The county was created on January 16, 1864 by the Utah Territory legislature, with areas partitioned from Washington County. It was named for Col. Thomas L. Kane, a friend of the Mormon settlers in the 1840s and 1850s. The county boundary was adjusted in 1869, when a portion was returned to Washington County; in 1880, when San Juan County was created; and in 1883, when portions were partitioned from Kane and added to Iron and Washington counties.
There were 2,237 households out of which 32.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.60% were married couples living together, 6.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.20% were non-families. 23.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.21. The county population contained 29.40% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 21.20% from 25 to 44, 25.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $34,247, and the median income for a family was $40,030. Males had a median income of $30,655 versus $20,406 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,455. About 5.50% of families and 7.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.30% of those under age 18 and 5.40% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
Kane is one of the most reliably Republican counties in the nation. Of "straight-ticket" voters in the 2008 election there were 992 Republicans and 326 Democrats. In the Utah gubernatorial election, 2004 nearly 70% of the county's vote went for Jon Huntsman, Jr. and in the 2008 election he received around 75% of the vote. Kane County is part of Utah's 2nd congressional district and thus was represented by moderate Democrat Jim Matheson for several years, until 2013. The second district is now represented by Republican Chris Stewart, elected in 2012 when Jim Matheson ran for election to the newly created fourth district instead of remaining in the second. In Presidential elections, Kane County has only been won once by a Democratic candidate when Woodrow Wilson carried the county in 1916. It was the only county in Utah carried by Alf Landon, the Republican opponent who lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1936 Presidential election in the most lopsided Presidential election in over a century. It has solidly favored the Republican candidate since at least 1956, when Dwight D. Eisenhower received approximately 90% of the vote. In 1964 the county went for Barry Goldwater, who lost the overall in the state, by over nine percent. Since 1920, only in the Democratic landslides of 1936, 1940 and 1964 did the Democratic candidate for president receive even 30% of the county's vote.
