🠈 Saint George, Utah 🠊
Saint George City
Saint George City is the largest town and county seat of Washington County, Utah. The 2010 census was 72,897. The current population is over 80,000.
History
Saint George was a favored location of natives from the Anasazi to the Paiutes. The Dominguez-Escalante of 1776 was the first documented exploration by Europeans. The Western US was considered Spanish/Mexican territory until the Treatises of Guadalupe Hildago in 1848.
Saint George was founded by the "Cotton Mission" of Brigham Young in 1861 who called the area Utah's Dixie as he hoped to grow cotton. There was a fear that a war between the North and South would disrupt cotton supply. To populate the mission Brigham Young chose 300 families according to their skill set and sent them south.
The town was named after George Smith who was a member of the Quorum of Twelve of the Latter Day Saints and who became First Counselor of the First Presidency under Heber C. Kimball.
I used to know local historians who were emphatic about spelling the town's name as "Saint George" instead of "St. George" to emphasize that the town was named after a pioneer whose name was George and who was a member LDS Church. The town is not named after a patron saint of the old world.
The area did not become a major cultivator of cotton. Today Saint George is a prime destination for tourist and a choice destination for retirees.
References:
- Utah History To Go - Slavery in Utah (Drawn 12/20/2017)
- Wikipedia - Utah (Drawn 12/20/2017)