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MOHAVE
COUNTY
Mohave
County,
at
the
time
of
its creation by Arizona's first
Territorial Assembly in 1864, actually included portions of present day
Nevada. In 1865, the northern portion of Mohave County was split off as
Pah-Ute County. And in 1867, parts of both counties including the
present site of Las Vegas were attached to Nevada, which had become a
state in 1864. The much reduced Pah-Ute County was merged with Mohave
County in 1871. Today, most of the historic sites of Arizona's Lost
County are covered by the waters of Lake Mead.
The
area
that
is
now
Mohave
County began to attract settlers shortly
after it was brought into the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo in 1848. The 1860s saw an influx of miners after gold was
discovered, and Mormons who were sent south from Utah by their church.
Mohave
County
is
geographically
the
second
largest in the state. Most
of it is classified as desert, but of its 13,470 square miles, 158
square miles are water. The county boasts 1,000 miles of shoreline and
is a great water sports center. It also has the longest stretch of
historic Route 66. The Colorado River and two man-made lakes, Lake
Mohave and Lake Havasu, play an important role in the growth of Lake
Havasu City and Bullhead City.
Kingman,
the
county
seat,
was
not
founded until the 1880s with the
coming of the railroad. Before being moved to Kingman in 1887, the
county seat had been located in the communities of Mohave City,
Hardyville, Cerbat, and Mineral Park none of which exist today.
Although these communities did not survive, the forces that led to
their establishment mining, the Colorado River, and the railroad are
still important to the county s economy. Part of Mohave County and all
of Colorado City are designated Enterprise Zones.
The
U.S.
Forest
Service
and
Bureau
of Land management own 61 percent of
the land; Indian reservations, 6 percent; the state of Arizona, 7
percent; individual or corporate, 18 percent; and other public lands, 8
percent.
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