Utah is fun and amazing!!! How many of these fun facts about Utah did you already know?
- The capitol of Utah is Salt Lake City.
- The tallest mountain in Utah is Kings Peak, which is 13,528 feet, (4,123 m) above sea level
- Utah mountain peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah’s counties is 11,222 ft.-higher than the same average in any other state.
- Completion of the world’s first transcontinental railroad was celebrated at Promontory where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met on May 10, 1869. It is now known as Golden Spike National Historic Site.
- Levan, is “navel” spelled backwards. It is so named because it is in the middle of Utah.
- Dinosaur Fossils Found in Utah – Alamosaurus, Allosaurus, Amblydactylus, Apatosaurus, Barosaurus, Camarasaurus, Camptosaurus, Cedarosaurus, Coelophysis, Diplodocus, Dryosaurus, Dystrophaeus, Iguanodon, Iliosuchus, Marshosaurus, Nanosaurus, Nedcolbertia, Ornitholestes, Ornithomimus, Othnielia, Parasaurolophus, Rioarribasaurus, Stegosaurus, Stokesosaurus, Tenontosaurus, Torosaurus, Utahraptor
- Utah is the site of the nations first department store. Zions Co-operative Mercantile Institution was established in the late 1800’s.
- The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City took 40 years to complete. The Mormon temples in St. George, Manti and Logan Utah were completed before the Salt Lake Temple.
- I- 70, between the eastern edge of the state and Cove Fort, is the most deserted stretches of Interstate in the United States.
- Utah is the only state that produces gilsonite, a pure form of asphalt used in dark colored printing inks and paints, oil well drilling muds and cements, asphalt modifiers, foundry sands additives, and a wide variety of chemical products.
- The Great Salt Lake covers 2,100 square miles, with an average depth of 13 feet. The deepest point is 34 feet.
- The average snowfall in the mountains near Salt Lake City is 500 inches.
- Because of the state’s inland location Utah’s snow is unusually dry. Earning it the reputation of having the world’s greatest powder. 14 Alpine ski resorts operate in Utah.
- Salt Lake City was originally named Great Salt Lake City. Great was dropped from the name in 1868.
- The state symbol is the Beehive, which symbolizes thrift and industry.
- The state animal is the Rocky Mountain Elk.
- The state fish is the Bonneville Cutthroat Trout.
- The state bird is a California sea gull. This is because these gulls saved the people of the State by eating up the Rocky mountain crickets which were destroying the crops in 1848.
- The state insect is the honeybee.
- The state flower is the sego lily.
- Utah is the only state to have a cooking pot among its state symbols. The Dutch oven was approved as a state symbol by the legislature in 1997
- Utah was settled in 1847 when Brigham Young led a group of his Mormon followers to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah in order to find religious freedom and establish a new base for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Utah was the 45th state in the USA; it became a state in 1896.
- The Wasatch mountain range is named after a Ute Indian name meaning “mountain pass” or “low place in a high mountain”
- Annual precipitation varies from less than five inches in Utah’s arid Great Salt Lake Desert to more than 60 inches in the northern mountain ranges.
- The Escalante River is generally considered to be the last major river to be “discovered” in the contiguous United States.
- Fillmore was Utah’s first territorial capitol and was named for U.S. President Millard Fillmore. The statehouse was never completed, but the first wing remains Utah’s oldest governmental building and now serves as a state museum.
- The 4th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, also known as the Fightin’ Fuujins, became the U.S. Air Force’s first operational Tactical Fighter Squadron in March 1980. The squadron’s nickname, “Fuujin”, refers to the Okinawan god of wind.
- Utah is the only state whose capital’s name is made of three words. All three words in Salt Lake City have four letters each.
- Utah was acquired by the United States in 1848 in the treaty ending the Mexico War.
- Utah has 11,000 miles of fishing streams and 147,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs.
- The largest public employer in Utah is the Utah State Government.
- Utah is the Jello capital of the world. More jello is eaten in Utah than any where else in the world.
The native Bonneville cutthroat trout replaced the introduced rainbow trout as the official state fish of Utah in 1997.
Thanks for telling me! I will update it!
All the state symbols. Note the Quaking Aspen replaced the Colorado Blue Spruce in 2014.
Animal: Rocky Mountain Elk
Bird: California Seagull
Cooking Pot: Dutch Oven
Emblem: Beehive
Fish: Bonneville Cutthroat Trout
Flag: Flag and Seal
Flower: Sego Lily
Folk Dance: Square Dance
Fossil: Allosaurus
Fruit: Cherry
Gem: Topaz
Grass: Indian Rice Grass
Insect: Honey Bee
Mineral: Copper
Motto: “Industry”
Rock: Coal
Song: “Utah, This Is The Place”
Hymn: “Utah We Love Thee”
Star: Dubhe
Tartan: Utah Tartan
Tree: Quaking Aspen
Vegetable: Spanish Sweet Onion
Historic Vegetable: Sugar Beet
Winter Sports: Skiing and Snowboarding
Astronomical Symbol: Beehive Cluster in the constellation of Cancer the Crab.
Firearm: John M. Browning designed M1911 automatic pistol
Railroad Museum: Ogden Union Station
Thanks so much for adding these!
#32 largest employer in the state is the State government (not just public)