Vernal, Utah

Vernal is a remote and isolated city located in Northeast Utah, located in Uintah County, Utah, United States, and is one of only a few cities in Utah that were not founded by Mormons. The population was 9,089 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Uintah County and is located about 30 miles west of the Colorado border. 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 the only city in the U.S. of its size that does not have a railway, and is situated on a two lane highway, US Highway 40. The major economy of the town is derived from extraction of natural resources, including, oil, natural gas, phosphate, and gilsonite throughout Uintah County. In addition, Vernal is the center of a sportsman's paradise, and is located within miles of some of the finest fishing, fly fishing, and hunting in North America. Vernal is located in the coldest region of Utah.

Geography
Vernal is located at 40.45472°N, -109.53556°W on the northern edge of the Colorado Plateau and south of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on the Utah-Wyoming state line.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²), all land.

Demographics
As of the census 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.

Education
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.

Notable natives and residents

 * Earl W. Bascom - Inventor, Hall of Fame rodeo cowboy, actor, international artist and sculptor
 * Lane Frost - Rodeo star, attended junior high school in Vernal
 * Gordon Gee - Academic, has held more university presidencies (5) than any other American
 * Douglas Kent Hall - writer and photographer, Academy Award winning writer, best-selling author, internationally renowned photographer
 * James Woods - Actor, was born in Vernal.

Notable buildings
The Bank of Vernal (or Parcel Post Bank) Building (3 West Main Street) is a registered historical building in the Uintah County Landmark Register due to this strange story : 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.

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.

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"

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 located 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.