Mohave

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.

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 55.2 percent of the land; Indian reservations, 6.7 percent; the state of Arizona, 6.6 percent; individual or corporate, 17.2 percent; and other public lands, 14.3 percent.