• About JacobBarlow.com
  • Cemeteries in Utah
  • D.U.P. Markers
  • Doors
  • Exploring Utah Email List
  • External and Referral Links
  • Geocaching
  • Historic Marker Map
  • Movie/TV Show Filming Locations
  • Oldest in Utah
  • Other Travels
  • S.U.P. Markers
  • U.P.T.L.A. Markers
  • Utah Cities and Places.
  • Utah Homes for Sale
  • Utah Treasure Hunt

JacobBarlow.com

~ Exploring with Jacob Barlow

JacobBarlow.com

Tag Archives: Vernal

Where the Dollar Has More Cents

21 Friday Oct 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Historic Markers, Uintah County, utah, Vernal

Where the Dollar Has More Cents

Former Pony Express rider and ferryboat operator William Ashton brought his family to Vernal in 1879. William’s sons and grandsons, all of whom engaged in retail trade, consolidated their businesses in 1922, opening Ashton Brothers Mercantile Company directly across the street from you.

Ashton Brothers, the largest and finest department store in Vernal’s history, eventually expanded to cover two-thirds of the city block. The store contained nine departments, carrying everything from groceries to greasers (overalls). They provided superior service and catered to almost every desire in Ashley Valley.

The Ashton’s amazing success was based in their customer service. They frequently extended credit to their patrons during Ashley Valley’s lean times or when families experienced their own hardships. These loyal customers repaid Ashton Brothers when they sold their livestock, wool, or other produce.

This is #18 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 26 West Main Street in Vernal, talking about the location across the street at 25 West Main Street.

What do you get with a cow, a jug of whiskey, and the city’s “Cat?”

12 Wednesday Oct 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Historic Markers, Uintah County, utah, Vernal

What do you get with a cow, a jug of whiskey, and the city’s “Cat?”

The 7-11 Ranch Restaurant, located directly across from you, is the oldest existing restaurant in Vernal. In 1933, Warren “Fat” Belcher sold a cow and bought a hot dog stand on South Vernal Avenue. Rising to the challenge of getting it moved to East Main Street, he bribed George Ramsey with a jug of whiskey to “borrow” the city’s “Cat,” (bulldozer) and moved the stand in the middle of the night. George took the bribe and the rest is history.

Warren and his wife, Daisy, operated their restaurant as the Grub Box until their new place was built in 1949. The café was named the 7-11 and sported four dice on its marquee, supposedly because Warren liked to gamble and shoot craps. It was also said that the Belchers wanted eleven children, but they only had seven.

One night a couple of men came in and after looking around, asked the waitress where the “Crap Room” was located. She hesitated a minute, then directed them to the men’s restroom. They came out looking very sheepish and left. The 7-11 Café is still owned and operated by one of Warren and Daisy’s daughters, Connie, and her husband, Jerry Pope.

This is #13 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 The 7-11 Ranch Restaurant at 77 East Main Street in Vernal, Utah

Uintah County Veterans Memorial

12 Wednesday Oct 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Memorials, Uintah County, utah, Vernal, Veterans Memorials, War Memorials

Uintah County Veterans Memorial

Other doughboy statues listed here:

Located at 152 East Main Street in Vernal, Utah

AH-1F Aircraft

12 Wednesday Oct 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Aircraft, Historic Markers, Uintah County, utah, Vernal

AH-1F Aircraft
(Bell AH-1F CORBRA)

Located at 152 East Main Street in Vernal, Utah

152 E Main St

06 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Uintah County, utah, Vernal

Located here:

  • AH-1F Aircraft
  • Heritage Museum
  • Legacy Park
  • War Memorial
  • Windows (sculpture)

152 East Main Street in Vernal, Utah

If You Were an Outlaw, Where Would You Shop?

22 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Historic Markers, Uintah County, utah, Vernal

If You Were an Outlaw, Where Would You Shop?

Diagonally across the street from you was the Ashley Cooperative Mercantile. It began in 1881 as a small, one-story log and rock building. By 1900, a new two-story general merchandise store with groceries, meat, dry goods, hardware, shoes, and a men’s department was constructed. Area residents also used the store to deposit and exchange money, to obtain loans, and to make investments. The volume of money became more than the Co-op could handle, resulting in the establishment of the first Bank of Vernal. The bank opened inside the Co-op in 1903. To discourage local outlaws, a large walk-in vault and a bulletproof screen surrounding a steel-lined counter became added security features to the new bank.

In the early 1880’s, two gun-toting horsemen robbed the Co-op. At closing time, the robbers caught the store clerk up on a ladder, where he was showing off a new, brimmed hat to two customers. In response to the clerk’s reply, they fired a shot, grazing the store clerk’s hatband before making off with the money.

Butch Cassidy (Robert Leroy Parker) was also a Co-op customer. In 1896, he purchased a Colt .45 single-action revolver which may have been used by the outlaw on his exploits with the notorious Wild Bunch.

This is #5 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 diagonally across the street from and about the building at 4 West Main Street in Vernal, Utah.

Where Can You Get an Iron Port, Phosphate, or Suicide?

21 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Historic Markers, Uintah County, utah, Vernal

Where Can You Get an Iron Port, Phosphate, or Suicide?

Today it would be difficult, but in 1946 you could have ordered one of these soft drinks at a soda fountain. Vernal’s most popular soda fountain was part of Vernal Drug which was located in the building across the street. At the marble counter, soda jerks mixed a variety of soft drinks and ice cream delights. A popular treat was cherry phosphate (cherry syrup, soda water, and citric acid); you could also order a cherry or vanilla Coke. Vernal was one of the few places you could find “Iron Port,” an old fashioned ice cream soda. If you wanted chocolate ice cream, you would ask for a “dip of mud;” a chocolate cone was called a “black stick;” a “houseboat” was the common term for a banana split. In the 1950s the soda fountain was a focal point where young people gathered after school or with a date.

The soda fountain hosted its first customer in 1900 when Vernal Drug opened its doors. The drugstore relocated several times, but in 1917 it found a permanent home. In 1960 the drugstore expanded into the Vogue Theater building. In 1991 Vernal Drug closed after 91 years in service, giving way to discount store pharmacies and the changing tastes of youth. So today you can’t get a “suicide” (a squirt of everything in the soda fountain) in Vernal.

This is #6 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 across the street from and about the building at 23 East Main Street in Vernal, Utah.

40 E Main St

14 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Theaters, Uintah County, utah, Vernal

Vernal Theatre
40 East Main Street in Vernal, Utah

The historic marker across the street says:
The Shiner brothers, Deward and Alson, opened the luxurious Vernal Theatre, across the from you, in March 1946. Patrons stepped on beautiful carpets as they chose between three sizes of “body-form” seats. Plush draperies hid the giant screen. A marimba player entertained guests before the movie began. That the rest room fixtures didn’t match was trivial. Everyone knew builders had to make do with whatever they could get immediately after World War II.

While the theater had a classy atmosphere, it specialized in second-run films during its first eighteen months. It took that long for a film to work its way through the distribution system after its release in New York.

Saturday matinees were eagerly attended by anxious youngsters. Although the theater seated 530 people, the odds were you might not find a seat if you came late. Matinees included a cartoon, a “short” (weekly installment of a serial starring popular actors), and a full-length movie. On weekdays, a cartoon and a newsreel preceded the feature film.

Being a theater usher became the most popular job in town for teens. Ushers escorted late customers to their seats and were allowed to watch the shows. The worst theater job was sitting alone in the box office on cold winter nights.

Over the years, the arts of film making and projecting have changed immensely, but the Shiners, who still own the theater, have kept up with the changes. They renovated the Vernal Theatre in 1984. The bathroom fixtures match now.

Old Ashley Postoffice

14 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

DUP, Historic Buildings, Historic Markers, Post Offices, Uintah County, utah, Utah Register of Historic Places, Vernal

Old Ashley Postoffice

Ashley Valley, settled in 1873, had its first postoffice in this structure. Built in 1879 by Wilbur C. Britt, the first postmaster. Logs hauled from nearby forests were put together with wooden pegs and square nails to erect one large room. A partition separated the postoffice from a store. Once a week carriers, riding horseback or wearing snowshoes, delivered the mail to and from Greenriver, Wyo. Mail service here was discontinued in 1899. This building now belongs to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

This is Daughters of Utah Pioneers historic marker #313, located at 1333 West 2000 North in Vernal, Utah

Related:

  • D.U.P. Historic Markers

The Ashley Post Office was established in the center of Ashley Town on December 27,1878. At that time there were about 300 settlers in Ashley Valley. Wilbur Carlton Britt and Finley Britt used logs from nearby mountains, wooden pegs, and square nails in constructing this building. It had a dirt roof and wide board floors. The cracks between the logs which were filled with mud. A log partition separated the post office from a grocery store. Wilbur Britt was appointed first postmaster on April 16, 1879. The Ashley Post Office is also on the Utah Register of Historic Places.

Interior of Old Post Office
In the southwest corner of the post office was a pot-bellied stove with places all around to sit and visit. These visits were mostly of a social nature, but from these visits the pioneers also acquired knowledge and news from the outside world. At about the time the post office was built there were around 300 settlers in the valley.

Railway Depot Built, But No Train Arrived!

28 Thursday Jul 2022

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Gilsonite, Historic Markers, Narrow Gauge Railroad, Railroad, Uintah County, utah, Vernal

Railway Depot Built, But No Train Arrived!

The leading area industry of the late 1800s and early 1900s was mining Gilsonite, a glossy black hydrocarbon-resin. Henry Ford used it to produce the lustrous black paint on his Model T, and Anheuser Busch lined beer barrels with the tar-like substance. Today it is used in inks, building products, and protective coatings. The Uinta Basin lays claim to the only commercial mining of this substance. This industry sparked the construction of a narrow gauge railroad in 1904 to ship Gilsonite to the world market.

In 1905 the Uintah Railway and Freight Company constructed its railroad station, directly across from you, for the purpose of housing a railroad depot, freight station, and telegraph office. Despite the fervent efforts of the community, the rails never reached Vernal. The freight station continued to ship produts such as local wool. Until the 1940s, when modern highways and the trucking industry took over, the freight station also provided service to and from the rail line, located 57 miles southeast of the now-deserted ghost town of Watson.

Freight and passengers were transported from Vernal to the railway on a daily basis in wagons and, later, in modern motor coaches. This building now serves as a warehouse.

This is #19 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 90 North Vernal Avenue in Vernal, talking about the location across the street at 89 North Vernal Avenue.

← Older posts

Follow Jacob

Follow Jacob

Social and Other Links

BarlowLinks.com

Blog Stats

  • 752,194 hits

Recent Posts

  • 245 S 600 E
  • Murray City Library
  • 60 W Center St
  • 509 W 300 N
  • 1497 N State St

Archives

 

Loading Comments...