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Coconino County
Coconino County,
carved out of Yavapal County, was created by the 16th Territorial
Assembly in 1891 That same year, an election was held to determine the
permanent county seat. Flagstaff, which had been designated the
temporary county seat, won out over Williams by a vote of 419 to 97.
Flagstaff, home of Northern Arizona University, remains the county
seat. The original county courthouse, with additions, is still in use.
Coconino County
lies in the central region of northern Arizona, which was crossed by
Spanish expeditions during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and by
fur trappers and traders in the 1820s and 1830s. Cattle and sheep
ranching started in the 1870s and, when the railroad began serving the
area a decade later, the lumber business boomed. The county is a
year-round mecca for outdoor activities.
With 18,661
square miles, Coconino is the second largest county in the United
States and the largest in Arizona, but is one of the most sparsely
populated. It is characterized by rugged mountains, deep canyons and
thick forests of pine, spruce, pifion, aspen and oak. Within its
borders are many scenic sites the most popular and impressive is Grand
Canyon National Park. Other attractions are Oak Creek Canyon, Sunset
Crater National Monument, prehistoric Indian ruins at Wupatki, Walnut
Canyon, the Navajo National Monument, the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona
s highest point at 12,633 feet, and Lake Powell, with 1,960 miles of
shoreline.
Indian
reservations comprise 46 percent of the land and are home to the
Navajo, Hopi, Psiute, Havasupai and Hualapai tribes. The U.S. Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management control 32 percent of the land;
the state of Arizona owns 9.5 percent; other public lands comprise 6.8
percent; and the remaining 13.3 percent is owned by individuals or
corporations. The central corridor of Coconino County has been
designated as an Enterprise Zone, as well as the central corridor of
the City of Flagstaff.
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