Sanpete County

Sanpete County Facts:

County Website: Sanpete County
Area:1,603 square miles
Population: 30,623 (2018)
County Seat: Manti
Origin of County Name: a corruption of San Pitch, the name of a local Indian tribe
Cities/Towns: Centerfield, Ephraim, Fairview, Fayette, Fountain Green, Gunnison, Manti, Mayfield, Moroni, Mt. Pleasant, Spring City, Sterling, Wales
Economy: agriculture (particularly turkeys, sheep, and beef and dairy cattle), local government, and education
Points of Interest: Manti LDS Temple, Spring City Historic District, Fairview Museum, Wasatch Plateau, Maple Canyon, Palisade State Park

About Sanpete County:

Sanpete County is in center of Utah. Mountains separate the county from Interstate-15, the state's major North/South highway, which has distanced the county from major developments over the years. While early Fremont Indians and later the San Pitch Indians populated the area in peace, things changed in 1849 when Ute Chief Wakara invited the Mormon settlers to live in the Sanpete basin. In 1853 and 1854 Chief Wakara changed his mind about having the settlers in his area causing many of the settlers to move into neighboring forts for protection during the Walker War with Wakara's people. The Black Hawk war of 1865-68 brought more conflicts between the Native Americans and the Mormon settlers. Many of the Scandinavian immigrants were sent to Sanpete County. They built their homes similar to those found in Europe and set up small communities within specific language backgrounds like Spring City that became known as little Denmark.

Today, the Moroni Feed Company makes Sanpete County one of the top ten turkey-producing counties in the nation and probably helped provide your last turkey dinner. The Scandinavian influence is still felt each year in the county's many festivals celebrating their European heritage. In addition to the festivals, Spring City Historic district has many Scandinavian homes that are on the state and national historic registers. The LDS temple, in Manti, can be seen from miles around. In June each year the annual Mormon Miracle Pageant, held on the side of temple hill, brings in over 100,000 visitors (almost 5 times the population of the whole county). The county has many areas for recreation such as fishing and hiking along with areas for off-road vehicles and snowmobiles. Palisade State Park which has camping, a golf course, and a reservoir, also helps provide water for neighboring areas. Also in the area is Snow College, a two-year state college, which brings many students from the neighboring cities to Ephraim.