thumb|Rich County farm, Neponset, 1912

Rich County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 2,510, making it the fourth-least populous county in Utah. Its county seat is Randolph, and the largest town is Garden City. The county was created in 1864. It was named for an early LDS apostle, Charles C. Rich.

The southern half of Bear Lake and the Bear Lake Valley lies on the northern edge of the county. The Bear River Valley lies in most of the eastern portion of the county. The elevation of these valleys is close to , and the rest of the county is covered by mountains, including the Bear River Range. Because of the high elevation, the climate is cold in winter and mild in summer, and the population is limited.

History

Various Native American peoples inhabited the Rich County region for thousands of years. A prehistoric bison jump, dated to about 1,300 years before present, is located near the city of Woodruff, Utah

Like all of modern-day Utah, Rich County was claimed by the Spanish Empire from the 1500s as part of Alta California, and later was part of Mexico. However, neither the Spanish nor Mexicans had a major or permanent presence in the area. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo placed the region under control of the United States.

Rich County was believed to have first been visited by European-descended explorers in 1811, when trapper Joseph Miller discovered the Bear River. In 1827, the first annual rendezvous of trappers occurred on the south shore of Bear Lake, a tradition that is still marked today. The site is also preserved as part of Bear Lake State Park. The Oregon Trail, a heavily traveled route to the Northwest Territories, passed through the upper part of the future county (as defined by its original description). Many emigrants traveling to the NW Territories also traveled around the south end of Bear Lake instead of hewing to the more heavily traveled route through present-day Idaho, although this adds to the Oregon Trail is usually not shown on maps of the route. The 1870 census for Rich County, Utah Territory enumerates a total of 1,672 residents in the eight Idaho communities of Bennington, Bloomington, Fish Haven, Liberty, Montpelier, Ovid, Paris and St. Charles. Utah Territory adjusted the county's boundary on February 16, 1872, by moving a small portion previous Summit County into Rich. The final adjustment to county boundaries was made on January 5, 1875, when Idaho Territory took the eight aforementioned communities and others in the Bear Lake Valley to form Bear Lake County.

The present county building was constructed in Randolph in 1940. The county terrain slopes from the Bear River Mountain crests which form its western border, toward the east. The highest point is along its northern border known as Bridger Peak, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (5.3%) is water.

The Bear River Valley is created by the Bear River and consists of the east-central portion of the county. The towns of Randolph and Woodruff lie in this farming-oriented valley. Its high elevation makes this region one of the coldest areas in the state. Woodruff has a record low of and temperatures rarely exceed during the summer. Snow is heavy in late autumn, winter, and early spring and remains on the ground for the entire winter.

Further to the north lies the southern half of Bear Lake Valley, which contains Bear Lake. This lake is famous for its deep blue water, beaches, and surrounding mountains. The Bear River Mountains lies along the western edge of the county, and Logan Canyon opens up to the west of Garden City, which is a quaint tourist town that lies on the western edge of Bear Lake. Laketown lies at the southern edge of the lake. Three sections of the coastline are protected by Bear Lake State Park. The eastern slopes of the Bear River Range are an increasingly popular location for cabins.

In both major valleys, temperature inversions are a major problem during winter. These temperature inversions can bring extremely cold temperatures, fog, smog, and haze to the valleys, lasting for weeks at a time.

Major highways

  • U.S. Route 89 descends from the Bear River Mountains through Logan Canyon and turns north at Garden City along the Bear Lake shoreline.
  • State Route 16 heads south from Sage Creek Junction through Randolph and Woodruff before entering Wyoming northwest of Evanston.
  • State Route 30 heads south from Garden City through Laketown and climbs east through the mountains to the Wyoming border.
  • State Route 39 heads west into the Wasatch Range from Woodruff on its way to Huntsville and eventually Ogden. However, this highway is closed through the mountains during the winter months as heavy snow blocks the road.
  • Interstate 80 lies in Summit County near the Rich County border but is only accessible from Rich County through Wyoming.

Adjacent counties

  • Bear Lake County, Idaho - north
  • Lincoln County, Wyoming - northeast
  • Uinta County, Wyoming - southeast
  • Summit County - south
  • Morgan County - southwest
  • Weber County - west
  • Cache County - west
  • Franklin County, Idaho - northwest

Protected areas

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|footnote=US Decennial Census<br/>1790–1960 1900–1990<br/>1990–2000 2010 2020

2020 census

According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey, there were 2,510 people in Rich County with a population density of 2.4 people per square mile (0.9/km<sup>2</sup>). Among non-Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 2,329 (92.8%) White, 11 (0.4%) African American, 1 (0.0%) Native American, 2 (0.1%) Asian, 4 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 1 (0.0%) from other races, and 65 (2.6%) from two or more races. 97 (3.9%) people were Hispanic or Latino.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Rich County, Utah – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>

!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!

!% 2000

!% 2010

!

|-

|White alone (NH)

|1,908

|2,131

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,329

|97.30%

|94.13%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |92.79%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|0

|0

|style='background: #ffffe6; |11

|0.00%

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.44%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|1

|16

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1

|0.05%

|0.71%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.04%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|8

|2

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2

|0.41%

|0.09%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.08%

|-

|Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|0

|1

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4

|0.00%

|0.04%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.16%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|0

|2

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1

|0.00%

|0.09%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.04%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|8

|16

|style='background: #ffffe6; |65

|0.41%

|0.71%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.59%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|36

|96

|style='background: #ffffe6; |97

|1.84%

|4.24%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.86%

|-

|Total

|1,961

|2,264

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,510

|100.00%

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

|}

There were 1,309 (52.15%) males and 1,201 (47.85%) females, and the population distribution by age was 767 (30.6%) under the age of 18, 1,276 (50.8%) from 18 to 64, and 467 (18.6%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 38.0 years.

There were 886 households in Rich County with an average size of 2.83 of which 660 (74.5%) were families and 226 (25.5%) were non-families. Among all families, 577 (65.1%) were married couples, 32 (3.6%) were male householders with no spouse, and 51 (5.8%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 207 (23.4%) were a single person living alone and 19 (2.1%) were two or more people living together. 322 (36.3%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 710 (80.1%) of households were owner-occupied while 176 (19.9%) were renter-occupied.

The median income for a Rich County household was $63,917 and the median family income was $73,819, with a per-capita income of $23,943. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $58,125 and for females $35,590. 10.5% of the population and 6.5% of families were below the poverty line.

In terms of education attainment, out of the 1,406 people in Rich County 25 years or older, 61 (4.3%) had not completed high school, 397 (28.2%) had a high school diploma or equivalency, 638 (45.4%) had some college or associate degree, 208 (14.8%) had a bachelor's degree, and 102 (7.3%) had a graduate or professional degree.

Ancestry

As of the 2010 census, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Rich County were:

  • 40.7% were of English ancestry
  • 14.2% were of German ancestry
  • 10.2% were of Scottish ancestry
  • 8.5% were of "American" ancestry
  • 5.8% were of Irish ancestry
  • 5.6% were of Danish ancestry.

Communities

thumb|Map of Rich County communities

Towns

  • Garden City
  • Laketown (originally named "Last Chance"

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| style="background-color:" |&nbsp;

|House of Representatives

|53

| style="text-align:center;" |Kera Birkeland

| style="text-align:center;" |Republican

| style="text-align:center;" |2020

|-

| style="background-color:lightgrey" |&nbsp;

|Board of Education

|1

| style="text-align:center;" |Jennie Earl

| style="text-align:center;" |Nonpartisan

| style="text-align:center;" |2018

|-

|}

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See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Rich County, Utah

References