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Virgin, Utah

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Hurricane census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84779. It stands on North Creek. The Survey maps it on the Virgin quadrangle. 670 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,606 feet above sea level.

Virgin within Washington County

On record in Virgin

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Virgin grew from 596 to 670 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010596
2020670+74 (+12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 15 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

4 photographs, 2022

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

A colorful wall of the Red Coyote Cyclery in the town of Virgin in southwest Utah
A colorful wall of the Red Coyote Cyclery in the town of Virgin in southwest Utah
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
A modern campground that evokes Old West imagery, including Conestoga wagons and likenesses of Indian tipis, in the town of Virgin in southwest Utah
A modern campground that evokes Old West imagery, including Conestoga wagons and likenesses of Indian tipis, in the town of Virgin in southwest Utah
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
An old cafe, now (as of 2022) mostly a bookstore, in the town of Virgin in southwest Utah
An old cafe, now (as of 2022) mostly a bookstore, in the town of Virgin in southwest Utah
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
Virgin River Bridge, Spanning Virgin River at State Highway 9, Hurricane, Washington County, UT
Virgin River Bridge, Spanning Virgin River at State Highway 9, Hurricane, Washington County, UT
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

98 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 98 fires within 5 miles of Virgin between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,425 acres in total. 45 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Natural45
Missing data/not specified/undetermined23
Equipment and vehicle use11
Debris and open burning6
Recreation and ceremony5
Fireworks2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Other causes1
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Firearms and explosives use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
3 September 2012Natural5.0 acresUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsHURRICANE ASSIST 05
3 September 2006Naturalunder an acreCedar City Field OfficeREEDER
3 September 2006Naturalunder an acreCedar City Field OfficeMUSASCHI
27 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthwest AreaSTATE STREET
2 September 2016Naturalunder an acreCedar City Field OfficeGRAFTON
18 September 2006Debris and open burning38 acresUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsL
18 September 2004Naturalunder an acreCedar City Field OfficeDALTON
9 August 1998Naturalunder an acreCedar City Field OfficeNORTHCREEK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Washington County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Virgin: 5 occurrences, 2 producers, 2 past producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Uranium, Geothermal, Oil Sands. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
AdahCopperProducer
Cinder DepositVolcanic MaterialsOccurrence
Cinder DepositPumiceOccurrence
La Verkin Dixie Hot SpringsGeothermalUnknown
Timpoweap Canyon Tar Sand DepositOil SandsOccurrence
Hedman - RogersUraniumOccurrence
UnknownUraniumOccurrence
Gravel Pit #27018Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSurface
Ut Dept Hwys Gravel Pit No.27018Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Virgin River Borrow PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerUnconsolidated Sediments

Every working recorded in Washington County

Storms near this place

11 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Virgin in 11 storm reports between 1996 and 2022: 8 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2007Flash FloodVirgin$2,120,000Extensive flash flooding occurred in Zion National Park and areas outside of the park near the towns of Virgin and Touquerville. Due to the massive flash flood six homes were damaged and residents were evacuated off of their roofs. In addition, Kolob Terrace was closed.||Damage amounts were estimated from media reports (6 homes destroyed, $250K each; 3 homes damaged, $25K each; and a washed out bridge, $35K). In addition, the Zion RV Park reported damages totaling $205,000, not including loss of revenue.
September 2022Flash FloodVirgin-Moderate to heavy rainfall from earlier in the day resulted in a flood wave traversing downstream along the Virgin River. The Virgin at Virgin river gauge recorded a flow increase from 333 CFS at 12:15 am MST to a peak of 2020 CFS at 2:00 am MST.
July 2021Flash FloodVirgin-The Virgin stream gauge on the Virgin River at Virgin spiked from 108 CFS to 2180 CFS, a rise of over 3 feet.
August 2016HailVirgin-Penny-sized hail was reported near Virgin.
July 2013Flash FloodVirgin-Flash flooding occurred along North Creek, with the downstream river gauge at Virgin rising to 626 cfs.
July 2012Flash FloodVirgin-Multiple slot canyons in Zion National Park experienced flash flooding.
August 2012Flash FloodVirgin-A large flash flood occurred in the Subway portion of Zion National Park, as well as a few other surrounding drainages. Due to this flood, 22 people in 6 different groups were stranded in the Subway overnight. Two additional people were stranded overnight in Behunin Canyon.
August 2008Flash FloodVirgin-Heavy rain caused a large flash flood on North Creek flowing out of Zion National Park. Flows increased on the Virgin River, north of the town of Virgin, from 54 cfs to 2562 cfs.
September 2007Flash FloodVirgin-The Virgin River rose from 85 cfs to 3755 cfs over the course of 4 hours.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindVirgin-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindVirgin-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washington County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
LaVerkin4.3 miles17
Hurricane5.9 miles17
Toquerville6.0 miles18
Grafton6.4 miles16
Anderson Junction8.1 miles18
Rockville8.6 miles16
Apple Valley8.9 miles17
Leeds9.3 miles17

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on VirginAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q482603The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1433898. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.