Marysvale is a town in Piute County,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. The population was 356 at the 2020 census. Marysvale is a trail head for the

Paiute ATV Trail The Paiute ATV Trail is a public all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is ...

History

A post office called Marysvale has been in operation since 1872. The town's name probably commemorates the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. In the late 1860s, silver

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

was discovered in the Volcanic Series of Bullion Canyon and Mount Belknap, west of Marysvale in the

Tushar Mountains The Tushar Mountains are the third-highest mountain range in Utah after the Uinta Mountains and the La Sal Range. Located in the Fishlake National Forest, Delano Peak, 12,174 ft (3,711 m) NAVD 88, is the highest point in both Beaver County ...

. In 1889, gold was discovered. Then in 1949,

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

was discovered, prompting the

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by the U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President Harry ...

to establish an ore purchasing station and field office in Marysvale. The uranium occurs as

veins Veins () are blood vessels in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and fetal c ...

within

quartz monzonite Quartz monzonite is an intrusive, felsic, igneous rock that has an approximately equal proportion of orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars. It is typically a light colored phaneritic (coarse-grained) to porphyritic granitic rock. The plagioclase ...

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

, usually in the form of

pitchblende Uraninite, also known as pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of U3O8. Radioactive decay of the urani ...

, but also as

umohoite Umohoite is a rare oxide and hydroxide mineral. The name of this mineral reflects its composition: uranyl (U), molybdate (Mo) and water (). Its chemical formula is (UO2)MoO4·2H2O. Umohoite's type location is in Marysvale Marysvale is a to ...

, which was first identified at Marysvale. The pitchblende has been age dated to the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

. Total uranium production from the Marysvale area amounted to about 275,000 tons of 0.2 per cent U₂O₈.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of 15.1 square miles (39.1 km²), of which 15.1 square miles (39.1 km²) is land and 0.07% is water.

Climate

The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

subtype for this climate is "BSk" (cold

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 se ...

Demographics

At the 2000 census, there were 381 people, 149 households, and 113 families in the town. The population density was 25.2 people per square mile (9.7/km²). There were 222 housing units at an average density of 14.7 per square mile (5.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.43% White, 0.79% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.10%. Of the 149 households, 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.8% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. Of the 149 households, 8 are unmarried partner households: 2 heterosexual, 2 same-sex male, and 4 same-sex female. 21.5% of households were one person and 9.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.96. The age distribution was 24.7% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 20.2% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males. The median household income was $31,875 and the median family income was $35,417. Males had a median income of $33,125 versus $21,667 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,715. About 9.1% of families and 11.8% 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 14.8% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable person

Actress

Marie Windsor Marie Windsor (born Emily Marie Bertelsen; December 11, 1919 – December 10, 2000) was an American actress known for her femme fatale characters in the classic film noir features '' Force of Evil'', '' The Narrow Margin'' and '' The Killing''. ...

was born in Marysvale in 1919.

References

External links

*
UTV Jamboree, Marysvale, Utah

Piute County
{{authority control Towns in Piute County, Utah Towns in Utah Populated places established in 1863 1863 establishments in Utah Territory