Biggest Little City of the Railroad

While the settlers were still in their fort, they sometimes called their community “Jericho,” for the Biblical Walls of Jericho; “Hatch Town,” because of the three Hatch families that lived there; or simply “The Bench,” because the settlement lay on a rise four miles due south of Ashley, the first little frontier town in the valley. Although residents eventually wanted to call the place Ashley Center, the federal postal service refused their request and assigned them the name Vernal in 1886. Few people liked it then, but it obviously stuck.

It wasn’t too many years before Ashley was nothing more than a ghost town. Led by prominent saloon keeper and mayor S. M. Browne, Vernal had become the “biggest little city off the railroad” and a “model of city government.” In 1902 Missouri’s St. Louis Globe gushed:

This little burg is governed in such a manner as to make it the envy of all the other cities in the state. The one thing which makes Vernal unique among the cities of the United States, if not the whole world, is that there has never been a dollar of money raised by a city tax since it incorporated.

There are no boodlers [bride-takers] in Vernal and there never has been a suspicion of scandal since it became a city.

Politics cut no figure in the city elections, and the best men in the place are chosen to fill the offices. To be a member of the city government is considered a high compliment to the business ability of the man, so the offices are sought by the leading businessmen of the place and, when once elected, they gladly served out their terms without pay.

While elected officials have since levied taxes to pay for city services, Vernal continues to be the biggest little city in northeastern Utah.

This is #12 of the 21 stop history walking tour in downtown Vernal, Utah. See the other stops on this page:

• Vernal’s Walking History Tour

This marker is located at Cobble Rock Park, which is at 25 South Vernal Avenue in Vernal, Utah.

One of the Top 50 Small Cities in the U.S.

While the Uinta Basin was originally founded on agriculture and ranching, the area is now a major hydrocarbon producer, and Vernal City serves as the hub of these vast natural resources in northeastern Utah. Vernal’s present economy revolves around the oil and gas industry, enjoying the prosperity that comes with boom years, but suffering periodic busts as well. Among the other products mined from the earth here are Gilsonite, coal, phosphate, oil shale, and asphalt.

Vernal is also a starting point for outdoor enthusiasts and tourists who visit Ashley National Forest, the High Uinta Mountains, with their sparkling natural lakes, and Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The wild Green River watershed, including Split Mountain, Yampa, and Echo canyons, attracts river runners from around the world.

Dinosaur National Monument, established in 1915 after the discovery of an ancient dinosaur fossil bed, lies fourteen miles east of Vernal. The Utah Field House of National History and Dinosaur Gardens, which showcase numerous prehistoric artifacts, call Vernal’s Main Street home and attract thousands of visitors annually. This archeologically-rich region is known as Dinosaurland and provides Vernal with its Apatosaurus-like mascot, Dina.

Not to be outdone by their predecessors, Vernal residents today still take pride in their city. As one of the best equipped inland cities in America, Vernal was named to the top fifty list of small cities in America in 1993 and again in 1995. By 2002, the city’s population has grown to approximately 7,000 residents in a county of 25,000 people. Civic and government organizations continue to be actively involved in the community, promoting economic growth, supporting youth programs, and undertaking city beautification projects, such as the establishment of Cobble Rock Park.

This is #11 of the 21 stop history walking tour in downtown Vernal, Utah. See the other stops on this page:

• Vernal’s Walking History Tour

This marker is located at Cobble Rock Park, which is at 25 South Vernal Avenue in Vernal, Utah.