Coconino County

December 30, 2007 by arizonan

Coconino County, carved out of Yavapai County, was created by the 16th Territorial Assembly in1891. 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 the16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and by fur trappers and traders in the 1820s and1830s. Cattle and sheep ranching started in the 1870s, and when the railroad began serving the area a decade later, the lumber business boomed.