Vernal, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

and largest city in Uintah County is in northeastern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, approximately east of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

and west of the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

border. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,089. The population has since grown to 10,370 as of the 2018 population estimate.

History

Vernal, unlike most Utah towns, was not settled by Mormon Settlers.

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

sent a scouting party to the area

Uintah Basin The Uinta Basin (also known as the Uintah Basin) is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. It is also a geologic structural basin in ...

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 Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

set the area aside as the

Uintah Indian Reservation The Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation (, ) is located in northeastern Utah, United States. It is the homeland of the Ute Indian Tribe (Ute dialect: Núuchi-u), and is the largest of three Indian reservations inhabited by members of the Ute Tribe ...

, with Captain Pardon Dodds appointed

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of ...

. Dodds later built the first cabin erected by a white man in the Uintah Basin around 1868. Settlers began to filter in after that, and built cabins in various spots on or near Ashley Creek. In 1879 many came close to perishing during the infamous "Hard Winter" of that same year.

Geography

Vernal is in the Uintah Basin, bordered on the north by the Uinta Mountains, one of the relatively few mountain ranges 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 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 in a high desert area of the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

, the city has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²), all land.

Climate

Vernal has a

cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-a ...

( Köppen: ''BSk'') with low humidity. The average annual temperature is with a

mean There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

high of and a mean low of .

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 7,714 people, 2,709 households, and 1,977 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

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 White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 0.18%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 2.31% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 1.18% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

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 Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

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 Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $13,497. About 14.7% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 20.6% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Vernal's economy is based on extracting natural resources, including

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

, and uintaite (more commonly known as Gilsonite). This has led to the establishment of branch offices of companies such as

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation responsible for most of the world's hydraulic fracturing operations. In 2009, it was the world's second largest list of oilfield service companies, oil field service company. It has o ...

and

Schlumberger Schlumberger Limited (), doing business as SLB, is an oilfield services company. Schlumberger has four principal executive offices located in Paris, Houston, London, and The Hague. Schlumberger is the world's largest offshore drilling comp ...

. Tourism also plays a role in Vernal's economy due to the town's roots in the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

and being a large site of ancient

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s. Vernal and the surrounding area are popular among outdoor enthusiasts as they are situated near plentiful spots for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diff ...

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/ tusks, horn/ a ...

, and other outdoor activities.

Education

Vernal's public schools include Ashley Valley Education Center, Uintah High, Uintah Middle School, Vernal Middle, Ashley Elementary, Discovery Elementary, and a branch of

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Uta ...

. In 2015, the Terra Academy opened as a K–12 charter school. Private schools include White House Academy and Uintah Basin Christian Academy. 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 ( pre-K–8). The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Rocky Mountain River Base.

Transportation

Highways

Vernal is along an east–west federal highway,

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

, and a north–south federal highway, U.S. Route 191. (The two highways overlay each other heading west from the city.)

Airport

The city's Vernal Regional Airport has scheduled nonstop air service to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

(DEN) operated by

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

with CRJ-200 jet aircraft. Passenger service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service (EAS) program.

Public Transportation

Vernal is served by two out of the three Basin Transit Association routes, the Vernal - Roosevelt route (connection available to the Duchesne route in Roosevelt), and the Vernal Circulator, as well as a Salt Lake Express route to Salt Lake City

Attractions

Special events

Th
Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo
is an annual PRCA rodeo held in Vernal during the second weekend of July. It is the most famous event held in Vernal and has been running since the 1930s. This event has been nominated as one of the top five large outdoor rodeos of the year multiple times, and attracts over 500 contestants each year. Dinah "Soar" Days & Hot Air Balloon Festival features a growing multi-day hot air balloon festival along with numerous other community events, many of which have a hot air balloon theme. The John Wesley Powell River Festival celebrates the exploration and history of the region with live music, food trucks and activities that focus on local history.
Games, Anime, and More
(G.A.M.) is a biannual

fan convention Fan convention (also known as con or fan meeting), a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some ...

. It is a

multi-genre convention A hybrid genre is a literary genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres. Works in hybrid genres are often referred to as cross-genre, multi-genre, mixed genre, or fusion genre. Hybrid genres are a longstanding element ...

having video games, card games, cartoons, costumes, tournaments, tabletop gaming, and similar activities. The G.A.M. Convention is held during March and August in

Uintah County, Utah Uintah County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 35,620. Its county seat and largest city is Vernal. The county was named for the portion of the Ute Indian tribe that lived in ...

. In 2015 it was the first anime convention held in Vernal as well as the first gaming convention held there, making it the first convention of its type in Vernal. In 2016 it was held in Naples, Utah for the first time, making G.A.M. the first convention of its type in the city of Naples. The Home, Garden & Outdoor Sports Show is an annual event presented by the radio stations KLCY and KVEL. It features gardening, home improvement, and outdoor equipment and information. It is held on the first Friday and Saturday of April. The Gun & Knife Show happens the first Saturday and Sunday of March. Since 1973 Vernal has been the host of the Tournament of Champions wrestling tournament for high school wrestlers. It is the longest continuing invitational wrestling tournament in the state of Utah. Created by Uintah head wrestling coach Dennis Preece, the tournament draws teams from across several states in the intermountain region and is known as one of the largest and most competitive high school wrestling tournaments in the western United States. The Outlaw Trail Festival of the Arts, which features a juried art contest and show, has been running in Vernal for the last 26 years. It runs for several weeks every June. The Uintah County Fair occurs Thursday through Saturday each year in the second week of June. The Outlaw Trail Theater presents stage plays during the summer in June and July. The Dinaland Car Show happens annually in July. The Ashley Valley Farmers' Market occurs from July through September. The radio station KNEU presents Alive After 5 events in the summer. A number of 5K runs and other outdoor walking events occur throughout the year. July plays host to the annual craft fair on the Uintah County building's front lawn. Vernal features yearly parades for certain holidays such as

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

on July 4 and

Pioneer Day Pioneer Day is an official holiday celebrated on July 24 in the U.S. state, American state of Utah, with some celebrations taking place in regions of surrounding states originally settler, settled by Mormon pioneers. It commemorates the entry o ...

on July 24th. There is an

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

Egg hunt at the Utah Field House of Natural History each year on the Saturday before Easter.

Points of interest

Lookout Point rests on the western edge overlooking Ashley Valley, the valley in which Vernal is situated. The Vernal branch of Zion's Bank was mailed through USPS one brick at a time. Dinah the Pink Dinosaur, the welcome sign on the east side of town (Which at some point used to be orange and had eyes that would follow cars, but both of those features no longer exist.)

Notable buildings

The Bank of Vernal (a.k.a. the 'Parcel Post' Bank) Building (3 West Main Street) is a registered historical building in the Uintah County Landmark Register. Also known as "the Bank that was sent by Mail", the Bank of Vernal was constructed in 1916-1917 by William H. Coltharp, a Vernal businessman and entrepreneur. Coltharp took advantage of inexpensive Parcel Post rates to ship some 80,000 masonry bricks in fifty-pound (22.6 kg) packages via the U.S. Post Office the from Salt Lake City to Vernal. The Parcel Post brick shipments were transported from Salt Lake to Mack,

by Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, then proceeded to

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

via the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller struc ...

Uintah Railway, finally Vernal by wagon freight through steep roads. The full trip was over 420 miles (675.9 km) long. After completing delivery of the bricks, the U.S. Post Office hastily changed its regulations, establishing a limit of per day per sender. The

United States Postmaster General The United States Postmaster General (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

Albert Sidney Burleson Albert Sidney Burleson (June 7, 1863 – November 24, 1937) was a progressive Democrat who served as United States Postmaster General and Representative in Congress. He was a strong supporter of William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson, so Wil ...

explicitly stated in a letter that ''"it is not the intent of the United States Postal Service that buildings be shipped through the mail"'' Today the building is used as a branch office of Zions Bank. The

Quarry Visitor Center Quarry Visitor Center, in Dinosaur National Monument in Utah was built as part of the National Park Service's Mission 66 program of modern architectural design in the US national parks. This visitor center exemplifies the philosophy of locatin ...

Dinosaur National Monument Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Although most of the monument area is ...

, 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.

Notable people

Ron Abegglen Ron Abegglen (August 19, 1937 – December 19, 2018) was a college basketball coach. Professional career Abegglen was head coach of the Weber State Wildcats team from 1991 to 1999 and at the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves from 1986 t ...

, former Weber State men's basketball coach, born and raised in Vernal *

Earl W. Bascom Earl Wesley Bascom (June 19, 1906 – August 28, 1995) was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, cowboy, rodeo performer, inventor, and Hollywood actor. Raised in Canada, he portrayed in works of fine art his own experiences of cowboying ...

, inventor; Hall of Fame rodeo cowboy, "father of modern rodeo," Hollywood actor, international artist and sculptor. * Texas Rose Bascom (1922-1993), rodeo performer, fancy trick roper, Hollywood actor, National Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductee * Clair Burgener, U.S. Representative from California (1973–1983) *

Lane Frost Lane Clyde Frost (October 12, 1963 – July 30, 1989) was an American professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding, and competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He was the 1987 PRCA World Champion bull rider ...

, rodeo star, PRCA Bull Riding Champion of the World, attended junior high school in Vernal * E. Gordon Gee, academic who held more university presidencies than any other American * Douglas Kent Hall; writer and photographer; Academy Award winner * Dallin H. Oaks, president of Brigham Young University, Utah Supreme Court Justice, member of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints * Dennis Preece, Hall of Fame wrestling coach at local high school in Vernal * James Woods, film and television actor, was born in Vernal

References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places established in 1876 Cities in Utah County seats in Utah Cities in Uintah County, Utah Micropolitan areas of Utah 1876 establishments in Utah Territory