St. George or Saint George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. It is Utah's fifth-most populous city and the largest outside the Wasatch Front, with a population of 95,342 at the 2020 census. The St. George metropolitan statistical area has an estimated 208,000 residents. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona-Utah border, it lies in the northeasternmost part of the Mojave Desert, immediately south of the Pine Valley Mountains, which mark the southern boundary of the Great Basin. St. George lies slightly northwest of the Colorado Plateau, which ends at the Hurricane Fault.
St. George was settled in 1861 to be a cotton mission, earning it the nickname of "Dixie". While the crop never became a successful commodity, the area steadily grew in population. Today, the St. George region is known for its somewhat milder climate compared to the rest of the state, outdoor recreation, which includes state parks and Zion National Park. The city has Utah Tech University, an NCAA Division I institution. St. George is northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada and south-southwest of Salt Lake City on Interstate 15.
History
St. George was founded as part of the cotton mission in 1861 under the direction of Latter Day Saint apostle Erastus Snow. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Brigham Young accelerated the colonization effort: 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 300 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.Under Dixie Sun, 1950, Washington County Chapter, Daughters Utah Pioneers, pp 293–294. Printed by Garfield County News, Panguitch Utah.
The settlement was named after George A. Smith, an LDS Church apostle.
In April 1877, the LDS Church completed the St. George Utah Temple. It was the church's third temple and is the oldest still in active use.
The 1992 St. George earthquake destroyed three houses, as well as above- and below-ground utilities, causing about in damage.
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 both the Virgin River and Santa Clara River. One person was killed and 28 homes were destroyed by the Santa Clara River.
Nuclear contamination In the early 1950s, St. George received the brunt of the fallout of above-ground nuclear testing at the Yucca Flats/Nevada Test Site northwest of Las Vegas. Winds routinely carried the fallout of these tests directly through St. George and southern Utah. Marked increases in the frequency of cancer in the population, including leukemia, lymphoma, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, bone cancer, brain tumors, and gastrointestinal tract cancers, were reported from the mid-1950s until the early 1980s.Falk, Jim (1982). Global Fission: The Battle Over Nuclear Power, p. 134.
In 1980, People magazine reported that from about 220 cast and crew who filmed in a 1956 movie, The Conqueror, on location near St. George, 91 had come down with cancer, and 50 had died from it. Of these, 46 had died of cancer by 1980. Among the cancer deaths were John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Susan Hayward, the film's stars. But the lifetime odds of developing cancer for men in the U.S. population are 43% and the odds of dying of cancer are 23% (38 and 19%, respectively, for men and women). This places the cancer mortality rate for the 220 primary cast and crew quite near the expected average.
A 1962 United States Atomic Energy Commission report found children living in St. George at the time of the fallout may have received doses to their thyroids of radioiodine as high as 120 to 440 rads (1.2 to 4.4 Gy).
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which (0.72% or about 2 ac) is covered by water. St. George is in a desert valley, with most of the city lying below 3,000 feet (900 m) in elevation. It is near a geological transition zone where the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin converge. The Beaver Dam Mountains/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 River, the Santa Clara River, and the seasonal Fort Pearce Wash flow through the St. George valley and converge near the western base of Webb Hill near the city center.
The city uses street numbers rather than names, such as "East 100 South". Exceptions have been made for streets with curves or those not fitting into the grid system. Some roads have names along with numerals, such as "400 East", which is also known as "Flood Street".
Neighborhoods Some neighborhoods are large housing developments created during the city's rapid modern expansion; others carry the names of geographical features or unincorporated communities that have been annexed by St. George.
Atkinville (annexed) Bloomington (annexed) Bloomington Hills Bloomington Ranches Desert Color Desert Hills / Hidden Valley Dixie Downs Downtown Entrada Foremaster Green Valley Price City (formerly Heberville, annexed) The Ledges (golf neighborhood) Little Valley Middleton (annexed, includes Cottonwood) Red Cliffs Sand Town Snow Canyon Southgate Stone Cliff Sunbrook Sunriver Tonaquint (annexed)
Climate St. George's arid climate is significantly warmer on average than the rest of the state, and more closely resembles nearby Las Vegas. The climate is cold arid (BWk), though the average yearly temperature falls around 1 °F below the hot arid classification. St. George has long, hot summers and relatively mild winters. The monthly average temperature ranges from in December to in July. On average, 60 afternoons have high temperatures over , with an average window of June 29 through August 13, and 122 days with high temperatures over with the average window fluctuating between late April and early October. About 60 mornings have low temperature drops to the freezing mark, with the historical average window between November 12 and March 14.
The highest temperature statewide was , which was recorded in south St. George, near the Arizona border on July 4, 2007, breaking the previous record holder, at , also set in St. George on July 5, 1985. The record high minimum temperature is 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 and record low maximum temperature of 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.
The city has abundant sunshine year-round and averages about 300 sunny days per year, with an average of precipitation annually. The wettest "rain year" has been from July 2004 to June 2005 with at least (some days were missing) and the driest from July 1973 to June 1974 with . Record-breaking widespread 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 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 on August 31, 1909.
The St. George valley occasionally receives wet or slushy snowfall in the winter, but what accumulates usually melts off by the mid- to late morning; the normal seasonal snowfall is . The earliest snowfall was measured on October 29, 1971, and the latest on April 11, 1927. The record single-day snowfall is , which was set on January 5, 1974. With the city having elevations ranging from , some areas such as Diamond Valley and Winchester Hills 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 virtually shut down the city, making it the third-heaviest snowfall in the city's history. Also significant about the storm was how low temperatures dropped and remained so for several days with daytime highs failing to reach the freezing mark, and one nighttime low temperature of , recorded at the airport, was the coldest in the city in over 100 years. The cold spell killed or severely damaged much of the area's non-native vegetation, such as the Mexican fan palm trees.
Demographics
As of the 2015, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in St. George are:
Largest ancestries (2015) Percentage English 28.2% German 11.3% Irish 8.5% Danish 4.6% Swedish 4.0% Italian 3.8% Scottish 3.7% Dutch 2.4% Norwegian 1.8% French (except Basque) 1.8% Swiss 1.4% Welsh 1.2% Polish 1.2% Scots-Irish 1.0%
Racial and ethnic composition +St. George, Utah – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop.2000Pop.2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)44,21559,72274,86089.03%81.93%78.52%Black or African American alone (NH)1104066340.22%0.56%0.66%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)7588569561.53%1.17%1.00%Asian alone (NH)2705621,1270.54%0.77%1.18%Pacific Islander alone (NH)2927031,0880.59%0.96%1.14%Other race alone (NH)44553280.09%0.08%0.34%Mixed/multiracial (NH)6371,2913,2571.28%1.77%3.42%Hispanic or Latino (any race)3,3379,30213,0926.72%12.76%13.73%Total49,66372,89795,342100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, St. George had a population of 95,342. The median age was 36.7 years. 25.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 women there were 94.7 men, and for every 100 women age 18 and over there were 91.7 men age 18 and over.
95.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 4.5% lived in rural areas.
There were 33,554 households in St. George, of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 58.1% were married-couple households, 14.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 39,933 housing units, of which 16.0% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.1%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number PercentWhite 77,345 81.1%Black or African American 675 0.7%American Indian and Alaska Native 1,370 1.4%Asian 1,170 1.2%Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 1,120 1.2%Some other race 6,131 6.4%Two or more races 7,531 7.9%Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 13,092 13.7%
2010 census