| Vernal, Utah | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Location of Vernal, Utah | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Utah |
| County | Uintah |
| Settled | 1876 |
| Named for | Vernal |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.6 sq mi (11.9 km2) |
| • Land | 4.6 sq mi (11.9 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 5,328 ft (1,624 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 9,089 |
| • Density | 1,975.9/sq mi (763.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP codes | 84078-84079 |
| Area code(s) | 435 |
| FIPS code | 49-80090[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1433885[2] |
| Website | http://www.vernalcity.org/ |
Vernal, Uintah County's largest city, is located in eastern Utah near the Colorado State Line, and 175 miles east of Salt Lake City. It is bordered on the north by the Uinta Mountains, one of the few mountains ranges in the world which lie in an east-west rather than the usual north to south direction. The Book Cliffs lie to the south, and Blue Mountain to the east, while Vernal itself lies in Ashley Valley, named in honor of William H. Ashley, an early fur trader who entered this area in 1825 by floating down the Green River in a bull boat made of animal hides. Vernal, unlike the majority of Utah towns, was not settled initially by Mormon pioneers. Brigham Young sent a scouting party to Uinta Basin in 1861 and received word back the area was good for nothing but nomad purposes, hunting grounds for Indians and "to hold the world together." That same year, President Abraham Lincoln set the area aside as the Uintah Indian Reservation. Captain Pardon Dodds was appointed Indian agent for this reservation.[3]
The population was 9,089 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Uintah County and is about thirty miles west of the Colorado border.[4] The city's Vernal-Uintah County Airport has scheduled air service to Denver provided by Great Lakes Aviation. Service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. Vernal does not have air service to Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah.
Vernal is situated on a two lane highway, US Highway 40, and is the only city in the U.S. of its size that does not have a railway. A major economy of the town is derived from extracting natural resources throughout Uintah County including petroleum, natural gas, phosphate, and uintaite - more commonly known as Gilsonite. Tourism also plays a major role in Vernal's economy due to the town's roots in the Old West and being a large site of ancient dinosaur fossils. Vernal and the surrounding area are popular among outdoor enthusiasts as they are situated near plentiful spots for fishing, fly fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities.
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Vernal is located at on the northern edge of the Colorado Plateau and south of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on the Utah-Wyoming state line. The city is situated in a high desert area of the Great Basin Desert.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²), all land.
The climate of Vernal is semi-arid with low humidity. The average annual temperature is 45°F with a mean high of 61°F and a mean low of 29°F. Vernal is located in the coldest region of Utah.[5]
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 799 |
|
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| 1890 | 1,305 | 63.3% | |
| 1900 | 664 | −49.1% | |
| 1910 | 836 | 25.9% | |
| 1920 | 1,309 | 56.6% | |
| 1930 | 1,744 | 33.2% | |
| 1940 | 2,119 | 21.5% | |
| 1950 | 2,845 | 34.3% | |
| 1960 | 3,655 | 28.5% | |
| 1970 | 3,908 | 6.9% | |
| 1980 | 6,600 | 68.9% | |
| 1990 | 6,644 | 0.7% | |
| 2000 | 7,714 | 16.1% | |
| 2010 | 9,089 | 17.8% | |
| source:[6] | |||
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 7,714 people, 2,709 households, and 1,977 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,683.4 people per square mile (650.3/km²). There were 2,957 housing units at an average density of 645.3 per square mile (249.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.52% White, 0.18% African American, 2.31% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.18% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.45% of the population. There were 2,709 households out of which 41.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.28.
In the city the population was spread out with 32.3% under the age of 18, 13.0% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 17.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,357, and the median income for a family was $34,453. Males had a median income of $32,137 versus $20,938 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,497. About 14.7% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.6% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.
Vernal's schools include Ashley Valley Education Center, Uintah High, Vernal Junior High, Vernal Middle, Ashley Elementary, Discovery Elementary, and a branch of Utah State University. In 2007, Uintah School District built new buildings for two elementary schools, Maeser and Naples Elementary, in the nearby communities to accommodate increased enrollment and eliminate unsafe older buildings. Other area schools include Davis Elementary, Lapoint Elementary, and Eagle View Elementary.
The Bank of Vernal (or Parcel Post Bank) Building (3 West Main Street) is a registered historical building in the Uintah County Landmark Register [7] due to this strange story[8]: the building was built in 1916 by W.H. Coltharp, who wanted to use textured bricks to give a modern style to the facades. Since those bricks were made in Salt Lake City by Salt Lake Pressed Brick Company, the delivery cost was enormous, amounting to four times the cost of the material.
Coltharp managed to send those bricks by USPS, through the standard mail delivery system: the fares were very low at the time, so bricks were packaged in 50 pound parcels (7 bricks each), and sent by lots of 40 packages per day. The total amount exceeded 80,000 bricks.[9]
The shipments were transported from Salt Lake to Mack, Colorado by Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, then the parcels proceeded to Watson via the narrow gauge Uintah Railway and reached Vernal by wagon freight through steep roads. The full trip was over 420 miles long.[10]
US Postal Regulations were later changed to avoid further exploiting of the service: a limitation of 200 pounds per day per receiver was introduced. The United States Postmaster General Albert Sidney Burleson explicitly stated in a letter that "it is not the intent of the United States Postal Service that buildings be shipped through the mail"[11]
The Bank of Vernal was nicknamed "The Parcel Post Bank". Today the building is used as a branch office of Zions Bank.
The Quarry Visitor Center in Dinosaur National Monument, and the Vernal Utah Temple are other historic Vernal buildings.
The Vernal Temple is a small LDS temple in the old Vernal Tabernacle. It was built as the result of a local movement to save the old tabernacle when it was scheduled for demolition.
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