west Black Hills and the southern part of the Dixie Downs neighborhood.
• Kayenta Formation (Jurassic): Red, orange, and purple sandstone, shale, and mudstone. Forms slopes below the massive Navajo sandstone in the northern part of the city including northern Dixie Downs and along Snow Canyon Parkway.
• Navajo Sandstone (Jurassic): Gray to brown, red, and (in its upper layers) white massive sandstone. Forms cliff faces above Snow Canyon Parkway and white outcrops at Winchester Hills.

Basaltic lava flows from the Quaternary period form the black ridges to the east and west of the historic area of St. George city. The volcanic eruptions producing these flows are thought to be 1.2 million years old.

Other points of geologic interest include the Virgin River anticline; the rock has eroded away in the center, leaving sheer walls surrounding the "Purgatory Flats" area to the east of St. George. Another geologic feature is Pine Valley Mountain: composed of one solid piece of granite, it is one of the largest laccoliths in the world.

St. George's arid climate is significantly warmer on average than the rest of Utah, and more closely resembles nearby Las Vegas. The climate (Köppen BWh) features hot summers and mild winters. The monthly average temperature ranges from 42.4 °F (5.8 °C) in December to 87.9 °F (31.1 °C) in July. On average, there are 60 afternoons with high temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C), with an average window of June 29 through August 13, and 122 days with high temperatures over 90 °F (32 °C) with the average window fluctuating between late April and early October. There are approximately 61 mornings where the low reaches freezing, with the historical average window between November 12 and March 14.

The highest temperature statewide was 118 °F (48 °C), which was recorded in a remote area in south St. George, near the Arizona border on July 4, 2007, breaking the previous record-holder, at 117 °F (47 °C), also set in St. George on July 5, 1985.[15] The record high minimum temperature is 89 °F (32 °C) set on July 15, 1970 and July 3, 2013. Nighttime freezes are common during the winter due to radiational cooling. Both the record low temperature of −11 °F (−24 °C) and record low maximum temperature of 17 °F (−8 °C) were set on January 22, 1937; the record low temperature occurred again on January 26, 1937, both during the record cold month of January 1937 across the Western United States.[15]

The city has abundant sunshine year-round and averages about 300 sunny days per year, with an average 8.80 inches (224 mm) of precipitation annually.[15] The wettest "rain year" has been from July 2004 to June 2005 with at least 15.66 inches (398 mm) (some days were missing) and the driest from July 1973 to June 1974 with 3.89 inches (98.8 mm). Record breaking wide spread flooding occurred during January 2005 when area creeks and rivers far exceeded their banks and washed out homes and some neighborhoods. The wettest month has been January 1993, when 4.74 inches (120 mm) fell. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, except for a markedly drier period from April through June, which occurs after the Pacific storm season ends, but before the southwest monsoon begins, usually in mid-July. Precipitation mostly comes from the Pacific Ocean from late fall through early spring. The storm track usually lifts north of the city by mid-April. The monsoon brings localized and often intense thunderstorms from early July through mid-September. The greatest rainfall in 24 hours was 2.40 inches (61 mm) on August 31, 1909.[15]

St. George does occasionally receive snowfall in the winter, but what accumulates usually melts away by the mid-to-late morning; the normal seasonal snowfall is 1.4 inches (3.6 cm).[15] The earliest snowfall was measured on October 29, 1971 and the latest on April 11, 1927.[15] The record single-day snowfall is 10.0 inches (25 cm) which was set on January 5, 1974. With the city having elevations ranging from 2700 feet to about 3500 feet, some areas such as Diamond Valley and Winchester Hills will typically receive more snowfall and colder temperatures than the rest of the lower valley. The most recent major snow event was on December 8, 2013 when between 6.0 and 8.0 inches (15 and 20 cm) virtually shut down the city, making it the third heaviest snowfall in the city's history. Also significant about that week in 2013 was how low temperatures fell and remained that way for several days with daytime highs failing to reach the freezing mark, and one night time low temperature of 1 °F (−17 °C), recorded at the airport, was the coldest in the city in over 100 years. The rare, prolonged cold spell killed or severely damaged much of the area's non-native vegetation such as the Mexican/California Fan palm trees.

As of 2015 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in St. George, Utah are:[18]

In 2018, the city's population was estimated at 87,178. St. George was declared the fourth fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States in 2018.[19][20]

As of 2018,[21] there were 27,552 households. The population density was 1,135 people per square mile. As of 2010, there were 32,089 housing units at an average density of per square mile. The city's racial makeup was 87.2% White, 0.7% African-American, 1.5% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 1.0% Pacific Islander, and 8.9% from other races. 12.8% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the 2000 census, there were 17,367 households out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.6% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years old or older. The average household size was 2.81 individuals and the average family size was 3.21.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 28.4% under the age of 18, 13.7% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,505, and the median income for a family was $41,788. Males had a median income of $31,106 versus $20,861 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,022. About 7.4% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over. A significant portion of the over 65 population is "snowbirds", who live in St. George during the winter.

The St. George city government has a council-manager form of government, with five representatives elected from single-member districts. The mayor, elected at-large, also serves as a member on the City Council. The Council hires a city manager to deal with regular operations.[23] As of January 2014, the mayor of St. George is Jon Pike. The city manager is Adam Lenhard, Assistant City Manager is Marc M. Mortensen.

Council members are Gil Almquist, Jimmy Hughes, Michele Randall, Joe Bowcutt, and Bette Arial, who was appointed on Jan. 23 by the other four members to fill the seat Jon Pike vacated when he was sworn in as mayor. City Council meetings are held on the first and third Thursdays of each month at the City Council Chambers.[24]

The U.S. Federal Courthouse, Washington County Justice Court, Juvenile Court and the Fifth District Courthouse are downtown.

5th District Courthouse on Tabernacle St.

The City of St. George sponsors Art in the Park and Concerts in the Park series which offer a variety of musical acts and culinary booths. The city is home to the Southwest Symphony Orchestra and Southern Utah Heritage Choir. Art Around the Corner features many outdoor sculptures and statues depicting both local cultural flair as well as a broad array of ever-changing pieces which come from all over for a temporary display in the downtown area. Art galleries are abundant throughout Washington County and southwestern Utah. Annual events include The St. George Arts Festival which features local, national, and international artists; the St. George Parade of Homes; the Dixie Roundup Rodeo; St. George Marathon; St. George Ironman and the Huntsman World Senior Games.

SkyWest Airlines

SkyWest Airlines is headquartered in St. George, and is the primary airline provider at the city's regional airport.[26] Walmart has a distribution center just outside the city and Family Dollar recently opened a distribution center in the Fort Pierce Industrial Park to better serve the southwest region of the U.S.

The Washington County School District main offices are based in the city.[27]

The Cafe Rio restaurant chain was started in St. George in 1997.[28]

A large part of the local economy comes from tourism, due to its proximity to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park as well as several state parks and recreational areas. Over a dozen golf courses with year-round golfing, and various world-recognized events also make for large contributors to the city's economy.

The St. George community has been the home to two minor-league independent baseball teams. The first, the St. George Pioneerzz (originally the Zion Pioneerzz) who played in the independent Western Baseball League from 1999 to 2001, winning the league championship in 2000. A new franchise, managed by former major league player Darell Evans, was awarded to Utah's Dixie in 2007. The team, the St. George Roadrunners, played in the independent Golden Baseball League before being taken over by the league and moved to Henderson, Nevada in 2010.

St. George area high schools; Crimson Cliffs, Dixie, Desert Hills, Pine View, and Snow Canyon all play in 4A state competition as part of 4A Region 9 with nearby Hurricane High School in Hurricane, and Canyon View and Cedar high schools in Cedar City.[37] Dixie State University participates in the NCAA Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. In January 2019, Dixie State announced they were reclassifying to NCAA Division I and joining the Western Athletic Conference.[38] Former DSU athletes include Corey Dillon, Anton Palepoi, Reno Mahe, and Scott Brumfield, who all later played in the NFL and Marcus Banks, Lionel Hollins, Keon Clark, and Mo Baker were Dixie players who later played in the NBA. Dixie State athletes are called Trailblazers (formerly The Rebels and Red Storm), and former Rebels Bradley Thompson and Brandon Lyon later played in major league baseball while Bruce Hurst of Dixie High School later played for the Boston Red Sox a pitcher, and then ended up managing the now retired Zion Pioneerzz for its inaugural 1999 season (1999).

• St. George ranked most secure place to live in the United States in 2006.[39]
• Among the top 10 best small cities for business and careers by Forbes[40]
• The fifth fastest-growing metro area in the country in 2015.[19]
• Among the top 10 safest metro areas in the West.[41]
• Among top best places to live.[42]

St. George is home to many parks, several award-winning golf courses and recreation areas, as well as over 65 miles of urban trail system.[43] Notable parks and sites include the Canyons Softball Complex; Little Valley Softball Complex; Pioneer Park, Tonaquint Nature Center; St. George Motocross Park a.k.a. SGMX.[44] The Washington County Regional Park and fairgrounds is just east of the city in Hurricane. The St. George area has several public recreation centers; the St. George Rec Center; Washington City Rec Center and the Sand Hollow Aquatics Center.[45][46]

Radio

Newspapers

• The Spectrum, which is owned by Gannett, is the local daily newspaper.
• The Independent newspaper offers a monthly print edition featuring local news, arts, entertainment & events coverage. It also provides free online daily news and an online community events calendar.
• St. George News (stgnews.com) is free-access online news.
• Southern Utah Weekly is a weekly newspaper

The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret Morning News, and Las Vegas Review-Journal / Las Vegas Sun are also widely distributed in St. George and offer home delivery.

Other publications include; St. George Magazine, a monthly magazine covering a variety of local content, and View On Southern Utah is a magazine offering a variety of content for the southern Utah, southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona area.

Television

St. George has only one television station licensed to the city, KMYU Channel 12, a MyNetworkTV affiliate.[47] It is carried in HD on Dish Network and DirecTV, as well as on Comcast Ch. 643 in Salt Lake City, and on Ch. 20 on local cable, TDS Communications, formerly Baja Broadband. KMYU (known as My Utah TV[48]) is sister station to KUTV-DT, and is operated out of KUTV's offices in Salt Lake City, although the station has a news bureau with a reporter and photographer based in St. George.

Also in St. George are the offices of Cedar City, Utah-licensed[47] KCSG Channel 14, a MeTV affiliate, which broadcasts local news. The city also receives local TV channels from Salt Lake City with broadcast translators in the St. George area.

The Las Vegas NBC affiliate, KSNV-DT, has a local translator owned by Cherry Creek Radio, KVBT-LP channel 41, on which some of its programming airs two hours later than the same programming broadcast on Salt Lake City NBC affiliate KSL-TV.

St. George is home to Dixie State University,[49] a four-year institution, of about 10,000 students (as of 2018), and Dixie Technical College[50] with 4,920 post-secondary and 292 secondary students (as of 2018). Dixie Technical College opened a new main campus on the site of the old St. George Airport in 2018.[51] In addition to these institutions, the city is also home to Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine as well as College Education Centers of University of Phoenix and Stevens-Henager College.

Public schools

Dixie High School

The city of St. George is a part of the Washington County School District. St. George has four public high schools: Dixie High School, Pine View High School, Desert Hills High School, and Snow Canyon High School, as well as Millcreek Alternative High School. The city has four middle schools, three intermediate schools and twelve elementary schools. The high schools include grades 10 to 12, middle schools grades 8 to 9, and intermediate schools grades 6 to 7 and each set of high, middle, and intermediate school shares the same coverage zone. The intemediate school associated with Snow Canyon High School is in neighboring Santa Clara.

Crimson Cliffs High School, Crimson Cliffs Middle School and Washington Fields Intermediate School were recently opened in neighboring Washington City. Their coverage zone extends into eastern St. George.

The Southern Utah Center for Computer, Engineering, and Science Students (SUCCESS) is an early college high school located on the Dixie State University campus.

Neighboring Ivins is home to Utah's first charter high school, Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts, which provides an alternative education with no tuition costs to any Utah resident.

• Robert Adamson (b. 1985), actor (Lincoln Heights)
• Jay Don Blake (b. 1958), professional and NCAA champion golfer [52]
• Juanita Brooks, Mormon writer, editor and historian
• Howard Cannon, former United States Senator from Nevada
• Asia Carrera, adult film star[53]
• LaVell Edwards (1930–2016), former BYU football coach [54]
• Jada Facer, actress and singer
• Dia Frampton, runner-up in inaugural season of The Voice
• Tracy Hickman, fantasy author[55]
• Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS general authority[56]
• Bruce Hurst (b. 1958), former Major League Baseball pitcher[57]
• Doug Jolley (b. 1979), NFL tight end[58]
• Steven Koecher, living in St. George at the time he disappeared.
• Meg and Dia, rock group
• The Piano Guys, classical music group, formed in 2010
• Amanda Righetti (b. 1983), actress (The OC, Reunion, The Mentalist)
• Gaskell Romney (1871–1955), Mormon leader, father of George W. Romney, grandfather of Mitt Romney
• Miles Romney (1806–1877), settler, Mormon leader
• Miles Park Romney (1843–1904), attorney, police chief
• J. Edwin Seegmiller (1923–1986), physician and medical researcher, National Academy of Sciences, faculty member UCSD Medical School
• John "Cat" Thompson (1906–1990), basketball player; member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
• Tanya Tucker (b. 1958), country music singer, raised in St. George[59]
• Brendon Urie, singer-songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, lead vocalist of Panic! at the Disco

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. George, Utah.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for St. George (Utah).

• Official website
• Visit St George
• Hollywood and the downwinders still grapple with nuclear fallout
• George A. Smith Papers at University of Utah Digital Library, Marriott Library Special Collections