Moffat County was created out of the western portion of Routt County on February 27, 1911. The county was named for David H. Moffat, a Colorado tycoon who died in 1911. His railroad, the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific, attempted to build a route from Denver to Salt Lake City. In 1913, a reorganized railroad, the Denver & Salt Lake, reached as far as Craig, the county seat, but no farther. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, all state District Courts were held in Denver, in the State courthouse there, due to a lack of funds to build courthouses locally. All murder trials were held in Denver, in the District Courts. Allegedly, so many murders occurred between sheep farmers from Wyoming and cattle ranchers from Colorado that the presiding judges—tired of presiding over these murder trials—requested that the State legislature split Routt County into what is now Routt and Moffat counties; the legislature complied.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the second-largest county by area in Colorado.
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,184 people, 4,983 households, and 3,577 families residing in the county. The population density was 3 people per square mile. There were 5,635 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 93.61% White, 0.21% Black or African American, 0.88% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.17% from other races, and 1.77% from two or more races. 9.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 4,983 households out of which 38.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.70% were married couplesliving together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.20% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.05. In the county, the population was spread out with 28.50% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 9.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $41,528, and the median income for a family was $45,511. Males had a median income of $37,288 versus $22,080 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,540. About 6.90% of families and 8.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.30% of those under age 18 and 9.30% of those age 65 or over.
Communities
City
Craig
Town
Dinosaur
Census-designated place
Maybell
Other unincorporated places
Elk Springs
Greystone
Hamilton
Massadona
Lay
Sunbeam
Politics
Moffat is a Republican county in Presidential elections. No Democraticpresidential candidate has carried Moffat County since Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide, and indeed no Democrat post-1964 has obtained even forty percent of the county's vote. Moffat was one of fifteen counties to give a plurality to Ross Perot in the 1992 election, but every other Republican candidate since 1968 has obtained an absolute majority in Moffat County.
Year
Republican
Democratic
Others
2016
81.3%5,305
13.4% 874
5.3% 346
2012
76.1%4,695
21.6% 1,330
2.3% 143
2008
70.4%4,135
27.0% 1,582
2.6% 154
2004
74.2%4,247
23.7% 1,355
2.2% 123
2000
72.0%3,840
22.9% 1,223
5.1% 274
1996
51.0%2,466
33.8% 1,635
15.2% 735
1992
35.5% 1,809
27.2% 1,386
37.3%1,900
1988
61.0%2,757
36.2% 1,634
2.8% 128
1984
72.9%3,630
24.7% 1,228
2.5% 123
1980
67.9%3,344
21.9% 1,079
10.2% 502
1976
55.7%2,099
38.5% 1,451
5.8% 220
1972
67.7%1,928
20.8% 591
11.6% 329
1968
62.1%1,785
26.6% 765
11.3% 325
1964
46.3% 1,438
53.4%1,657
0.3% 8
1960
59.3%1,754
40.6% 1,200
0.1% 3
1956
68.8%1,762
31.1% 797
0.1% 2
1952
70.1%1,922
29.5% 808
0.4% 11
1948
52.7%1,261
46.1% 1,101
1.2% 29
1944
60.9%1,445
38.9% 923
0.3% 6
1940
59.2%1,556
40.2% 1,056
0.6% 15
1936
42.1% 954
48.1%1,090
9.7% 220
1932
36.6% 880
57.7%1,388
5.8% 139
1928
64.6%1,346
34.1% 710
1.4% 29
1924
50.7%1,009
32.5% 647
16.8% 334
1920
65.4%1,294
29.8% 589
4.8% 95
1916
39.7% 512
57.4%740
2.9% 37
1912
31.3% 294
43.6%409
25.1% 235
In gubernatorial elections, Moffat County has also generally been Republican, but was nonetheless carried by Democrat Roy Romer by a narrow margin in 1990 – when he carried all but four counties statewide – by Dick Lamm in 1982 and by Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo in 2010. In senatorial elections, the Republican candidate has consistently garnered over sixty percent of Moffat County voters since future party-switcher Ben “Nighthorse” Campbell won the county for the Democratic Party in 1992.
