Wendover is a city on the western edge of Tooele County,

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 ...

, United States. The population was 1,115 at the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

census.

Description

Wendover is on the western border of Utah and is contiguous with West Wendover,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one ...

runs just north of both cities, while Interstate 80 Business (Wendover Boulevard) runs through the two cities. The Wendover Cut-off was the former path of the

Victory Highway The Victory Highway was an auto trail across the United States between New York City and San Francisco, roughly equivalent to the present U.S. Route 40. It was created by the Victory Highway Association, which was organized in 1921 to locate and m ...

as well as

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 ...

to Wendover. Today it serves as a

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...

between Wendover and Knolls just to the south of the Interstate.

History

The town was established in 1908 as a station stop on the

Western Pacific Railroad The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...

, then under construction. The transcontinental telephone line was completed as workers raised the final pole at Wendover, Utah on June 27, 1914, after construction of of telephone line. However, the line was not utilized until January 25, 1915, when the first transcontinental telephone call was made to coincide with the opening of the Panama Pacific Exposition. From 1917 to 1939, a Western Pacific subsidiary known as the Deep Creek Railroad also operated into Wendover. The Western Pacific became part of the larger

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

in 1983.

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the nearby

Wendover Army Air Field Wendover Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Utah now known as Wendover Airport. During World War II, it was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 ...

(later known as the Wendover Air Force Base) was a training base for bomber pilots, including the crew of the ''

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it ...

''. The Enola Gay was stationed here until June 1945. In 2008, the

Utah Department of Transportation The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is an agency of the state government of Utah, United States; it is usually referred to by its initials UDOT (pronounced "you-dot"). UDOT is charged with maintaining the more than of roadway that co ...

completed an interchange at Aria Boulevard on Interstate 80. Investment is also underway to restore the

Wendover Airport Wendover Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Wendover, city on the western edge of Tooele County, Utah, United States. Description The airpo ...

(located at the former Wendover Air Force Base) which is currently managed by Tooele County. Tooele County School District's Anna Smith Elementary School serves the Wendover area. Wendover and Tooele County also operate a joint complex for municipal and county functions. Movements to unite Wendover with West Wendover, which is located across the border in Nevada and allows gambling operations, have taken place but require the approval of the U.S. Congress and the Nevada and Utah legislatures. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution permitting Wendover to leave Utah and join Nevada in 2002, but the bill was stalled in the U.S. Senate and did not become law.

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 inc ...

of 2000, there were 1,537 people, 432 households, and 327 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 238.9 people per square mile (92.3/km²). There were 510 housing units at an average density of 79.3 per square mile (30.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 68.64%

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, 43.98%

White White is the 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 reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 1.17%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.76% Native American, 0.85% Asian, 0.13%

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 O ...

, 43.59% from other races, and 8.52% from two or more races. There were 432 households, out of which 54.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.9% 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 ...

living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. Of all households, 16.7% were made up of individuals, and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.56 and the average family size was 4.10. In the city, the population was spread out, with 39.9% under the age of 18, 13.0% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 13.2% from 45 to 64, and 3.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,196, and the median income for a family was $29,722. Males had a median income of $18,417 versus $20,682 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 $10,794. About 24.7% of families and 26.1% 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 29.1% of those under age 18 and 16.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Wendover uses a city council with five council members that meet on the first and third Thursday of every month. As of March 2020, the current mayor of Wendover is Mike Crawford.

Geography

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. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of 6.4 square miles (16.7 km²), all land. The

hillside letter Hillside letters or mountain monograms are a form of geoglyph (more specifically hill figures) common in the Western United States, consisting of large single letters, abbreviations, or messages emblazoned on hillsides, typically created and mai ...

W can be seen in the north. ()

Climate

Wendover and West Wendover have a

cool arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

( Köppen ''BWk'') with hot summers, freezing winters, and substantial diurnal temperature ranges. The cities’ location east of the

Ruby Mountains The Ruby Mountains are a mountain range, primarily located within Elko County with a small extension into White Pine County, in Nevada, United States. Most of the range is included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The range reache ...

makes them the driest in the Great Basin, averaging only of precipitation per year, or about half that of nearby Ely or Elko. It affects snowfall even more dramatically: Wendover and West Wendover average only of snow, one-eighth to one-tenth the snowfall of the two nearby county seats.

References

External links

*
Historic Wendover Airfield -- Non-profit foundation

* {{Authority control 1908 establishments in Utah Cities in Tooele County, Utah Cities in Utah Populated places established in 1908 Salt Lake City metropolitan area