Lapoint is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

in western Uintah 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.

Description

The community lies along State Route 121, just inside the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, and west of the city of 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 ...

of Uintah County). Deep Creek, a tributary of the Uinta River flow southwest through Lapoint. The community's elevation is . Although Lapoint is unincorporated, it has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, with the ZIP code of 84039. Originally named ''Taft'' in honor of

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

, its name was changed to ''Lapoint'' since it lies on a southward-jutting spur or "point" of the Uinta Mountains.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system, Lapoint has a

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- ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Notable people

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 ...

(1963-1989), world champion professional rodeo bull rider, hall of fame inductee * Shawn Bradley Shawn Paul Bradley is a German-American former professional basketball player who played center for the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets and

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. The ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

Archaeology

Lapoint was settled on top of a significant Fremont archaeological site known as "Caldwell Village", after the property on which it was found, excavated in 1966 by John Richard Ambler. The site comprised "22 pithouses, nine pits, seven borrow pits, two isolated hearths, nine human burials, two dog burials, and an irrigation ditch," with artifacts including "over 5,000 pottery sherds, 14 restorable vessels, several thousand ground and chipped stone artifacts, over 400 bone, antler and shell artifacts and a few perishable artifacts." A radiocarbon date of 520 AD +/- 70 years was documented from a charred roof timber at one site, however, dating of the pottery traditions suggests an occupation period of 1050 - 1200 AD. The surface of the site was almost entirely destroyed by agricultural plowing and today there are no extant remains visible.

References

External links