Piute County

Piute County (/ˈpaɪjuːt/ PY-yoot) is a county in south-central Utah, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,438,[1] making it the second-least populous county in Utah.[2] The county seat is Junction,[3] and the largest town is Circleville.

 

Paiute County[4] was formed on January 16, 1865, with areas annexed from Beaver County. It was named for the Paiute tribe of Native Americans.[5] Its defined boundaries were altered by adjustments between adjoining counties in 1866, in 1880, in 1892, and in 1931. It has retained its current configuration since 1931.[6]

 

By the 1860s, mining prospectors were pushing into central and southern Utah Territory, and several mining towns, such as Bullion and Webster, appeared. Mining activity had slowed by the 1900s, but gold mining (from lodes in Tushar Mountains) had produced 240,000 ounces of gold from 1868 through 1959.[7] As the nation entered The Great War, a mine on the east Tushar Mountains producing potash and alumina became a national center of attention, both because of the strategic value of these products, and because of persistent rumors of sabotage attempts and spying. The town of Alunite flourished (1915-1930), then died as the war effort wound down. Today it is abandoned.

 

The Sevier River flows northward through the west-central part of Piute County, joined at Kingston by the East Branch of the Sevier. Immediately north of Kingston, it is dammed to form Piute Reservoir. Two mountain ridges lie north–south across the county. The eastern ridge runs through the east-central part of the county, and the western ridge (Tushar Mountains) runs along the county's west border, its crestline defining the county line. Otter Creek flows southward through the east part of the county; it is dammed to form Otter Creek Reservoir in the SE part of the county. Along the way it is fed by Greenwich Creek and Box Creek, draining the east face of the eastern ridge.[8] The eastern part of the county generally slopes to the south while the west-central part of the county slopes to the north. The county's highest point is Delano Peak on the Tushar Range, at 12,174 ft (3,711 m) ASL. The highest point on the eastern ridge is a crest near the county's north border, at 9.893 ft (3.015 m) ASL.[9] The county has a total area of 766 square miles (1,980 km2), of which 758 square miles (1,960 km2) is land and 7.9 square miles (20 km2) (1.0%) is water.[10] It is the fifth-smallest county in Utah by total area.