St. George or Saint George The St. George metropolitan statistical area has an estimated 208,000 residents. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona 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 well known for its warm climate relative to the rest of the state, resulting year-round outdoor recreation, and proximity to several state parks, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon. Utah Tech University, in St. George, is an NCAA Division I institution. The city is northeast of Las Vegas and south-southwest of Salt Lake City on Interstate 15.
History
thumb|[[Brigham Young Winter Home and Office in St. George]]
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:
<blockquote>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.</blockquote>
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.
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. 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
thumb|The red hills of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve north of St. George
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.
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.