Beaver, Utah

Beaver is a city in Beaver County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,454 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Beaver County.

Settled by Mormon pioneers in 1856, Beaver was one of a string of Mormon settlements extending the length of Utah. These settlements were, by design, a day's ride on horseback apart, explaining the regularity of today's spacing: either 30 mi apart, or 60 mi apart where intervening settlements failed or were absorbed. To wit: Brigham City to Ogden (30 miles) to Salt Lake City (30 miles) to Provo (30 miles), etc.

Beaver is the birthplace of two well-known, but very different, people: Philo T. Farnsworth and Butch Cassidy. Philo T. Farnsworth was the inventor of several critical electronic devices that made television possible, including the cathode ray tube. He was also the first to create table-top nuclear-fusion. Butch Cassidy was a notorious western outlaw.

Beaver also has the distinction of being the first town in Utah to be electrified. A hydroelectric generation plant was constructed on the Beaver River early in the 20th century. The plant continues to provide a large part of Beaver's power requirements today.

History
Beaver county has a number of identified prehistoric sites, dating to the Archaic and Sevier Fremont periods. A prehistoric obsidian quarry site has been identified in the nearby Mineral Mountains. Southern Paiutes inhabited the region at the time of the first European explorers, the 1776 Dominguez-Escalante Expedition.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints entered Beaver Valley from Parowan, Utah to the south. By 1869 Beaver had enough Mormon settlers, primarily engaged in livestock grazing, to organize a stake. The first stake president was John Murdock. During the 1870s, settlers made an effort to establish a woolen mill, a tannery and a dairy industry. Ft. Cameron was established by the U.S. Army in 1873. Mining and the 1880 arrival of the Utah Southern Railroad also increased development in the area. However, by World War I, Ft. Cameron was abandoned and the mining industry declined.

Geography
Beaver is located at °N, °W (38.276305, -112.638772).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²), all of it land.

To the east of Beaver lie the Tushar Mountains. The peaks in these mountains rise to over 12,000 feet (3,660 m).

Beaver is well known in central Utah, as Interstate 15 (the main artery for the entire state) flows through the city.

The town is famous for the giant letter 'B', which is visible from the freeway. It is also visible on Google Maps: 38 15' 52.26" N, 112 34' 57.20 W.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,454 people, 856 households, and 653 families residing in the city. The population density was 535.5 people per square mile (206.9/km²). There were 1,021 housing units at an average density of 222.8 per square mile (86.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.74% White, 0.53% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 3.06% from other races, and 1.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.05% of the population.

There were 856 households out of which 41.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.0% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.6% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.33.

In the city the population was spread out with 32.9% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,646, and the median income for a family was $37,933. Males had a median income of $29,485 versus $17,159 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,412. About 6.7% of families and 8.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.0% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. The top 5 ethnic groups in Beaver are
 * English - 40%
 * German - 7%
 * Scottish - 5%
 * Danish - 5%
 * Irish - 5%